How To Put Drainage Holes In Ceramic Pots
This post shares how to cover drainage holes in pots, including iii unlike methods to do it!
How to embrace drainage holes in pots
Okay, I know yous might be thinking, "didn't she just do a quick tip postal service on how to plant in pots without drainage holes? And now she is telling us how to drainage holes in pots?" Yes. Yes I am. It's the contrary problem to having no drainage: having as well much drainage.
I recently bought a few cute pots that had drainage holes in the lesser of them but didn't come up with saucers. Really strange…what'southward the bespeak of a drainage hole if you're just going to get h2o all everywhere equally it drains out? You lot could buy niggling plastic saucers, simply sometimes it ruins the look of a pot if you're shooting for a specific aesthetic.
So I'm going to talk nigh three different ways to cover a drainage hole in a pot—one is to completely seal information technology, the other is to merely add a "screen" that will prevent the dirt from coming out, and i is removable. So let'due south exercise it!
METHOD #1 TO Cover DRAINAGE HOLES
Start let'south talk about method number for for covering drainage holes in pots. This is the less permanent of the two methods and still requires a drainage saucer or something like. It'due south best used for plants that you're able to take to a central place and water, letting the water flow freely and into a sink or tub and then putting the plant dorsum where it belongs.
Hither's what you'll need:
- Pot with a drainage hole
- Coffee filter, or for a potent choice that yet allows water to flow freely, try landscaping fabric or tulle
Here's how to cover drainage holes in pots with a filter!
Pace 1: Cut a piece to exist the "filter"
Generally when I do this, I employ a java filter. That'south because I have a bunch of them in the kitchen at all times, and I'm ordinarily potting right beside the kitchen. If it's a big pot, I'll throw the unabridged java filter in the lesser of the pot. If it's a smaller pot, I'll just rip a piece off and put information technology on the drainage pigsty.
Step ii: Plant!
The filter will cake the clay from coming out of the drainage hole. Add a layer of clay on top of the coffee filter and and so add together your plant. Fill in effectually the plant. Now when you h2o the plant, it will drain a bit slower, but it will still drain. If your planter doesn't have a drainage saucer, but let it drain in the sink.
You lot tin also keep the plant on a cork pad or coaster of some sort to make sure condensation doesn't exit onto whatever surface the plant is on. I practice this for a lot of the cute picayune planters I take that either don't accept or don't await good with drainage saucers. Yous can buy cork pads at any big box hardware shop or local nursery.
Speaking of coasters…check out my DIY physical coasters, my DIY dirt marbled coasters, and my tutorial for how to make hexagon resin coasters! I utilise all of these as constitute pads 🙂
Things to keep in mind about this method…
Things to keep in mind—if you're using coffee filters, they volition eventually break down over time. By that signal, the soil volition probable be settled and slightly more packed in, meaning it won't come up out of the drainage hole. So breaking down might non have much of a noticeable affect.
If you want something a bit stronger, you lot can use a piece of landscaping fabric. Since you have to buy landscaping cloth in majority, though, y'all might not want to purchase a whole giant roll just for this. In that case, I recommend heading to a material store and picking out a piece of tulle or netting material from the clearance or remnant area. You could fifty-fifty find and one-time slice of sheet wearable or cloth in your house and use a piece of that.
METHOD #2 TO COVER DRAINAGE HOLES
Method #one, the filter method, works really well in most circumstances. All the same, there might be circumstances where you want to seal a drainage hole completely. That might be because you are putting a plastic nursery pot inside of it or you merely don't desire to deal with drainage holes.
I accept many plants that are perfectly happy with no drainage holes. I realize this is a controversial subject, only it'due south abrasive that people are So against something that And so obviously works for many plants. You merely need to make certain to use a well-draining soil, build some drainage into the bottom, and non over water. I also only use this method with extremely low maintenance plants similar ophidian plants, succulents, pothos, etc.
Here'southward what you'll need:
- Pot with a drainage hole
- Concrete mix, the kind you lot merely add water—or clay
- Disposable bowl and spoon if y'all use physical
- The price sticker the pot came with or aluminum foil
And hither'south how to seal drainage holes in pots!
Step i: Grab a sticker or foil
If your pot is new and came with a price tag on the lesser, apply it to cover the hole. This will requite you the cleanest result. If y'all don't have the price tag, simply prepare the pot downwardly on aluminum foil or something else that it's porous.
So, for example, a paper towel wouldn't be a good idea, nor would a piece of paper. But wax or parchment paper might be fine. Don't overthink it. Just grab something. 🙂
Step 2: Mix concrete if using concrete
Mix up only a bit of physical in a disposable bowl. I used Cement All, which is super easy to utilise. Y'all can probably selection some up at your local Home Depot or Lowe's. Even the smallest box is kind of heavy, but it has a dandy little handle on it.
Simply add one function h2o for every four parts pulverization you use. (Detailed instructions are on the box!) Once completely mixed, the consistency should be like wet sand. It volition start drying quickly, though, and so don't mix until y'all're ready to cascade.
Step 3: Plug!
If you're using physical, cascade down into the bottom of the pot immediately and let dry out. You could cascade plenty just to seal the drainage pigsty, or you could do a layer on the entire lesser of the pot. That'south what I did just because it seemed similar the safest bet and I already have enough concrete mixed up.
When it's dry to the touch, you can peel off the sticker or whatever you used. Come across how neat the sticker kept it? And that'due south it. A permanent option to seal the drainage hole in your pot.
If using dirt instead of physical…
If you don't want to deal with the mess of physical, you lot tin pick upwards some clay that you tin can use to push down into the drainage hole from the inside of the pot. This will permit the clay to take on the exactly grade of the hole and plug it. Depending on the blazon of clay, yous'll so just let the clay air dry or you'll have to bake it.
I also like clay as an alternative to using concrete considering it is less permanent and less messy. Information technology's also easy to go to the craft store and purchase one little tiny package of clay, thus decreasing the amount of waste. And you don't accept to shop a big box of concrete if you're non going to apply it for other projects!
METHOD #3 TO Comprehend DRAINAGE HOLES
This ane is virtually as well like shooting fish in a barrel…method #3 to cover drainage holes in pots is to buy plugs! Some planters even come up with plugs, like the i below that I got on Amazon. (You lot can become this exact planter hither, and I take some other post that features this planter and a bunch of other cute hanging planters you can get on Amazon.)
These are groovy because I can accept the plant to the sink, unplug information technology, water and permit all of the excess water bleed out the hole, and so re-plug and hang! This manner no rogue drops come out onto your floors or tables. Whatever drops that would come out that are trapped inside wouldn't be plenty to hurt the plant.
I downside to this method is that information technology's usually hard to detect a pack of merely a handful of plugs, and you might not want to buy a l-pack if you lot only demand a handful. A second downside is that yous might not be able to discover the size you need to get a tight-enough seal. Something like this set is probably your best bet—information technology has unlike sizes!
Hopefully this mail service helped yous all come up up with a solution for how to comprehend drainage holes in your pots—do yous take some other method? Allow me know, I'thousand all ears!
If you like this post, you might like my mail service about how to treat pothos plants, how to abound pothos from cuttings, how to propagate prickly pear cactus and how to grow German Ivy. And don't miss my post on indoor planter DIYs to help you lot decorate with plants!
Pivot my tutorial for how to encompass drainage holes in pots!
Source: https://www.bybrittanygoldwyn.com/how-to-seal-drainage-holes-in-pots/
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