I'm a man and a bachelor... so not a lot of knowledge
of plants and gardening

I have a small patio id like to 'class up" a bit by
using pots and plants

Question...many types of post to chose from. What is
best type and material for low maint pots and plants?

I'm thinking HARD plastic over the softer foam pots,
right?

I would also move these pots INSIDE my house in winter
and grow low care plants in winter as well. Peace
Lily's?

Anyway....advice on pots please?

wrote in message
...
I'm a man and a bachelor... so not a lot of knowledge
of plants and gardening

I have a small patio id like to 'class up" a bit by
using pots and plants

Question...many types of post to chose from. What is
best type and material for low maint pots and plants?

I'm thinking HARD plastic over the softer foam pots,
right?

I would also move these pots INSIDE my house in winter
and grow low care plants in winter as well. Peace
Lily's?

Anyway....advice on pots please?


Pot rules:

1) Big pots dry out faster than small pots. A 12" high pot will dry out
completely in the sun in about 4 hours. Know thyself. If you're gone at work
for 8 hours a day, many of your plants will suffer in small pots, so buy the
biggest you can manage. Up to your knees is about right, and keep them
watered.

2) Most plants want their roots cooler than their tops. Even if the pots did
NOT dry out, they still get quite warm. So, again, bigger is better, and
light colors are better than dark colors. Try and group the pots to shade
some of them, even if it means sticking a patio chair in front of the pots
on the warmest days.

3) Red clay pots look great, but they're porous, so they dry out more
quickly than materials like plastic. It's not always easy to find plastic
pots that don't look tacky. One nice alternative is the half barrels sold at
garden centers. They're big & unmanageable, and you wouldn't want them in
the house. Buy smaller pots to use only in the house.

4) Styrofoam: You're right. Forget it. Besides looking lousy, they get
damaged by garden tools.

Holy smokes! What did I say???? :-) Big pots dry out MORE SLOWLY than
small ones! Gotta stop doing 23 things at once here.

Also want pots that drain, otherwise they can get full of rain water.
I use plastic with holes in bottom that sit on a pot base.

Whenever I use pot on the balcony it jazzes things up too
..

Nothing beats the look of terra cotta.
The downside is they can split in winter or spall.
The evaporation issue can be dealt with by warming the pots and melting
parafin (canning wax)
Most bagged potting mixes are awful and could benefit by the addition
of an equal amount of sharp sand or if you want to keep the weight
down, pearlite.
Keep the soil an inch below the rim so you can water in a hurry and
make sure you don't leave the pots sitting in water.

"Frank" wrote in message
oups.com...
Also want pots that drain, otherwise they can get full of rain water.
I use plastic with holes in bottom that sit on a pot base.


The pots should also be round, square, or some other shape. I have
documentation to prove this.

actually, the easiest is to not drag outside plants inside. the reason is the
outside plants collect bugs and inside conditions usually the pests have population
explosion. plants that adapt to high light levels outside dont do well when brought
inside either (ficus for example).
so...... get hard plastic in colors that please you.
larger is better, but in smaller pots you can get "super slurp" crystals that hold
water, or, high absorbent baby diapers to put on the bottom to hold water for the
roots .. strip the plastic off.

nice looking pots have 3 layers, something low vining to drape over the edge, get
something mounding in the middle, and something tall for the middle or the back edge.


get drought resistant plants, they usually have grayish green, powdery color, fuzzy
leaves, thick leaves. but certainly ask where you buy the plants. also get
perennials and plants hardy to at least one zone colder than where you live.

I am not done with this page but....
http://weloveteaching.com/landscape/.../fyplanter.htm
the perennial alyssum, aster, hardy small roses, holly and heather survive year to
year in zone 5.
Ingrid

wrote:

I'm a man and a bachelor... so not a lot of knowledge
of plants and gardening

I have a small patio id like to 'class up" a bit by
using pots and plants

Question...many types of post to chose from. What is
best type and material for low maint pots and plants?

I'm thinking HARD plastic over the softer foam pots,
right?

I would also move these pots INSIDE my house in winter
and grow low care plants in winter as well. Peace
Lily's?

Anyway....advice on pots please?



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I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
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Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

I know it's silly but my wife keeps buying plastic pots for outside and
they do not drain. I have to drill holes in them to keep plants from
drowning
Frank

"Frank" wrote in message
oups.com...
I know it's silly but my wife keeps buying plastic pots for outside and
they do not drain. I have to drill holes in them to keep plants from
drowning
Frank


I know what you mean. Whoever designs those things should be severely
punished. Matter of fact, so should the knuckleheads who decide to stock
them in their stores. I can understand Home Despot being clueless, but not
real garden centers, and I see those pots there, too.

wrote:
I'm a man and a bachelor... so not a lot of knowledge
of plants and gardening

I have a small patio id like to 'class up" a bit by
using pots and plants

Question...many types of post to chose from. What is
best type and material for low maint pots and plants?

I'm thinking HARD plastic over the softer foam pots,
right?

I would also move these pots INSIDE my house in winter
and grow low care plants in winter as well. Peace
Lily's?

Anyway....advice on pots please?

My dwarf citrus was in 18-inch redwood tubs. Since these can leak from
the sides, they are definitely not for putting in the house unless you
put some kind of tray underneath.

Having to replace the tubs twice already for my dwarf lemon, I am
replacing them with terracotta pots (22 inches across at the top, 17
inches at the bottom). Both the redwood and terracotta breathe through
their sides. This keeps them cool in the summer sun so the roots don't
cook. The soil in a plastic pot can get quite hot after only an hour in
the sun, much hotter than the air temperature.

One thing to consider is a clay or plain plastic pot within a jardinière
(a decorative ceramic outer pot). Allow at least a 1-inch space all
around the sides between the inner and outer pots. Some people fill
this space with coarse sphagnum moss. Also place about an inch of pea
gravel at the bottom so that water can drain from the inner pot.

If the jardinière is properly glazed, you can bring the combination into
your home and set it on the floor without risking damage from moisture.
Use a cart, dolly, or hand-truck to move it. There are also wheeled
platforms made for holding large pots.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my http://www.rossde.com/PGP/

I don't like plastic pots either. Even though terra cotta pots are
porous, I think they look so much nicer and more natural. One of the
things I do, is to buy the matching terra cotta saucers for my pots.
This allows for a little water reservoir at the bottom. . .But you
probably already realize that!

Sacramento gets quite hot on some days in the summer. . .but for the
most part, the terra cotta pots have worked just fine.

Myrl Jeffcoat
http://www.myrljeffcoat.com

wrote:
I have a small patio id like to 'class up" a bit by
using pots and plants

Question...many types of post to chose from. What is
best type and material for low maint pots and plants?

I'm thinking HARD plastic over the softer foam pots,
right?

I would also move these pots INSIDE my house in winter
and grow low care plants in winter as well. Peace

Anyway....advice on pots please

You could get some Self-Watering Rolling Planters. I think they would
be perfect for you and fit many of the requirements mentioned by the
others. here is a link:
http://www.gardeners.com/Self-Wateri...ng.12773.cp d

wrote in message
ups.com...
I don't like plastic pots either. Even though terra cotta pots are
porous, I think they look so much nicer and more natural. One of the
things I do, is to buy the matching terra cotta saucers for my pots.
This allows for a little water reservoir at the bottom. . .But you
probably already realize that!

Sacramento gets quite hot on some days in the summer. . .but for the
most part, the terra cotta pots have worked just fine.

Myrl Jeffcoat
http://www.myrljeffcoat.com



They work for you because they happen to be large enough to work with your
plants, the soil you're using in them, and the length of time during which
you can't be there to tend to them. This is why telling new gardeners
anything really specific isn't really possible. Just "go bigger". :-)

"lwhaley" wrote:

here is a link:
http://www.gardeners.com/Self-Wateri...ng.12773.cp d

Nice

But a bit expensive for my blood

Yep!. . .The "go bigger" advice is definitely sage. I have an area
near a gazebo that I try to keep most of my potted plants. They are
blessed with the right about of sun exposure, etc. I also have an
automatic sprinkler system that waters them for me - even if I'm gone a
few days!

Myrl
http://www.myrljeffcoat.com