Has anyone used the Better Than Rocks container product before? http://apps.betterthanrocks.com/
If you have, would you please comment?
Thanks!
Marilyn
Better Than Rocks Container Product
I've seen some garden magazines promoting those. I'm thinking that the dollar store would be the place to pick them up cheap....kitchen/cleaning scrubbing pads.
I use landscape fabric to cover the drain holes. I don't like to false fill the pots since it will leave less room for the plant roots and most will be quite root bound by the time fall arrives. The huge containers, I add about new potting mix with the previous years once I remove the plant material & roots.
This product does not promote drainage as claimed. It's only value is as a filler, and you can achieve the same end by adding empty plastic containers to the bottom of the pot. Packing peanuts would do the same thing (put them in an old pair of of pantie hose to keep things neat), but the peanuts do not improve drainage, either.
You can read about the science behind why this product doesn't improve drainage by reading the sticky at the top of this forum.
Al
This message was edited Jan 26, 2010 11:56 PM
Thanks for all the info!
I use packing peanuts, but didn't think to add them to an old pair of hose. Great idea! I have those peanuts coming out of the drainage holes. :-((
I'll have to reread the sticky at the top of the forum. :-))
I read it a year or two ago, but might need to read it and see what I missed since then. :-))
Thanks for letting me know about the BTR, so I won't waste my money on it! :-))
Marilyn
Al, you are my hero of container drainage, and I say that in the best possible way. Your articles saved the lives of a number of plants at my house.
Well! Isn't THAT a nice compliment. Once you get to be over 55, you get a lot more generous with your hugs, so (((((you))))) get one for your kindness. :o) Thank you.
Marilyn, I did a little editing of my last post to reflect that the packing peanuts fall into the same category as the 'betterthanrocks' stuff - unhelpful where drainage is concerned. They too, only take up space, which reduces the amount of soil it takes to fill the container. When you use products like you mentioned or packing peanuts, you still end up with the same soggy layer of soil, but instead of it being on the bottom of the container, it 'perches' (yes - just like a bird, which is why it's referred to as a 'perched water table') in the soil just above these coarse drainage layers.
Al
As Red Green is fond of saying: "If they don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." ;-)
Al,
Thanks for telling me about the packing peanuts. I didn't realize that they are/and would be a drainage problem. I won't be using them anymore.
What do you do/use for large pots that take alot of potting soil? Do you just fill them completely with soil every year?
Marilyn
i second that question.
*hugs* right back at you! I can now grow instead of kill Hibiscus and some hardy sempervivums and sedums!
MB - yes, I fill them completely with soil, but that doesn't mean you have to. You can use old soda bottles, packing peanuts, rocks ..... as filler material if you wish. The thing is though, that you just shouldn't use those items thinking that they are going to improve drainage. ;o)
An excellent way to reduce the amount of soil it takes to fill a container, AND help you get away with using more water retentive soils than you could get away with in a regular application is to turn another smaller container upside down in a large container before you fill it. There will be much less soil in the space between the walls. The actual ht of the perched water table will be the same, but there will be much less soil for the pwt to occupy, so much less perched water. If you don't understand (my fault if I didn't explain it clearly enough), let me know and I'll use an illustration.
Celene - I'm going to give you a tip on Hibs - just in case you don't already know this. I hope MB is ok with me going OT for a sec.
They do not like phosphorous, so never use a 'bloombooster' fertilizer on them. To get the best blooms (and foliage), be sure they are not root-bound. If you carry them over from year to year, you need to reduce (root-prune) the roots every spring. Use a fertilizer that is low in P in relation to N. 3:1:3 ratio fertilizers would be about perfect, but they are hard to find. Instead, use 30-10-10, a 3:1:1 ratio fertilizer, and supplement the K by adding potash to your potting soil when you pot the plant (1 tbsp/gallon of soil), or by adding ProTeKt 0-0-3 to your fertilizer solution. You'll have very lovely plants if you use a good soil and follow these two tips.
Al
Thanks Al! I am skeptical about whether or not the two hibiscus I have are going to survive this winter, they're looking iffy. This summer, I'll know better.
Al,
Ok by me to answer questions OT, since I could learn more (and others also) of your 'sage advice'!
Could you explain a little more what you were stating above please?
Thanks!
Marilyn
Perched water tables (PWT) are a product of how small particles in the soil are and gravity. The soil wants to hold water and gravity wants to push it out of the bottom of the pot. Gravity and this tendency for soils with small particles to hold water are antagonists and they come to sort of an agreement at how tall/deep the PWT will be in any particular soil. No matter what shape or depth the container is, the PWT will be the same ht when using the same soil (in multiple containers).
So let's do a little math with cubes. Imagine you've filled a container with soil that is 10x10x10 inches. You have 1,000 cu in of soil in it. Imagine too, that the ht of the PWT of the soil is 3". You have 3x10x10 or 300 cu in of saturated soil after a thorough watering. Now, set a smaller cube inside of the larger (like an overturned pot). This cube displaces some of the soil. Let's say the cube is 8x8x8. We're not particularly concerned with the total volume of soil displaced, only the how much soil that is occupied by the perched water. We know the PWT is 3" deep, so the smaller cube displaces 3x8x8 inches, or 192 cu in of saturated soil. The PWT is still 3" deep, but it only occupies the soil surrounding the smaller cube to a depth of 3". Since the volume of saturated soil has been reduced by just under 2/3 the volume of water in the PWT has also been reduced by 2/3. This means that the planting will use the water in the PWT much faster and favorable aeration can return to heavy soils much faster. The trade-off is in the fact that you are growing in a smaller volume of soil, but there's a fix for that, too. If you NEED a larger volume of soil to accommodate the mass of the plant, grow in a container larger than you normally would whenever you employ the upturned pot method. You can drain additional water from the PWT by properly employing a wick, too.
It's easy to argue from a scientific prospective that most bagged soils (because they hold so much perched water) leave varying degrees of plant vitality sacrificed on the altar of convenience, but fortunately, there are strategies that allow you to reduce the negative effects of these soils.
Al