"Gardens: Old wives' tales" from Saturday's Guardian

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/08/old-wives-tales-gardens
or
http://gu.com/p/2yyd7

This was the one that shocked me:

  Crocks in pots improve drainage
  ...
  False: a drainage layer in the bottom of pots reduces the volume of
  soil available to plant roots. Don't add gravel or crocks, but
  ensure pots have drainage holes.

 
 This was what we were taught when pots were made from fired clay and
had just one hole in the bottom, by placing crocks over the hole you
reduced the risk of the hole becoming blocked by lumps in the compost
which was made chiefly of seived loamwith added sand, later peat was
added esp when the John Innes Institute came up with their recipe for
seed, and potting composts.
With the introduction of plastic post you started to get 4 holes, and
gradualy the number and size has increased and a small intermitent rim
was introduced to stop the pot forming  a seal on flat surfaces.
There are times when I still put coarse peat or bark chippings in the
bottom of large pots that are going to be sitting on the ground as I
believe it helps to prevent water being syphoned into the pot and
causing waterloging and thus stagnant compost.
David Hill

 wrote:


I always generously crock big clay pots with a layer of broken bits,
but never bother with plastic pots as they have multiple holes and
often a 'castellated' base.

--
 
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

 On 12/01/2011 08:03, Chris Hogg wrote:

AS I find that compost tends to get washed out through the holes I
simply line the bottom of my pots with bit of kitchen roll, stolen from
my wife's kitchen. ;-0  Works for me.

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

 

When you empty the paper from the Office Shredder onto the compost heap,
fill something such as an empty loaf bag with some of the shredded paper and
keep in the greenhouse / potting shed  to put into the bottom of the pots
:-))

(Save nicking the Kitchen Roll from her indoors)

Mike



--

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Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
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