On 05/05/2016 20:15, Chris French wrote:
Chris Hogg Wrote in message:
On Wed, 4 May 2016 05:35:41 -0700 (PDT), David
wrote:


I've bought some quite large terracotta planters in which to plant some patio shrubs to form a hedging screen, but have found that each planter comes with only one small hole in its bottom, and in this hole there is a rubber plug. I feel that I must, without doubt, remove the plug, to allow drainage in case excess rain-water falls on the planter.

But, given that there is only one small hole, about the size of a 50 pence coin, should I just fill the planter with compost, so the compost sits on the hole, and moisture has immediate and unobstructed exit?

Or should I place stones or bits of broken crockery over the hole first? It seems to me that placing solid items over the hole will obstruct drainage.

I'm concerned about what to do because there's only one hole and it's so small.

David.

Them that use terracotta pots regularly nearly always have a quantity
of broken pot bits, and they use these to line the base of new
terracotta pots to improve the drainage.

ISTR something a few years back, maybe on GW. They looked at this
and the conclusion was that it made no difference to how well the
pot drained.

I do stick a bit of weed membrane over the hole to keep compost in.


This debate of crock or don't crock really goes back to when many people
used either garden soil or soil based composts in their tubs/ urns/
large pots.
This was much slower draining and had the habit of going "solid".
Now our composts are chiefly Peat based or other soil less compost make
up which has very different properties so using a membrane will suffice.
The advantage of soil based compost if you are planting a tall
plant/tree in pots then the extra weight helps to stop them blowing over.
Have a look at the citrus and olives being imported from Italy, feels as
if they are growing in concrete.
David@a sunny side of Swansea Bay.