Types of Pots for Houseplants

Music]

Hello and welcome to HealthyHouseplants.com, where we teach you all about gardening in the great indoors. Today’s video is sponsored by our Amazon affiliate link, which you’ll see in the description below. You will also see in the description below links to any videos that I mentioned in today’s video.

Today, as you can see, I have a bunch of different pots here. I’m going to talk to you about the differences in various types of pots and their terms. I will also discuss which ones are good for houseplants, the reasons for that, and some of the pros and cons of the various types of pots.

First, I’m going to go through the various types of pots. One of the main ones that you will hear about and is very common is glazed ceramic. This has been high-fired in a kiln several times—generally, they do anywhere from two to three times. They glaze them at a certain point and then re-fire them.

What happens with this glaze, and here’s another one, is that they’re very pretty and shiny. They come in deep rich colors, which makes them very attractive for your houseplants. When they glaze these pots, they allow for moisture to stay inside the pot. This is significant because when you get to something like terracotta, which has not been glazed, it is extremely porous.

So, what happens with this is that the pot will release moisture from all sides—from the bottom, the sides, and the top where the soil is. A terracotta pot will need frequent watering unless you’re growing something like succulents, which like to get dry. If you’re using plain terracotta pots for your houseplants, keep in mind you’re going to need to water them more frequently.

Now with glazed ceramic, it will take more time before you need to water because it retains moisture better, which is a good thing to keep in mind.

Another type is metal. You can also plant in metal; however, when you do, you want to ensure that they have drainage holes. In this metal pot, I did put drainage holes, so whatever I had planted here previously was able to drain. This pot does not have drainage holes, so if I’m going to plant in this, I need to make holes. The same goes for any of the ceramic pots; you need to make sure they have holes. All of these pots here do have holes; however, this one does not.

In this case, you can see I have marbles in here. I will use this to hold a plant that is in another pot, but I am not going to plant in it directly. The marbles here are to keep the water underneath the plant when I water the plant that’s in here, so that it doesn’t sit in water. Since this is a really pretty pot, I didn’t notice it didn’t have drainage holes until I got home. I will be using it with a plant in a plastic pot and putting it inside here, so if there’s a little dribble that goes in there, the marbles will ensure that the plant is not sitting in moisture.

Be very careful with any of these, as they are called catch pots. They are fine, but just ensure that the plants are not sitting in water within them.

Now, let’s talk about plastic. This is a plastic pot, and the cool thing about plastic, besides the fact that it is the most water-retentive and lightweight, is that it’s easy to make holes in. Even better, they now make a lot of really nice plastic pots that actually resemble ceramic pots at first glance. You know this isn’t a ceramic pot because it’s much lighter and easier to make holes in.

Now, as you can imagine, someone could make holes in ceramic with some sort of tool, but I don’t have that. Even if it were possible, I wouldn’t want to chance breaking a ceramic pot, as they are much more expensive than plastic. Plastic is the cheapest option, making it easy to create holes. It’s also lightweight, which is especially helpful when you have a big floor plan and want to move things around. You might want to take it out in the rain or into the shower, and plastic is much better for that. Additionally, it retains moisture very well, so any plants you have planted in plastic pots won’t need watering for a longer time than in the other types.

Another thing to keep in mind with all of these pots is that you want to ensure there are drainage holes. However, you also want to cover those drainage holes to keep the soil in place. What happens in any of these pots—some of the holes are smaller than others—but especially in the ceramic pots, is that every time you water, the soil tends to rinse through. After a period of time, you might find that the soil in the pot gets lower and lower. This can lead to pests and diseases, so it’s important to keep this in mind.

I recommend using screen or drywall tape to cover the drainage holes. I thought drywall tape would make a great screen, so I cut a piece and placed it at the bottom of the pot. This allows for good drainage while keeping the soil in place, which is very handy.

Now, one last thing about plastic that I prefer over other types of pots is that when you water, you can squeeze the plastic pot. This is especially good to do when the plant has been in the same pot for a while. What happens is that the soil creates fissures where the water will flow through. By squeezing the pot when you water, you break that up and ensure that all the roots in the soil receive the water.

So, it will depend on the type of pot you choose based on the look you want. For instance, if you have a plant with very lime green leaves, it would look nice in this pot. In terms of feng shui for indoors, there are certain types of materials you want in specific areas of your home; for example, metal may work better in certain areas for specific plants.

Also, you can use really pretty catch pots and put something like plastic inside them. This gives you a lot of ideas as you choose which pots to use. In terms of costs, plastic and regular terracotta are the cheapest. Next up would be metal, which is easy to find, and the most expensive would be glazed ceramic.

So, that gives you a good idea! Thank you for stopping by today! Please leave any comments about any indoor gardening tutorials you’d like to see, and remember to like, comment, subscribe, and share this video.

Patreon:   / healthyhouseplants  

One-time donation: https://ko-fi.com/healthyhouseplants

Sign up for my monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/g1PCSH 

• Perky Plant fertilizer: https://amzn.to/3RdLA00
• Seaweed extract: https://amzn.to/3z2CsFh
• Rooting hormone: https://amzn.to/3bIXi0t
• Espoma fertilizer: https://amzn.to/3vPa9bs
• Worm compost: https://amzn.to/3HVL01u
• Full-spectrum Light Bulb-Large: https://amzn.to/3yR6VBu
• Full-spectrum Lighting: https://amzn.to/3qhhaiv
• Light meter: https://amzn.to/4dpmp3s
• Moisture meter: https://amzn.to/3TEUu5N
• Hygrometer: https://amzn.to/3Cf6h2F
• Pruning shears: https://amzn.to/3X6oOcg
• ProMix Potting Soil: https://amzn.to/3iVIrjE
• My Organic Green Gourmet Houseplant Fertilizer: healthyhouseplants.storenvy.com
• My Perfect Pumice: Healthy Houseplants Store
• My Organic Green Gourmet Houseplant Fertilizer: Healthy Houseplants Store