I've grown lots of houseplants over the years, and now am preparing to have my first house and garden. Eeeek! There's a large ceramic planter in the backyard that I'd like to use to grow something like a rosemary plant, but it doesn't have holes at the bottom. I checked the Sunset Garden Book that I armed myself with and it spoke of growing things in containers, but only mentioned containers with holes in the bottom. Will I kill anything I plant in this hole-less thing? Should I put a layer of gravel or something down first?

Thanks, Xeney, for starting this forum. I've been reading your garden report and am green with envy (ha ha).

Elizabeth

-- Elizabeth Fox (crow@well.com), April 20, 1999

Answers

I agree with Ashley's suggestions. Jeremy has drilled lots of holes in pots for me and he's never broken one, but left to my own devices I'd probably just put other pots inside the container.

Some books will tell you that you can put a layer of rocks or gravel at the bottom for drainage, but those books lie. You'll get root rot for sure if you do it that way.

-- Beth (garden@xeney.com), April 20, 1999.

Okay, do not plant in this pot as it is, or you'll probably drown your plants. You've got two real choices here. First, you can drill holes in the bottom of the container. If you aren't confident in your ability to do this without ruining the pot, or if you have a lot of money/emotion/etc invested in it, don't do it. You could also buy a pot that will fit inside the ceramic planter (or a series of pots if it is an odd shape), and plant your rosemary or whatever in that. That is what I would do. I might put a layer of gravel in the planter, and then put the inner pot on top of that, to increase drainage. (I don't know how much that would do, however.) Cheap (but sturdy) plastic pots would probably be best (terra cotta if the planter isn't too large, since they are heavier).

-- Ashley Lockwood (alienora@calweb.com), April 20, 1999.

I plant flowers in old crocks every summer and i just put a bunch of packing peanuts in the bottom of the crock before adding dirt. If your container is deep enough you could try that. The peanuts solve two problems -- drainage and they occupy space so I can use less dirt and have lighter containers.

Susan

-- Susan Hoffmann (susanh@unitelsd.com), April 24, 1999.