What's your favorite color theme for containers.

I voted veggies.

I've not previously been a big fan of container plants outdoors. They can be quite lovely but are inclined to dry out daily in our summer heat and they are notoriously difficult to saturate again once dry (water runs down sides and out bottom so that the top inch looks wet but remainder of dirt remains bone dry.) For these reasons, I have mostly avoided containers.

Last winter, however, I started planting veggies in large 2ft D pots on the patio. I added lots of agrasoak to help keep them hydrated and am now hooked on the convenience of having fresh veggies and herbs just outside the kitchen door. Not as lovely as flowers but very tasty and convenient.

All my containers are painted white to match house trim. So tempting when I see multi color glazed ones , but the uniform look adds a formality to my garden that I really enjoy, exception: hanging baskets, which r black wire with coco liners

for me its a toss up between Veggies, and Blues and Purples (and if you can get blues and purples in my veggies, even better, LOL!)

I don't prefer to grow in containers, it's too much work to keep up with the watering.

All my plants are in containers............I HATE to weed. LOL My favorite is the different greens and purples of coleus and sweet potato vines together. Maybe a glossy green or black colocasia or alo thrown in for good measure. Yeah, I have HUGE pots. :>)

The only thing I have in containers is herbs. I used to have a dwarf blueberry bush in one, but forgot to water it for too long last Autumn.

I voted foliage, but since caladiums and coleus are also colorful, it isn't just all green.

Here's my front porch this year.

I don't like to plan on containers, I agree I hate worrying about keeping them watered. But I use containers in front, so they complement the house color. Reds, burgundy, currently there are fancy begonias and caladiums.

Keeping container plants watered in this hot & drought-ridden area is a big pain! But, seems like that is the only way I'm going to have much in the way of plants anymore. I finally admit that it is way too much for me to try & dig up a garden, etc. Age & arthritis being the operative words here. So, everything, from now on, is going into containers.

Like Melody, I also voted for "For the foliage". Nearly all my containers are for Coleus, Caladiums, and Hostas.

A tip for those having difficulty keeping container plants watered:

I've had excellent results with containers by lining the sides with (unused) disposable baby diapers before adding the soil. Cut the diapers open on the sides, so they lie flat or nearly so. The diapers hold a lot of water and also keep water from running down the sides and out when you try to water a dry container. If you do this and add Agrasoak crystals to the soil, you can reduce the need for water quite substantially.

Before, my pots were bone dry daily. After, many were able to subsist on rain water alone. I have a number of potted camellias & daylilies and even a magnolia tree & dwarf peach tree (that bears peaches) which survived for several years on rain water alone while I was ill.

I am growing a lot of plants in containers. I use different containers for different areas. In my greenhouse, I prefer colorful plastic or ceramic pots. I use clay pots for my tropicals and succulents. I am using the plain old black plastic pots to start plants for a project I'm currently working on.

I decided to go with the potted plants for three reasons. Weeding has become painful, but is much easier when the plant is in a pot. Watering a pot saves on water, especially when you have them on a drip irrigation line. Lastly, I like being able to move them around. I usually overwinter my tropicals in the greenhouse, and take them outside in the spring.

I am experimenting with vertical planting, and find it is a lot more enjoyable to grow strawberries where the snails and sow bugs can't get at them.

I recommend pots for disabled gardeners, like me. It will make your life easier.

WIB~

SW

Speediebean...love your coleus and caladiums...so pretty and so easy!

DreamofSpring...I've used the baby diapers, but like those big sponges that you get in the car wash supply area for about a buck. (shaped like a dogbone with a narrow center) I cut them in half and put them about 6" deep in the container. Depending on the container size, I use between 1 and 6 hunks of sponge. Works great for tomatoes in a container. You can just pull the sponge hunk out in one piece whenever you need to change plants or soil at any point.

Dream of Spring and Melody, several years ago, my SIL told me about using adult diapers in the bottoms of pots. Now to be honest, I wasn't sure I believed her, I sort of expected them to pull the water out of the soil.
So I did some "control" plantings. Several different kinds of plants, but 2 of each variety. Same size pot for each variety, one with some adult diaper in the bottom, one without.
I honestly could not tell any difference at all in the water needs in any of them. The plants with the diapers got just as dry just as fast as those without.
So I figured it was another 'fad' idea.
But now, after reading y'all's posts, I'm wondering if I used the wrong product, or put it in the pot wrong, or something.
DOS, your description of lining the sides does make more sense than putting it in the bottom of the pot. Do you line the entire insides of the pot?
And Melody, where do you put the sponges? Around the sides of the pot, also?
I think I am going to get some baby diapers, and try this again!

Melody,

Interesting. I will definitely put that on my list for future pots. I think I might like to use the sponge and the diapers. Right now I use diapers plus Agrasoak granules. Sounds like the sponge would take the place of the Agrasoak granules and at a much better price. What I like about the diapers is that they not only hold water but they close or fill the narrow gap that forms between pot and soil when the soil dries and shrinks - this keeps water from running out of the pot when you try to wet the soil again.

I will definitely be trying the sponge idea though. I already have a couple of those sponges in the garage. Think I will start gathering all of my old sponges for this, even old kitchen sponges. Thanks for the idea!

Definitely DO NOT line the bottom of the pot with diapers. That will keep the pot from draining properly (excess water) and may cause plants to rot. Line the SIDES ONLY. I buy cheap baby diapers, cheapest available, nothing fancy. Cut the sides so they open flat. Line the sides in layers. Adding soil as you go.

As stated, I also add Agrasoak water holding granules to the soil, so I don't use diapers alone. I think putting sponge chunks in the soil as melody does might work with the diapers (instead of Agrasoak). The combination of diapers & Agrasoak made a HUGE difference in water needs of my plants, from pots that were always bone dry despite daily watering to pots that only need watering about 1x per week (and rain takes care of that). Right now I have veggies in a traditional garden and others in large 18in and 2ft diameter pots. I have to water the garden every 2-3 days if it doesn't rain, but the pots (which have tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beets, and kale in them) take care of themselves. I honestly cannot remember when I last watered one of those pots, but I watered the garden just this morning. :-)

In July/August I am most def a slave to container watering, my friends think it is ridiculous. They're prob right but my patio is the gathering place so I do get rewards.

I am reading w/ great interest about diapers and sponges. Question, it's been too long for me to know about diapers so, r u talking about all paper or do they need to have moisture retaining feature. (I may be confusing diapers we/ feminine pads)

I spent big bucks on water reservoirs for containers thru Gardeners Supply and found them gimmicky. True, you didn't water plants as much but only b/c you were filling and refilling reservoirs. In my z9a, that was a daily chore. I've never returned anything so fast!

DofS, you must get a lot more rain than I do b/c I can't imagine leaving container watering to Mom Nature, most would b dead by now.

Would LOVE it if diapers/ sponges were solution to hanging baskets. Those are the ones that are supreme pains for me

Keep sharing your wisdom, I'm listening and enjoying

I have a bunch of the metal hanging baskets with the coir fiber liners for annuals. I lay the coir liners on a length of construction plastic (3 or 4 mils thick) and use a marker to draw around the liners. I cut the circles of plastic and place the coir liner in the basket, cover it with the plastic, and use a nail to poke holes in the plastic starting an inch or so up from the bottom of the basket.

Then fill with an already dampened moisture control potting soil and plants, and top it off with an inch or so of fine mulch and water thoroughly. I usually only have to water the part sun and shade plant baskets a couple times a week and the baskets in full sun every other day if it doesn't rain.

The plastic between the soil and the coir liner helps slow down evaporation due to heat and wind. Oh, and another benefit, the coir doesn't degrade as fast.

Moonhowl, I think you r right on. The better nurseries here sell a hanging basket liner that is "moss looking" on the exterior and plastic on the exterior. I was watering daily but the soil never felt dry like when u use coir. Makes baskets very pretty too but extremely expensive and the darned squirrels love to destroy it. I will try the 4 mil plastic. Twice a wk watering sounds like a dream

"Other" should read "All of the Above." I keep veggies, several willow trees, hostas, canna, tuberose, succulents and a large collection of baby miniature and dwarf conifers that are too small to plant just yet. Those named DLs and peonies that don't have a place in an area under construction are also in pots until their home is constructed next spring.

I use lots of pine bark nuggets about 1/4 inch thick plus the moisture crystals and perlite in my own mix, and for the trees, I have been known to mix in a few of the styrofoam peanuts that come as packing. Somehow I suspect that may be a really bad idea but it does help to fill a large pot and it works for a few years at least.

Vossner, just make sure you leave that inch or so of plastic in the bottom without holes. That becomes a reservoir so rather than having all the water run through immediately, some remains giving the soil time to absorb what it needs.

Rosemary, I use packing peanuts also to help fill large containers. I use the mesh produce bags to hold the peanuts. That keeps them in place and makes repotting easier.

This has become a really interesting thread ! !

DOS, when I experimented with the diapers several years ago, I was told to remove the plastic, waterproof outer coating/layer. Which I did. I used a couple of thicknesses of the absorbent part in the bottom of the pots, and they drained just fine. However, as I've already said, I couldn't tell any difference in the watering needs of those pots versus those without diapers. So I'm assuming you leave the waterproof outer coating on the diapers when you line the sides of the pots? That makes sense, anyhow.

I gave up even trying to keep hanging baskets after the first year of drought we had. Just wasn't worth the effort! Especially with strict watering regulations, which we have now, or maybe I should say still have.

It never occurred to me to mix Styrofoam peanuts into the potting mix, (I rarely have access to the 'peanuts', and they are much too expensive for me to buy) but I do use any Styrofoam I can get my hands on, for drainage in the bottoms of pots. You know, the big, formed "chunks" that are used in packing many items. I break it up into smaller pieces, size depending on the size of the pot it is going into.

MoonHowl, thank you for the idea of using mesh produce bags to contain the Styrofoam! Another idea that never occurred to me, I just fuss & fume while repotting plants with the small chunks of Styrofoam in the bottoms of the posts! One more thing for me to save, beg, borrow, or steal! :) I'll bet used panty hose would work for this, too, especially in smaller pots.

Aluminum cans also make a good bottom drainage layer in the bottom of large pots.

I'm sure loving reading all the good ideas shared here! Thank you to everyone!

Good idea to use the mesh bags to contain the styrofoam peanuts. Otherwise, repotting can be pretty messy.

I use mesh bags and pantyhose to bag the peanuts. When I asked my working Neigbor for her old hose, she thought I was insane. I took my sweet time explaining purpose as I enjoyed her struggles between being polite and calling me crazy, lol

Moonhowl, your comments noted.


This message was edited Aug 17, 2014 4:48 PM

GRIN! Sometimes being thought insane has its' rewards.

You are most welcome, always happy to share an idea.