I would like to buy an unglazed ceramic pot that isn't painted brown.
Do
they make such pots? I figure they do but all the ones I have bought are
painted brown and "breathe" no better than a glazed pot.

Alan said:
Kevin: A pot which is "painted" brown is not an unglazed pot. A majority of
unglazed bonsai containers are traditionally a dark brown, but that is the
color of the clay which is used. This is not painted on the pot, but rather
it is mixed into the body of the clay. The container will be that color of
brown throughout the pot rather than just at the surface.

.. Like most things, the more we
know about this, the more evident is our vast ignorance. ;-)
Alan Walker


All true,
including the last :)


----- Original Message -----
From: "Iris Cohen"
Subject: [IBC] Ceramic Pots

You are partly right. Most of the so-called unglazed pots are actually
slip-glazed in a matte finish.


Mostly NOT TRUE, Almost ALL are colored unglazed clay. some lower quality
Chinese pots will sometimes be slip colored or have slip colored "panels"
which you might see designs carved through, or something like letters, etc.


However, why do you want the pot to breathe when it is not supposed to?
Good
bonsai pots, unglazed or not, are stoneware, which is fired high enough so
the
clay fuses and is waterproof. An earthenware pot, which is porous, would
not
last very long, especially for a hardy bonsai which is exposed to
freezing.


Iris, You've been reading! The term is "vitrfication" .
I've read this "no glaze inside or bottom so pot can "breath" thing three
times in bonsai magazines last year!

Perhaps you alone can rest the urban legend! :)

Regards,
Dale

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