Patios and decks are frequently constructed from either wood or concrete. Most people believe they can handle practically any situation. They may, however, be vulnerable to harm from plant drainage. As a result, you must place plant saucers beneath all of your outdoor plants. Potted plants without saucers may need costly deck or patio repairs in a few different ways.
Plant saucers can help shield the wood deck’s planks from excess moisture that could otherwise cause rot, water damage, and warping. Even though the wood is protected, the sealants do eventually wear off, especially if they are constantly exposed to water. Therefore, it’s crucial to have a device there to collect any additional water your plants may need. Additionally, when you water your plants, you’re not only giving them a drink; you’re also assisting in the soil’s removal of excess salts and irons. Although beneficial for your plants, this may leave stains on your outdoor sanctuary. For this reason, we also advise using hanging basket drip pans for outdoor hanging plants. In order to prevent deck stains from plants, they also function to collect surplus water, salt, and iron.
However, plant saucers are still necessary for protection even if your patio is made of concrete. Concrete is robust and resilient to many different forces. Salts and irons flushed from soils during irrigation, however, can still cause stains. Additionally, letting water linger on your concrete patio for an extended period of time can encourage the formation of mould and mildew, which no one likes to deal with. Instead, using our plant saucers, which have ample drainage and circulation, not only helps maintain the health of your plants, but also helps safeguard patios and decks.
Need a plant saucer, please?
Drainage is one of the most important factors you need to pay strict attention to when it comes to any sort of plant, but even more so with indoor plants. The bottom of decent containers will therefore typically feature drainage holes, as you may have seen. However, a common factor that people frequently overlook is where the extra water will go. The use of a saucer is then necessary.
So why are saucers required for plant pots? Plant pots employ saucers to catch the water that drains from your pot even though they are not required. It might easily run over into your carpets, floors, and furniture without this. By collecting the extra water after each watering, your saucer will stop any spills in your house. You must be sure to empty the saucer after watering your plants and giving the water a chance to drain for a few minutes.
Beginners frequently forget to remove the water from the saucer. But your plant could suffer a great deal from this. If the saucer is full, it won’t move, even if you have some well-draining potting soil and many of holes in your pot. Because the roots of your plant will be submerged in water, this could cause root rot. Make careful to tip the extra water in your saucer away after each watering to avoid this. Additionally, it is advisable to tip it away anytime you see more water collecting. After the initial watering, however, this is improbable.
planter and the decking and provide airflow beneath your containers by simply placing them underneath your planter or saucer.
4.) Relocate Your Pot Frequently.
While elevating off the ground is preferable, shifting the location of your container garden can keep your decks dry and reduce discoloration. Your plants can also profit from relocating your planters; by positioning a potted plant at a different angle of the sun, your plant will reach in that direction, strengthening the structure and root system of the plant. If the quantity of sunshine, available space, etc. on your decking prevents you from moving planters, think about going with a solution that elevates your potted plants off the deck’s surface.
5. Continue to Perform Regular Deck Maintenance.
You can safeguard your decking from damage from your container garden as well as from bad weather and sun exposure by simply doing your annual deck maintenance and inspections. Wooden decks are traditional choices for decking materials, but they do require a lot of maintenance to retain their structural integrity and prevent the decking components from buckling, warping, splintering, and rotting. Keep up with your deck cleanings and treatments, such as sanding, staining, and/or sealing, to avoid costly damages to your decking.
What purpose does a plant saucer serve?
Drainage will be crucial in container selection for overall plant health.
be essential to achievement. Buying pots with drainage holes may seem simple, but there are other considerations when growing in containers.
What alternatives are there to plant saucers?
The majority of planters are sold without saucers, and some even lack holes. Learn how to water plants properly and when to use saucers and cachepots.
Not a day goes by at Potted without someone asking whether they need a saucer, especially when they have houseplants. The majority of planters don’t come with saucers, and some of them don’t even have holes, so it’s an excellent question. Here is all there is to know about using saucers with indoor plants:
Facts about plants and planters:
- Nearly all plants require drainage (except water plants)
- Using rocks as drainage occurs occasionally and under extremely fortunate circumstances
- Every pot and saucer made of ceramic has the potential to “sweat” if they are left with any standing water inside (meaning: the water could damage the surface below)
So how do you handle these problems? Do a happy dance if you manage to find a pot and saucer that match, like the one pictured above. This plant would thrive on a sunny windowsill, and as long as you don’t water it there, nothing would be harmed beneath it (more on that later). Sadly, there is little likelihood of discovering a saucer that matches. What should you do if the pot has an uneven shape?
I make strange saucers work by acting as though I intended it to be that way. I adorn them with gorgeous stones, pieces of glass, or marbles and toast to their successful coupling. It’s simple and, as you can see from the example I made above, it truly looks fantastic. I just had to come up with a saucer solution for this stunning planter from Austin-based Foxwares Ceramics because it came with a hole, and I believe it works fantastically.
What transpires, though, if there isn’t a hole? French meaning “to hide a pot,” a planter without a hole is referred to as a cachepot. All 24 of my houseplants are set up in this manner (yes, 24). The cachepot’s charm is that you don’t have to bother about looking for a saucer or run the danger of destroying the pot’s elegance by using an unsightly saucer. I simply set all of my houseplants within the cachepot so that the planter effectively serves as the saucer, keeping them in their original nursery containers that have excellent drainage.
Because it’s so simple for water to collect and soak through, I don’t water my plants in their cachepots or on top of their ceramic saucers. Instead, I take my plants to the sink for a nice soak when it’s time to water, and then I return them to their containers once they have finished draining, which takes each about a minute. My plants grow well, and it’s quite simple.
The goods (shown above) listed below can also be very beneficial:
- I place cork pads under the saucer of every plant that I intend to water in its pot after potting it in soil. The pad prevents the planter from scratching the area I’ve placed it on, and the saucer’s potential sweat from harming wood surfaces is also prevented by the pad’s plastic backing. Additionally, you may use cork pads as saucers under small planters with succulents or other low-water-demanding plants; I do the same thing with my cachepots. Although it might seem excessive, every pot will eventually leak—hopefully not over your antique oak table.
- Plastic saucers: I put one of them into a planter with a hole to transform it into a cachepot. (These could be used as genuine saucers, but I don’t think they look particularly attractive, and I haven’t discovered any number of pebbles that could make them appear otherwise.)
- Rubber pot risers: These raise the pot off the ground, allowing for good airflow. These are only used on larger plants that I can’t water at the sink. I use the risers to raise the plant inside the cachepot so there is less possibility of it resting in water (make sure you use a cork pad under the planter, as you will have standing water from time to time). Pot risers are obviously best used outside on a deck. I frequently observe individuals purchasing saucers for their deck plants in the mistaken belief that they are preserving the wood. When they move the planter and discover everything to have rotten underneath, they are shocked. The saucer is identical to the planter in that it traps water underneath, which will eventually destroy the wood if given no time to dry out.
Are pots with saucers attached good?
Find a means to make a hole in the pot if one does not already exist. To drill is one method. There are pre-punched holes at the bottom of some decorative resin or plastic pots for simple removal. In most cases, not much soil escapes the hole. Some people cover large drainage holes with coffee filter paper to prevent soil from flowing through them, although this is not required. Very little soil media is lost as a result of the little pores in the pot’s bottom that allow water to drain.
There are situations when a plant is already in a pot without any drainage at all. In this situation, turning it on its side for a minute or two to let excess water drain out is the best course of action.
Saucers
Watch out for pots that have saucers that are fixed to the pot and make it difficult or impossible to clear the overflow. I discovered this the hard way when my basil plant’s leaves went black due to waterlogging at the roots, which was caused by a permanently attached saucer. The health of plant roots depends on the drainage of extra water. Utilizing a pot with a separate saucer is much preferable. To give soils a chance to partially dry up, make sure to dump the extra water.
Double potting
Double potting is the practise of placing a smaller container inside a slightly bigger one. The plants grow in a pot liner when double potting is utilised. This is frequently a simple plastic pot. This makes it possible to insert or remove the pot liner from the ornamental container without damaging the plant roots. If water collects in the bottom of the bigger container, remove the inside pot and drain the water from the outside pot. Verify that the plants in the pot liner never stand in water (unless you have aquatic plants). If the decorative pot is deep enough, fill the bottom with gravel. Without putting the plant roots in water, some extra water can collect in the gravel.
It’s possible to use double-potting techniques:
- to fix the issue of an attractive decorative pot’s lack of a drainage hole;
- to rapidly switch out seasonal decorations;
- to blend plants that require various climatic conditions;
- to reduce severe variations in soil temperature;
- to prevent the spread of attractive yet invasive plants.
Skip the gravel inside the bottom of individual or pot liners
It is a fallacy that adding a layer of gravel to the soil-filled bottom of a pot can increase drainage. Extra water “perches” or collects in the soil just above the gravel rather than immediately draining into the gravel. Water builds up till there is no more room for air. Excess water sinks into the gravel below once all the soil’s air spaces are full. Gravel at the bottom therefore does little to prevent soil above it from becoming saturated due to overwatering.
By increasing the humidity around the plants when the water evaporates from the damp gravel surfaces placed in a saucer beneath the pot, it may be beneficial.