Dear Friends,

Recently i purschased around 12 plastic pot of 12'' size black colour from banglore all proffessional grade.and when i took the delivery of these pots,my assistants asked me for what purpose are we going to use these 12 plastic filters...!

i asked them what were they tellling ,they thought seeing the big holes in those plastic pots,that it was some kind of a filter and not a pot used for plantings..

them immedietly we placed a palm sapling in it,and closed all the drain holes using small terracotta slabs but just within few weeks time i realised that the soil was comming out of those drain holes heavily while watering and even red ants were going in and out at their own free will.

Now my question is are all the plastic pots avaliable globelly do they have holes already made or do you have dummies that you break open as per your usage ? If the answer is even you have huge hole already made in them,how do you mamage to plant your palms without allowing the water to erode all the soil from the pot ?

And another question to all the proffesional growers & nursery guys...is that are these holes made by the manufactures in consultation with the nursery guys or is it decided by the manufactures themself

Since those village guys who work for me seem to have more brains than the pot manufacturer,since right from the start they were telling me that they should have placed dummies which could be broke open by the buyer,than keeping it always or already open.

All these years i kept using terracotta pots,cement pots,or industrial barrels for my palm saplings or seedlings growing requirement,but i wanted my work to look bit neat & have proffessional feel to it.but to our surprise the drain holes are so big that all my fingers except the thumb,freely travells though them...is it some kind of a joke these manufactures playing with us ?

I will give you stills & illustration in the following post,but i want to know as to who decides the size of the drain holes and is their any binding convention that the plastic pots should have so many holes of that size,and that to so many...

Thanks & love,

Kris.

Kris,

I use plastic pots. Most have holes on the side that are a bit big. I place small rocks in front of each and then put in at least 2 inch of red cinder, depending on pot and hole size, but you could use any gravel. This should slow erosion and give the pot a bit of bottom weight if you use rocks.

Thanks Dear Steve for sharing your technick...And here are the stills of my trouble...

Here is the 12" plastic pot :

Here is a small plastic pot :

2 types of pots have been taken for comparision,since both are different size,shape & colour but what is most stricking is they both host big size drain holes already made

A little fir bark in the bottom of the pot helps keep the soil from washing away as well.

Jeff

Thanks Dear Jeff,look what i had done and correct me if iam wrong..

First of all let me show you what i have done with the 12" plastic pot to plug the huge drain holes...

Stage_1

Here in this 12" pot their is a mid rib section,which is there to offer the pot some support,so that it does not bend when we carry,this is the problematic zone,since we cannot place any blocks on this clift.So i decided to close these holes with proffesional grade steel grip insultion tape...and it sticks to the dried plastic like hell..

Now Shall we have a close-up's of that area..

.

Stage_2

Now to the base or bottom drain holes of this pot,i had some spare plastic mosquito net left from last years carpenter repair work.i thought it will work as a filter and also wan't disintegrate as quick as any Bio product..And here are the visuals of that..

Now using that net material,i stated closing the drain holes in this fashion..

After filtering & shutting all unwanted drain holes,now the base bottom area was filled with granite crushed chips(constructional grade),used it for weight & its porous quality..

And then we started filling the pot with regular washed river sand course grade..just to cover those granite chips !

Since all the ground work was over,we decided to plant the palm sapling using

'kris soil Mix' here you can see that soil,which will be used to fill entire pot as the potting medium !

.

That's a lot of work.

i agree. lot of work.

Kris i have pots with same or even bigger holes and i don't loose soil..

Maybe it's because type of soil...

Kris,

Those holes are put there for a reason......drainage. And without it, your palms will get water logged and slowly get root rot. You might need to adjust your soil mix. Over time, you can expect a certain amout of soil loss, but it should be very minimal.

007

Dear Steve,Jeff,Peter & 007

thanks gentlemen for your suggestion & assistance ! i wish to narrate a funny incidence that took place while my assistant & me were examining these jamboo drain holed pots,right at that moment few close relatives visited our residence...and seeing that we were up to something even they came close to us..and on seeing those big drain holes they said good god,those holes are sufficient even for those monstrus tuskers to pass through as seen in the movie 'Lord of the rings' Part 3 and more funny is they believe that we were the once who drilled those huge holes in it.since on a previous ocassion they had seen me drill small holes into the industrial barrels which i use to grow large sized palms in our roof top gardens.I tried to explain to them it is the handicraft of the pot manufacture & not us...they were not convienced,but said those guys are not so stupid to put drain holes of that size.they still believe its my work,and felt iam still an ammeture in this field...

And all i could do was to grin & smile hiding my displeasure & anger...

And more visuals are comming your way...so stay tuned to this channel

Thanks friends,

lots of love to you all,

Kris

Those holes look normal-size to me. I would recommend to not put the filter material there, as that could get clogged and prevent much water from draining out. When you first put dry potting mix in those, a tiny bit might spill out of the holes, but after that the loss should be pretty minimal.

Kris, please measure the size (diameter) of your holes, and I'll measure mine and let you know.

As i said i don't loose any soil from my pots.

You might have a problem with your soil type...but like Jeff and Mark said over time you can expect a certain amout of soil loss, but it should be very minimal.

And maybe it was dry at first... Even pure sand shouldn't go away like that.

Pot number 1

Overall height: 10 inches (25 centimeters)

Side holes, 2 centimeters

Pot number 2

Overall height: 7 inches (17-18 centimeters)

Hole size: 1 centimeter

Pot number 3

Overall height: 18 cm

Hole size: 1.4 cm

Those are nice pots! They look very well made. Hmm. Bet you could ship 'em here . . . . .

As Jeff and the others indicated, the holes are necessary for drainage. Plug them, and you will lose your plants eventually, unless they're aquatic.

If you use a soil mix that's very high in organic material, i.e., humus, you will lose soil over time as the humus decays further, and eventually vanishes, leaving sand, rock, vermiculite, etc., in the pot, with a corresponding loss of soil volume.

Soil will also wash of the bottom, but that's not nearly the problem that decay is. You can slow the process by using those pieces of mesh. A lot of work, but effective.

Accept the fact that you will need to repot potted palms eventually and replace the old soil with new, even if the palm does not actually outgrow the pot.

I've got a BUNCH of plants I need to repot for the reasons set forth above.

Sigh. . . . . A container ranch is a lot of work, with or without ranch hands. . . . .

Kris, I agree that's a lot of work. I throw some spanish moss in the bottom of my pots and that's it. I used to use pot shards but the moss works better for me. By the time it degrades there isn't much loose soil left, mostly roots. I don't know the availability of spanish moss in India, spahgnum moss is pretty much the same thing.

Tim

those size holes are normal for pots here.

I throw old oak leaves which are very abundant here to cover the bottom then atart adding soil, the oak leaves decompose at about the same rate as the roots overtake the pot, plus the decaying oak leaves add some compost matirial and its lighter and free as compared to crushed granite rock or somthing else.

Looking pretty normal - size holes to me, too.

Whenever I start loosing soil from a pot, I'm shure that ants nest there.

Your problem seems to be either the soil mix as stated above, or the ants.

I agree with everyone-those are normal pots, normal size holes. I also think its your growing medium that is the problem-too much sand, and maybe too much watering at one time that is washing the sand out, but i would not plug up those holes.

I agree with everyone-those are normal pots, normal size holes. I also think its your growing medium that is the problem-too much sand, and maybe too much watering at one time that is washing the sand out, but i would not plug up those holes.

I agree Kris........they are normal sized holes. I also find using too much sand in the mix washes out quicker, but if you got as much clay as you mention in some of your posts, then they will not wash out much when things settle. Clogging the holes up is asking for root rot.

Kris,

Do you buy soil made for potting? If you moisten it before putting it in the pots, it won't run out through those holes, which are pretty typical looking. I hope you're not using soil from your yard, especially if it contains a lot of clay. It's not suitable for potted palms as it will harden and compact and won't allow enough root breathing or drainage.

I place a piece of toilet paper or paper towel over the holes. It keeps the soil intact until the mix and roots settle in, and then it degrades. Water can still drain freely.

Dear Petar

give me some time to offload stills from my camera to the computer system ..since i do this every 2 months only.but i will give you the measurement stills soon.but seeing your stills it clear that the size of your pot drain holes are very similar to what i got in my pots.

So,its clear that the manufactures around the world have decided these as the standard size for their plastic pots...But iam not happy with this arrangement,since guys like me need choice in number of drain holes & their sizes.since iam not growing some desert plant(josheua tree) or dragon blood tree in it.

And thanks to all my friends who took time to explain that ,this is a normal phenomenan and not a manufacturing defect of some kind ?

Thanks & love,

Kris

.

Now lets see the plight of the normal small sized pots !

here also i do not have the options of the number of drain holes in them nor its size ?

Here is a still of the mosquito net that i have to cut to the pots circular base size:

this is how it looks after cutting it in a circular fashion :

Now this circular net is placed at the plastic pots base area :

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In days to come i will post updates of how this alteration work in those plastic pots are doing...as for as my observation goes they are all doing fine.not a drop of loose sand comes out these modified pots..even while watering those pots heavily during our summer season.

And as far as making my soil mix more clayee or other means have left lots of palms,cycas & cactus rot in previous ocassion.so i cannot use your kind of soil or cocopeat-perilite kind of potting medium..since the climate is very wiered heavy rains continously for 3 to 7 days with water clogging on our streets & gardens for weeks due to thick clayee soil.

And even in our summers we get such rains,and most important thing is we have wet winters and iam situated very close to the sea shore,so we have year round coastal humidity...our rifregerator & aircons pump out moisture heavily.and in our airconditioned rooms all our consumer durables all sweat moisture..

so you can understand what will happen if we prepare a thicker soil ?

thanks & love,

Kris

By the way your suggestions & comments,including critisium is always welcome,since all of us here are striving to make our palms look better...so kindly feel free !

Kris, I'm always saying that many pots don't have enough drainage holes. To me the bigger the drainage holes the better. It's all about drainage, DRAINAGE.

Rotting plants are not much fun, and if you block those holes up and get heavy rain in your monsoon, your palms will suffer, unless you are growing Nypa fruticans for example. Beleive me, those pots are perfect without modifications.

Best regards

Tyrone

If that mosquito net prevents ants from nesting in your pots, it's an excellent idea. Otherwise, I still believe your pots are ok.

This can be a problem with very fine/sandy mixes, particularly if they dry out too much between waterings. If you want to stick with your usual sandy mix, use some large stones, broken clay, whatever at the bottom of the pot, but put some fairly fine pea gravel/shingle over that 6-10mm (¼-⅜") guage stones should work. They are large enough to allow good drainage, but small enough that not too much solid matter will wash past them. That said, it will only delay things. Keeping the medium more moist at the bottom of the pot should also help, possibly put the pots in saucers with a small amount of water that can be sucked up to stop it drying out too much.

If you are feeling more adventurous, try an alternartive potting mix, either something more cohesive or something with larger particular size.

Most people wouldn't recommend this, because of it's fertilizer leeching properties, but a total solution would be to line the pots with bark chips. They will retain more moisture than the rest of the mix, which avoids your medium staying too wet and when you water from the top, rather than the mix being washed past the bark, it will just stick to it.

Since good drainage is so important for you, you need to be careful that those drainage holes don't clog! Presumably, the reason holes are so big in planting pots is to prevent clogging--smaller holes are more likely to get clogged by roots or elements in the soil.

So IMHO I think you should reconsider the use of that screening material, due to the possibility of it clogging. Wouldn't it be better to lose a little sand/potting material than to run the risk of clogging the drainage holes, especially considering that extremely wet climate?

.since the climate is very wiered heavy rains continously for 3 to 7 days with water clogging on our streets & gardens for weeks due to thick clayee soil.

And even in our summers we get such rains,and most important thing is we have wet winters and iam situated very close to the sea shore,so we have year round coastal humidity...our rifregerator & aircons pump out moisture heavily.and in our airconditioned rooms all our consumer durables all sweat moisture..

Dear Tyrone,Neo & Mark...

thanks for you time gentlemen,but if you illustrate some stills as to how you close those drain holes will be greatly appriciated...i.e, i want to see visuals of your work since by your expliantion it seems some are using clayee soil or stones & pebbles to particially cover these drain holes...since basic physics is none of the object that has some weight can defy newton's laws on gravity ?

that is when water is poured to the top soil,they will flow downward and if the holes are big they will drain bringing the soil out of the pot,gradually or swifty based on the force in which the pot is watered.i water my pots with a mug of water and field grown onces with normal water horse...

the following posts have some visuals of the method adopted by us...

thanks & love,

Kris

Kris,

If you do get a lot of rain, it is definitely not advisable to have less drainage holes. I understand where you are coming from, as we do have 2 weeks of rain during the monsoon. Our mix is very light.. a lot lighter than any other place in Australia. That is why in the dry season, I can't miss watering, otherwise things will dry out since the potting mix doesn't retain moisture. It is a fine balance here between keeping them drier in the wet and wetter in the dry (if you know what I mean).

I do loose soil from the bottom, but I usually repot them then. It is unavoidable, but sometimes you have to do it. Besides, things grow so fast where you are anyway, you have to repot them more often than most people. Otherwise they will rot in the wet season.

Let us know how you go.

Regards, Ari

Thanks Dear Ari

Let's see some visuals of my work,and these stills are all old...so your suggestions can come in handy when i start some fresh repotting work !

Here are the visuals of a normal sized plastic pot...

Here is a close-up of the drain holes & you can notice its size seems to be constant,irrespective of the pot's dimnesion...? No dummies seen !

This is the mosquito net's from which i will be fabricating my pot drain filters..

Here is the circular filter that iam holding,that i am going to use on the above pot..

Now this is how it looks,when placed inside the pots drain holes..

Now lets see a sample of my entire potting work !

Now we started to water this pot to check the drain system..

...

This is a still of the same palm after 2 months,and these 2 months we did have good rainfall now & then..the palm seems to be doing fine !

thanks & love,

Kris

Kris, most pots we have here have much more drainage area than the pots you bought. Are you limited in the types of potting mix you can obtain there? Most mixes here are very organic, and although I lose a little mix through the holes, it is not a problem. By the time enough has fallen through, it is time to repot anyway. By keeping the mix moist, it reduces the 'grain' effect through the drainage holes.

regards,

Daryl

Hi Kris, Everyone is giving you excellent advice. I would like to add two things to this subject. One is I would be careful not to put your pots on dirt or any other substance that might prevent drainage of your holes that are on the bottom of your pots. I use pots that have holes low and on the sides of the pot. (I don't block the holes with anything by the way!) Two is almost anything I have planted in black containers does NOT go into full hot summer sun. I use 40% black shade cloth here in inland So. California. It can get to 110 degress f. + here. Remember drainage is extreamly important as mentioned by others! Take care my friend, Randy

I don't do anything to block the holes! Even though the potting soil material is much finer than the hole size, the material sticks well enough together. At first, putting the initial potting soil in, there sometimes is a little loss, but I just fill the pot over other potting soil, so none of the leakage is lost. Then, over time, there is a tiny bit of loss, but not much. This has been the case for many combinations of potting soil material. I have never used sand, though.

thanks for you time gentlemen,but if you illustrate some stills as to how you close those drain holes will be greatly appriciated...i.e, i want to see visuals of your work since by your expliantion it seems some are using clayee soil or stones & pebbles to particially cover these drain holes...since basic physics is none of the object that has some weight can defy newton's laws on gravity ?

that is when water is poured to the top soil,they will flow downward and if the holes are big they will drain bringing the soil out of the pot,gradually or swifty based on the force in which the pot is watered.i water my pots with a mug of water and field grown onces with normal water horse...

Some new pots that i have purschased recently...here the drainholes seem to be normal !

One taken without flash for better clarity & less glare..

...

Some more visuals of how i use my plastic barrels as pots...though i personally feel normal sized drain holes are better to work with than index finger sized drain holes... Since my soil mix is predominently sandy.So the soil get flushed out when i water the pots with help of a water hose..

Here you can see that the industrial barrel are drilled to create drain holes,which are closed using plastic mosquito net.later these are covered with

coarse grade perlite initially,later about 4 to 6 cms of the bottom section is covered with a mix of perlite & cocopeat,after that its just coarse river sand filled till the top section..

...

Some stills of the indusrtial barrel,i must say that these feel very rugged and if one has dwarf varities to be container grown,i would saftely suggest these barrels..and for those who's work warrent constant travelling with their loved ones...& palms(Ref.to job transfers)!

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