On 07/15/2011 02:11 PM, Charlie Pridham wrote:

"Moonraker" wrote in message
...
It is recommended that broken pieces of clay pots are placed at the
bottom to help drainage. As clay pots are rarer then hen's teeth what
do Urglers use at the bottom of their pots, and how much material to
they use?
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

There was some very interesting research recently that showed that pots
with no crocks drained better than those with so I have used this an
excuse to not bother anymore!


Yes I've seen this too. I don't use crocks either, when I have drainage
problems I've invariably gotten the soil mixture wrong. The important
thing with plastic pots is to use those that have holes at two levels,
so the pot bottom has a raised part with holes and a place for the water
to escape. For the clay pots -- which aren't all that expensive, I
think it's about 0.50 EU for 1 liter, although that's still 5x the price
of a plastic one -- I usually find the coarseness of the mix keeps it
in. Clay has a big advantage over plastic in summer, because it stays
cool. On the other hand in winter...

When I really need to get maximal drainage, I fill the bottom of the pot
with coarse pine bark chips. Maples love this and put their roots right
down into it. You could certainly try this method if you haven't any
broken crocks.

-E