What To Put In Bottom Of Indoor Planter For Drainage?

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It’s inspirational sitting at a cafe shop full of green plants. It gives off a fresh feeling and lends the atmosphere a wonderful landscape. 

If you’re one of those who want to bring that greenery into your home, knowing how to grow them under your roof is a must. Don’t worry, now you can seek for more information from gardening101.net.

But when planting indoors, a riddle arises: what to put in bottom of indoor planter for drainage? Let’s discover the method with our below content.

Why Drainage Is Important For Plants?

what to put in the bottom of a planter for drainage

To all living creatures, including greeneries, water is indispensable and can affect their health both positively or negatively. Improper watering and maintaining the water content, such as leaving it dry out or soaked in water, can lead to severe damage.

If the water doesn’t get out properly, it will waterlog the soil, rendering the plant roots to rot and decay. From that wet potting soil, fungi may develop. And we all know that fungi do no good things but will cause many severe diseases to our greeneries.

Then, what to put in the bottom of a planter for drainage? Here come the answers!

What To Put In Bottom Of Indoor Planter For Drainage?

What can I put in the bottom of my indoor planter for drainage?”. Is that what’s floating your mind ever since? This section will list some of the best candidates for this job. 

Before getting into it, here’s a little note: Consider your pot’s weight and where you will place it. The extra layer may make the pot less condensed and more lightweight, and the pot will turn over when facing the wind.

Packing Peanuts

Reusing the polystyrene foam in packing peanuts for your larger planters can help. Not only are they super light, but doing so means you’re joining hands to save our planet.

Unlike when we check for organic materials from products, you will need to avoid those materials this time. It’s because they will quickly break down once they meet water.

What can I put in the bottom of my indoor planter for drainage

Bubble Wrap

Saving bubble wrap from ordered packages, then filling them in the bottom of your pots is a brilliant idea. They will not break down easily and are even lighter than packing peanuts! 

The idea is to leave space on the edges so water can go down and not get stuck on the surface of your wrap.

Read more:  How To Fix Stunted Growth in Plants - A Comprehensive Guideline

Wood Mulch

This organic option is chipped trees available in any gardening store and somewhat heavier than the options above. Still, it yields a good effect.

You can even make it at home using the branches cut down from your trees. After collecting these branches, use your wood shredder/chipper to chip them down. If you don’t have one, just rent it from any store.

After time sitting in your plant pots, they will eventually dissolve. There’s one important thing you should keep in mind, though. The one for gardening purposes is what you should head for, not the one for gas grill or charcoal. 

If you intend to place them in transparent planters, choose the color of wood mulch that blends well with the space. It is available in brown, black, and red.

Kitchen Colander

Those holes of the colander will surely do a great job draining excess water out. You can recycle the old colander available in your pantry or buy a new one that is not expensive.

what to put in bottom of indoor planter for drainage

Large Rocks

Browsing the Internet, you will see not many people encourage you to put pea pebbles, landscape rocks, or any layer of gravel in your potted plants. The reason is that a layer of gravel can affect how water moves throughout your containers and sometimes block drainage in pots.

Nevertheless, larger rocks are less dense than gravel and won’t cause compaction. The space between those rocks makes way for water to drain out. Also, this method can prevent you from washing your soil out while watering the plants. Adding those on top can be quite attractive, and is a common practice among the community.

Large or even river rock can help you stabilize your pots if you plan to place them somewhere windy. Remember to layer a cloth on the rocks so your potting mix won’t fall.

Plastic Bottles Or Crushed Cans

Don’t throw away those plastic water bottles and cans just yet! You can reuse them in multiple ways. One of the best ways is to crush them and utilize as a layer at the bottom of your planters.

Your bottles should be empty with their caps still on, so they won’t get the water that drains down inside of them. They are light enough and won’t be affected by the potting soil in the long run. 

If you want to use crushed soda cans, don’t leave any residue remaining in them when you’re packing them in the pots. The best method is to wash them beforehand. That residue can even cause contamination!

Read more:  How To Shade Outdoor Plants From The Sun

Soil Amendments

What can I put under my planter for drainage out of the options above? Soil amendments do a great job of enhancing the draining system of soil.

Using perlite will help you drain the pot and stimulate the development of the plant roots. It will prevent the scenario of the soil being too compacted. You can choose perlite and a type of soil and then mix them, or buy bags of potting soil already mixed with perlite.

In case you’re growing succulents and cactuses, those that thrive better in dry soil, don’t use perlite. Besides, compost is also an option you can think of.

what to put in bottom of indoor planter for drainage

Bloom Ups A Daisy Planter Insert

This product is a plastic disc that manufacturers have poked proper drainage holes. Depending on your preferences, it will act as a false bottom that is not at the bottom but higher. They come in efficient sizes from 10 up to 18 inches.

Conclusion

Every option of what to put in bottom of indoor planter for drainage mentioned above are all easy to find. Some of them are items you can use to lessen the carbon footprint of your household! That’s killing two birds with one stone!

Now, it’s your turn. Roll up your sleeves and walk around your kitchen. Maybe you can find something to help your plants with better irrigation.

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