Planting in deep planters / pots and how to make large planters lighter - Nice Planter - Space To Grow (2024)

FAQs

Planting in deep planters / pots and how to make large planters lighter - Nice Planter - Space To Grow? ›

Make Large Pots Lighter

You can use rocks, pieces of concrete or bricks, gravel, and/or pebbles. The benefit of using these types of rubble to fill your planter is that they have some weight to them. Weight can help anchor a tall planter that may be prone to tipping over.

The only reason to put a rock in the bottom of the planter is to cover the drainage hole and keep soil from coming out when you water your plant. Only use one rock per drainage hole. Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best-growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more!

Perlite can be used in both peat-based and soil-based potting media in place of sand. Perlite is expanded volcanic rock manufactured when heated to 1,800°F. Like sand, perlite provides great drainage, but is lighter in weight and holds more air.

However, because landfills are overfilled with non-biodegradable products, many Styrofoam packing products are now made to dissolve in time. It is not recommended to use Styrofoam peanuts for potted plants now, because they may break down in water and soil, leaving you with sunken-in containers.

One of the best things to put at the bottom of a planter for drainage is broken pieces of pot. You can use any unwanted plant pots or chipped crockery for this – simply smash them up into small to medium-sized pieces. Adding a layer of broken pieces of pot like this will prevent compost loss out of the drainage holes.

Soil taken from your yard or a garden bed is too dense to use in a pot or raised bed. Instead, for containers, you'll want to use potting mix (also called potting soil), a lightweight and fluffy alternative. For raised beds, you'll want to use a blend of potting mix and garden soil.

The potting mix at the bottom of overly deep pots stays far too wet for a very long time, creating a perched water table that doesn't dry out easily, which can cause root rot in plants, especially if the plants are shallow-rooted, and the roots are unable to reach down into the waterlogged lower levels of the growing ...

Larger, vertical plants like small trees and shrubs perform well in tall planters. They also accentuate dramatic plants like ornamental grasses, bamboo, and tall flowers. As you might expect, tall planters provide ample room for root growth, making them ideal for deep-rooted plants.

How do you arrange large planters? ›

Try grouping three or five garden pots or planters together, either in a corner or either side of a path or doorway, using big plant pots at the back and smaller ones in front to mix things up and give the illusion of more greenery. Keep the pots fairly close together to make the display look fuller and more lush.

Fill the container completely with soil, leaving some space between the top of the soil and the top of the pot (this is sometimes referred to as head space). In large container gardens, you can leave up to 2 inches;in smaller pots you might only leave ½ inch.

Instead of throwing it in the trash, an easy way to repurpose spare cardboard is to line them on the bottom of your raised garden beds. One frequently asked question is whether you can put cardboard in your raised beds. The answer is yes.

Add a Heavy Fill Material Inside the Planter

Actually, 70% to 90% of the weight can be from the fill material. So adding crushed stone if they need to be weighted down for stabilization purposes is optimal. You can also weigh down planters with crushed gravel, blue stone, or bricks.

Also, plants potted in too-large containers will struggle to soak up all the moisture from waterings. This means that the soil will stay wet longer, meaning more chances for root rot and other stress issues that come with overwatering.

Coarse mineral aggregates — perlite, in my mix — make potting soils less dense, so water percolates more readily into the mix, through it, and out the bottom of the container. Other aggregates include vermiculite, sand, and calcined montmorillonite clay (aka kitty litter).

Adding perlite to potting mix will trap air into the soil and allow water to drain out. It can be added to custom soil mixes or to pre-mixed potting soil to lighten it up (even if it already contains a bit of perlite already).