What Can I Use to Fill the Bottom of a Large Planter?
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Learn what to add to the bottom of your planter to promote aeration without adding weight or expense — plus some things to avert (including gravel!).
Filling up a big pot with potting mix is expensive and makes for a really heavy planter. What's more, the weight of and then much soil tin can cause it to become compacted, which reduces drainage, waterlogs the soil and stunts root growth. Then information technology'southward a good thought to create a false bottom or place something lightweight in the lesser one-quarter to one-third of the pot to go on it easier to move, save on soil and maintain the health of your plant.
What To Know Before Calculation Planter Filler
A few things to continue in listen before you fill:
Drainage holes are essential. They need to be big enough to permit h2o to readily flow out. Most store-bought planters will already have holes fairly sized for that container and some resin pots have optional knock out drainage holes.
If y'all choose a decorative planter without drainage holes, drill a hole between iii/8- and 5/eight-inches. For ceramic planters, apply a masonry drill bit, start with one/4-inch then piece of work up to ane/2-inch. Expert rose gardener Chris VanCleave usually uses a 1/2-inch drill bit for large pots more than than six to seven inches and a i/4-inch for smaller ones. Wear gloves and centre protection when drilling.
Small pots don't require filler. Unless the drainage holes are larger than i/2-inch diameter, very little potting mix is lost through the holes. So lining the pot bottom isn't necessary, says Dr. Joe Willis, horticulture extension agent at the Louisiana State University Agriculture Center.
Try this like shooting fish in a barrel set up for also-large drainage holes. If the drainage hole is larger than i/ii-inch, attempt covering the hole with a coffee filter to agree the soil in place until the root matrix forms and binds everything together. (Eventually, the paper will be broken downwardly past microorganisms.)
Planter Filler: Empty Water Bottles or Milk Jugs
To keep larger planters (24 inches or more) easy to move, effort filling them with lightweight, bulky items similar capped empty h2o bottles or milk jugs. They accept up space without adding weight. Plus, this is better than sending that plastic to the landfill! Exist sure to tightly cap them so they don't fill with water.
Planter Filler: Kitchen Colander
Recycle an old one from the kitchen or buy an inexpensive new plastic colander. These make smashing planter inserts considering they already have lots of pocket-size holes in them, perfect for drainage.
Planter Filler: Big Rocks
If y'all want to avoid soil compaction, but your planter is prone to toppling and you demand extra weight, line the bottom with one to three-inch river rocks. Cover with a layer of landscaper's cloth to hold the potting mix in place.
Planter Filler: Bubble Wrap
A lightweight inert material that won't intermission down, many gardeners suggest using folded-up chimera wrap. Get out space around the edges for drainage.
Planter Filler: Pool Noodles
Pool noodles tin exist used in all sorts of peachy applications. And they can brand a customizable filler for your planters. Cut them up into thin discs for smaller planters and larger chunks for larger planters. Plus, they come in several different sizes, making further customization a snap.
Planter Filler: Empty Plastic Pots
Place one of the old plastic garden pots y'all take laying around upside downward. Merely make sure information technology'southward sturdy enough to back up what yous plant on top of it.
Planter Filler: Whole or Crushed Soda Cans
For another lightweight option that volition add bulk, use whole empty soda cans (place facing down to avoid filling with h2o), or crushed cans if you have a large number of them. Exist sure to wash them well to make clean off any remaining nutrient residue to avoid contamination.
Planter Filler: Bloem Ups a Daisy Planter Insert
Bloem Ups a Daisy Planter Inserts are plastic discs with drainage holes that function every bit a raised simulated bottom. They're available in sizes from x to 18 inches in bore.
Skip This: Gravel, Pebbles or Rocks
Sure, this is a popular step, but Willis says it'southward best to skip information technology. Adding a layer of gravel or rocks to the bottom of a pot may actually reduce drainage rather than promote information technology.
As Willis explains, water doesn't move easily from one media layer to another, even from a fine-textured fabric like potting mix to a denser material similar gravel or rocks. So instead of the extra water draining into the gravel, the water will gather or "perch" in the bottom office of the soil until information technology becomes saturated, leaving no space for air to circulate.
Without adept drainage and aeration, the plant roots can become severely stressed and more than susceptible to constitute diseases, and potentially drown and die.
Skip This: Styrofoam Packing Peanuts or Accept-Out Boxes
Both have more drawbacks than benefits. Deep found roots can abound down and into the Styrofoam, where they can become waterlogged, rot or die. And if the foam is biodegradable, in one case information technology breaks down in water and soil, information technology no longer provides any drainage benefit.
Skip This: Natural Materials
Many horticulturists advise confronting newspaper products such as paper and paper-thin, or natural organic materials such as leaves, pine cones, sphagnum moss, forest chips and coconut fiber. These materials will break down in the soil, causing information technology and the institute to sink down into the pot, thereby defeating their part as fillers.
Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/planter-bottom-filler/
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