I have a lovely ficus and I would like to plant it in one of those giant
chinese urns, about 3 feet high, with maybe some trailing low light plant
around the base.

I've read that rather than filling the urn wth soil, all the way to the top
you can put something else in until about half way up and then fill the rest
with dirt, to save money and weight from so much soil. I first thought of
those cornstarch peanuts but then don't those disintegrate over time? I
don't want the plant to collapse in a hole!

Has anyone done this or seen it done?

mm

Fill the bottom of the pot with the pennies that are the topic of that
annoying stupid OT thread started by TON KAN PA!!!!!


mmarteen wrote in message
...
I have a lovely ficus and I would like to plant it in one of those giant
chinese urns, about 3 feet high, with maybe some trailing low light plant
around the base.

I've read that rather than filling the urn wth soil, all the way to the
top
you can put something else in until about half way up and then fill the
rest
with dirt, to save money and weight from so much soil. I first thought of
those cornstarch peanuts but then don't those disintegrate over time? I
don't want the plant to collapse in a hole!

Has anyone done this or seen it done?

mm

I wouldn't plant the ficus in the urn itself. Use a plastic pot that is the
appropriate size for the tree, and use the urn as a cover pot. That makes
it much easier to provide the correct drainage, as well as remove the tree
from time to time to root prune/add fresh soil/repot in a larger pot. It
also protects the urn, which is not a small investment. You can put the
plastic pot on blocks to bring it up to the right height, and use spanish
moss around the top to cover it up.

Cheers,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA

"mmarteen" wrote in message
...
I have a lovely ficus and I would like to plant it in one of those giant
chinese urns, about 3 feet high, with maybe some trailing low light plant
around the base.

I've read that rather than filling the urn wth soil, all the way to the
top
you can put something else in until about half way up and then fill the
rest
with dirt, to save money and weight from so much soil. I first thought of
those cornstarch peanuts but then don't those disintegrate over time? I
don't want the plant to collapse in a hole!

Has anyone done this or seen it done?

mm

I have a lovely ficus and I would like to plant it in one of those giant
chinese urns, about 3 feet high,

don't plant it in anything that doesn't have a drain hole.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

"mmarteen" wrote:

I have a lovely ficus and I would like to plant it in one of those giant
chinese urns, about 3 feet high, with maybe some trailing low light plant
around the base.

I've read that rather than filling the urn wth soil, all the way to the top
you can put something else in until about half way up and then fill the rest
with dirt, to save money and weight from so much soil.

It sounds like a good idea, but you end up with a top-heavy
planter. It will fall over easily, and the money you saved on
dirt will be spent on buying a new pot.


I first thought of
those cornstarch peanuts but then don't those disintegrate over time?
Yes.

Tsu

--
To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.
- Jules Henri Poincaré

You raise a good point about drainage. My thought was that the pellets or
whatever act as drainage, keeping the roots from becoming water logged. The
water would collect at the bottom, I guess but I have heard that such
drainage systems are possible for smaller pots without holes. The planting
around the base also serves the opposite function as the decorative moss
that someone suggested, by also drawing off water, rather than keeping it
around the plant.

The urn I have in mind is heavy as hell, I don't think it would topple over
from weight of a ficus and its roots.

I am still not sure what to use for the drainage material.

mm


"Iris Cohen" wrote in message
...
I have a lovely ficus and I would like to plant it in one of those
giant
chinese urns, about 3 feet high,

don't plant it in anything that doesn't have a drain hole.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)