Flower pots

Usually no one wonders what to call what the plant is planted in. Basically, all containers for indoor plants are divided into three types - pots, planters and containers.

Flower pots

These are tanks with one or more drainage holes on the bottom. A pot can be beautiful on its own, and have a saucer, a tray for draining water. Or it may have a completely unpresentable look - such pots can be decorated with your own hands (decoupage, applique, paint) or placed in a beautiful planter.

Flower pots are distinguished by their shape: classic rounded and square (rectangular) - with corners. Preference should be given to classic round flower pots. In pots of irregular shape (with a wavy side) or rectangular, the earth in the corners is worse developed by the roots, so it gives off moisture poorly, often turns sour. In addition, it is inconvenient to transplant flowers from them and the likelihood of root injury increases.

The material of flower pots is traditionally clay or plastic. Each type of pot has its own advantages and disadvantages:

Clay pots are heavier, so they are usually more stable, but fragile (beat). Clay pots are usually glazed on the inside - the surface is shiny. This is bad because there is a misconception that roots breathe in such a pot, it is less likely to pour flowers. But this is not so - the glaze does not allow water or air to pass through, so only clay pots without glaze inside have an advantage over plastic pots. By the way, clay pots are usually 2-3 times more expensive than plastic ones.

Plastic pots - light, unbreakable, you can make as many holes on the bottom with a hot knife. There is a misconception that plastic pots are more durable. This is also incorrect: a plastic pot lasts no more than 7-10 years, then it usually cracks, crumbles, but not from the roots bursting it (although some plants can tear any pot). Plastic pots can burn out in the sun, unlike clay pots covered with protective glaze. But they are cheaper than clay ones, they are easier to wash, to clean salt deposits from them.

In addition, there are transparent or translucent plastic pots, they are convenient for novice florists - through the walls you can see how the color of the soil changes when dried and watered. And there are also pots made of soft plastic, they easily bend under the fingers. It is very convenient to transplant flowers from such pots - he slightly washed his hands, and the root lump is easily removed.

Decorating pots, ideas on the forum

Sometimes they write that drainage is not needed in a clay pot, I would like to object to this - you can pour the plant in any pot, both in plastic and clay. Therefore, a beginner flower grower can be advised to put a layer of drainage in any pot, it will not hurt. Although, if watered too often and a lot, then the drainage may not help either and the plant will be flooded.

How to choose a pot for flowers

Pay attention to its stability, especially if a cat likes to sit on the windowsill, there are children who can drop. The pot should have a fairly roomy pallet. Sometimes such microscopic saucers are attached to the pots that water is constantly poured out of them. If you are just starting to grow flowers, choose transparent pots. Pots with an uneven edge are impractical - when the edge is serrated or wavy. It may be beautiful, but from such pots the earth spills out, then water flows out.

Choose a pot not by beauty, but by shape - some plants need deep pots (diffenbachia, palm trees), others are shallow, but wide - all groundcovers (soleirolia, ferns, campanula), while most plants need pots equal in height and width.

Pots come in different sizes, but it is recommended to transplant the plant each time into a pot with a diameter 1-2 cm larger than before. This is not a mandatory rule, but a general recommendation. Sometimes the roots grow poorly, suffer from rot, then when transplanting you do not need to take a larger pot, but plant it in an old one, or even a smaller one. When the roots of the plant completely filled the pot, but there is no larger container, they resort to pruning the roots and transplanting into the same pot with replacing the earth with fresh.

Cachepot

This is a container with a solid waterproof bottom, into which the pot is inserted (usually the simplest plastic with many holes on the bottom). The planter has an exclusively decorative purpose - they are selected for the interior. The planter can be metal, plastic, wood, ceramic, woven from vine and wire. A teapot, basin, vase, etc. can be used as a planter. In general, the main point is to choose a beautiful thing that would decorate both the plant and the room.

The planter should be about 1 cm in diameter larger than the pot and slightly taller than it, i.e. so that the pot itself is not noticeable, but easily removed. For plants that love high humidity, you can take a planter much wider than a pot (2-3 cm) and fill the space between the pot and the planter with wet moss or peat.

Planters are very convenient for ampel plants, when the flower itself is planted in a simple pot, and the planter has a suspension - ropes, chains, ribbons, by the way, there is a macramé planter. When transplanting or processing flowers from pests, it is easier to get a pot, transplant it into fresh soil, wash the leaves or arrange a hot shower, then put it back in the planter. If you suddenly change the color scheme of the interior, then it is easier to change the planter without transplanting plants.

Flower containers

These are containers with a waterproof bottom, usually used to grow several plants. Simply put, the container resembles a box or flowerpot in size. You can put flowers in pots in it, or you can plant them without a pot, all together. In addition to commercially available containers, plastic and wooden boxes, metal basins, etc. can be used in the same capacity.

If you plant a plant in a container without holes at the bottom, then there are difficulties with watering: fearing to pour the plant, it is dried out, and with excessive watering there is nowhere to go, and the earth turns sour, causing rot of the roots. If the container (container or planter) is clay, not covered with waterproof glaze inside, then excessive watering (if it is not systematic) is not scary, it is enough to periodically loosen the soil.

If the container for flowers is plastic, metal, porcelain and other waterproof material, then in the absence of holes on the bottom, very good drainage is needed. Its height should be 1/5-1/4 of the height of the pot or container. The drainage used is expanded clay, brick crumb, pieces of foam plastic, a wine cork cut into pieces or shards from a broken clay pot.

What you can plant flowers in

When transplanting, taking the plant out of a pot or other container, do not forget to disinfect it by scalding it with boiling water, this is especially necessary if you will grow another plant in this container. If the plant in the pot died, for whatever reason, then thoroughly washing the pot in boiling water is simply a necessary safety measure.

Once at work, for lack of funds on a purchased pot, I had to plant a nightshade tree in a mailbox, in which a plastic bag was previously placed. Another time, a flower grew in a pen cup.

A lot of opportunities for planting indoor flowers are opened by departments for dishes in hardware stores. There are clay spatula stands, wicker baskets and various containers. Even a porcelain teapot can be adapted for flowers.

It is not important in what capacity the plant will grow, but that the volume of this capacity corresponds to the size of the root system. Some plants do not bloom just because the pot is too large, others, on the contrary, prefer that the roots are spacious.