Anyone a clay pot fanatic?

[BonsaiBud]

I have a couple cactus. I just put a new one in an old-fashioned clay pot and saucer which I just pulled out of cold storage in my an old closet.

1) It is porous and breaths.
2) evaporation of moisture from the clay surface keeps the roots cool (cactus in bay window)
3) If you overwater, IT BREATHS.
4) It blocks light (as does black plastic)

The drawbacks:
1) heavy and delicate
2) not very efficient use of space in tight grow areas
3) the terra-cotta porous ones don't seem to come in square

Now that said, few of us get to put our plants outside and so the cooling effect is not needed under lights unless you have a very hot growroom and very dry air. Cannabis drinks so much that over-dampness is not much of an issue if the plant is in the proper size pot.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Climbinghigh]

for me, the biggest drawbacks of terra-cotta would be the weight- could be a huge pain in the ass if you gotta pull them out of a tight space often to check for water, etc. But the bigger downer for clay pots is that their breathability/ porousness allows them to suck up and trap salts(fertilizer) that are in the soil (ever seen white crust on an old clay pot?) Just be aware that you may want to soak/scrub the pots after repeated use to clean the salts off. BTW, I have seen square terra-pots, but they seem to be a lot more expensive than round ones. personally, I just stick to plastic and don't over water.

 

[la resistance]

I love using them for herbs and such outside in the legal garden, but inside they're just too much of a hassle. Too heavy, brittle, odd shaped, and plastic makes it easier to clean up

 

[BonsaiBud]

Yes, yes on all points. I do rinse them well. This mineral-sucking effect may be of benefit in some situations. I'll keep that in mind. I just see them as perfect for succulents. They wanna be dry most of the time. They have those nice plastic/felt pads that keep your wooden speakers/dressers dry while letting the saucer breath.

I've got a south facing bay window for my legal collection. I just think the clay pots will keep the roots much more cool.

 

[Guest]

Because the soil drys out faster, just as with the paper fibre pots, better be there to wet the soil down so the roots don't dry out. Some, not all, of the terra cotta pots from south of the border are also known to contain high levels of lead (pb). The tough part is figuring out which ones. This was an issue some years ago when the terra cotta water jugs were tested. I wouldn't grow vegetables or marijuana in them do to the uptake of that heavy metal.

They are great for decoration and ornamental plants.

TyStik

TyStik