How To Choose The Right Sized Pot For Your Plant

Spring is here, and what better way to celebrate the season than with plants? Flowering plants and plants in general are a wonderful way to add colorful and attractive accents to your home, patio and garden. Plants indoors of course need pots, as do plants on a patio or deck, and some choose to bury seasonal flowering plants in pots in the garden to ease removal. Regardless of how plants fit into your life, there are two major factor that comes into play. Firstly make sure to buy quality plants or bulbs from reliable sellers like Dutch-bulbs.com and secondly use the pots that are best suited to your plants! It is true potted plants purchased from a nursery come in a pot, but a very basic plastic one that is generally on the small side and not attractive. There are so many options to choose from, based on both style and function, and now one can even choose self watering pots! Where to start? I have a few important tips for you that will help build your confidence, whether indoors or in an outdoor container garden. Okay, lets delve into this personally beloved topic, shall we?

When To RePot Your Plant

Depending on the plant, repotting doesn’t always mean going up a pot size. Repotting might mean removing the new plant from the the pot it was purchased in, or simply changing out old potting mix that has degraded in nutrients, in order to give your plant fresh potting mix. But eventually, your plant may need a larger pot, and signs of this are roots growing out of the drainage holes, or a pot with very tightly packed roots. To see this you’ll have to gently lift the plant out of the pot. Many house plants have small root systems and may never need repotting. The best way to go is to do some research about your particular plant, as you’ll also need to know about watering, light and temperature requirements. Taking care of plants is not difficult once you understand that they are living things with needs!

Drainage

The attractive pots one can find in many stores that do not have holes in them are generally not advisable, but can be used to house an inner plastic pot that does have holes in the bottom. Drainage is crucial to keep your plant from getting water logged, which leads to root rot. (I’ll admit I have several plants in pots without holes, but species that need very little water.) Got it? That gorgeous ceramic pot without holes is the outer pot, and speaking of outer pot, that can also be a basket of some kind, or a metal bucket or just about anything large enough to contain and conceal the pot in which the plant is potted.  You can also get creative and place pots in things that are more like fabric bags, or make a sleeve that fits around the perimeter of the pot. Plants look amazing when paired with creativity! Just remember if the outer container is anything other than ceramic, remove the plant and water it at the sink and return to the outer container once completely drained. Also, if for example you are housing your plant in a basket, be sure to place a plate at the bottom of the basket to catch any drips that might drain from the plant.

Above: This umbrella plant is tall but does not have extensive roots, and can thrive in a medium sized pot.

Pot Size

What works for the plant should come first, and then the design considerations come into play.  If you fall in love with a certain pot you can always work backwards and find the species that will be happy in that pot! Also, a pot that is too large for a plant can look quite silly, and vice versa, so do take a moment to consider the visual aspects of pairing a plant with a pot!

There are several essential tips that will help you to correctly choose a pot for any of your plants.

1. The plant should be planted in a container three to four centimeters larger than the earthen lump — this will allow it to develop and grow normally.
2. When replanting a plant, the type of root system should be taken into account, as this determines whether you need a deep planter or you can do with a flatter container. Plants with taproot systems (sansevieria, aglaonema, anthurium) need deep, stable containers. Plants with a fibrous root system (codiaeum, ficus, lemon, nephrolepis, rhipsalis, spathiphyllum) are suitable for wide, low pots. Plants with a shallow root system (succulents) grow well in low, flat containers.
3. The growth rate of the plant also plays an important role in choosing a pot. If it is not taken into account and you miscalculated in size, then the root system will grow rapidly, and then a replant will be required again.
4. Be sure to consider the height of the the plant when choosing a pot, as you want to make sure the plant is both stable and not top heavy visually. For tall species, and trees of any kind, choose large pots. Firstly, it is safer as such a planter is more stable; secondly, space is needed for the potentially powerful root system.
   
5. Some species thrive in a pot that appears to be too small for them, and in some cases one can also limit the growth of a small tree by intentionally not giving the roots more room. Just be aware, that is cases like this, at some point the overcrowded roots will actually break the pot, and that you’ll need to water more frequently as the pot will be more roots than actual dirt.

Above: Spathiyphylum, the peace lily, does not need a large pot, but because of its size visually a deep pot is recommended. The peperromia plant in the foreground has tiny roots, so a small pot is just fine.

Pot Material

So you’ve figured out what size pot you need, now lets consider what material to choose. The material from which the pot is made is really not so important indoors, but outdoors it is quite important as the pot material influences how quickly the plant will dry out, and how protected the roots will be from a cold spell. Most stores carry terracotta, wood or plastic planters. Porous ceramic pots like terracotta will dry more evenly than plastic pots, and any wood planter will dry even faster than terracotta. In some cases folks do not want their plants to dry out but want the look of a terra cotta planter, so plastic sheeting is placed within the pot. Ceramic planters also are great choices and can look more attractive on a patio if the rustic look isn’t for you.. Avoid plastic planters or pots if you can help it. Plastic is not porous, it pollutes the oceans, and, sorry to say, it really does not do your beautiful plants justice. If you are worried about weight when choosing large pots, there is an option other than plastic, which is fiberglass. Fiberglass planters come in sophisticated colors and styles and while more costly than plastic, look much better and are much longer lasting than plastic.

I hope this guide has been informative, and if nothing else, just realize that a little knowledge goes a long way when it comes to caring for plants. If you don’t know, ask, but ask someone who really knows, and consult several sources to make sure the information is accurate. Here’s to raising healthy long living plants that will bring joy to your home!