[New] Indoor pots need to drain away…

We use a phrase here in the nursery when people ask how much water do I need to give my plant (which is a similar question to how long is a piece of string) and it goes ‘Not too wet, not too dry just moist to the touch’.

There are two styles of indoor pot you will purchase in your nursery, ones which have drainage holes and a saucer at the base and ones which are completely sealed. Now of course this makes complete sense because if they allowed the water to drain away then all our carpets and floors would be covered in wet potting mix. There are different ways in how you must use each of these. The pot with the saucer works well when after you water the plant you eventually empty the saucer.

If the saucer is allowed to hold water too long, it can potentially trap water in the pot which can lead to those overwatering problems we spoke about earlier.

Ideally with this style of pot if you can water the pot without a great deal of excess water filling the saucer, this way you will normally be achieving the ‘keeping the soil moist not wet’ principal.

The completely sealed pot is where most of the problems occur. Number one rule here is to not plant directly into the pot. This style is designed to be a holding vessel for another slightly smaller pot that has drainage holes. The way to use this is simple, when the plant requires a watering simply remove the internal pot, water it quickly outside, let it stand for a small time period and then return it to its home. It is still a good idea to periodically check the sealed pot to make sure there isn’t any pooling water forming.