Planting in a Flower Pot

Flower pots waiting to be used
Photo by Rod Allday

When it comes to planting in a flower pot most people don't have the slightest clue about what they are doing; they just fill the pot with potting soil. This works after a fashion, but there are right ways to do everything. The purpose of this article is to tell you the right way of how to plant in a flower pot.

You started the bottom warbles flowerpots have a small hole to allow for drainage. Cover the small hole with a piece of broken flowerpot, or the plastic lid from a bottle that has a series of holes cut in its bottom that will also promote drainage. This lid is placed upside down on the bottom of the pot so that it covers the hole completely.

Once the lid is a place cover the bottle cap completely with three-quarter inch gravel or crushed stone. On top of this layer continue with about an inch of 3/8 crushed stone. When this layer is in place add another inch of clean sand. On top of the sand place a layer of peat, or you can substitute by using a thin layer of crumpled up facial tissues.

The purpose of the facial tissue or peat is to retain some moisture in the pot without the plants becoming waterlogged.

Fill rest of the pot with a good potting soil of your choice or one that you make yourself. Many potting soils are formulated with a particular type of plant in mind. Be sure you match the potting soil with the planet type you are going to have in the flowerpot.

These measurements can be adjusted to take into consideration different sized flowerpots it is obvious that you wouldn't want to use the same set of measurements on the flowerpot that is 3 inches by on one of his 2 feet high.

When you are planting in a pot you can use either seeds, or seedlings. You should match the size of the plant to the size of the pot even though you are starting from seed. Sometimes you can use several seeds per pot; at other times you may be using bulbs instead. As a general rule depending on the size of the grown plant bulbs may be either planted singly as in the case of the amaryllis or in small groups as is the case of the daffodil or iris.