Okay, here’s my blog post about whether or not to put soil directly in a planter:
So, I’ve been getting into gardening lately, and let me tell you, it’s a learning curve! My latest project was repotting some plants, and I had this big question: do you put soil directly in the planter, or do you need something else at the bottom? I did a little digging (pun intended!), and here’s what I found out, plus how I actually did it.
My Planter Potting Experiment
First, I grabbed my supplies. I had these cute new planters I was excited about, some potting mix (the regular kind, nothing fancy), and a few plants that were definitely ready for bigger homes. I also had some rocks, because I’d heard mixed things about using them.
I started with one planter. I was a little nervous, honestly, because I didn’t want to mess it up. I figured, “What’s the worst that could happen?” and just dumped some soil straight into the planter. I made sure to not pack it down too tight – I wanted the roots to be able to breathe, you know?
- Step 1: Soil straight in! No rocks, no nothing. Just filled it up about three-quarters of the way.
- Step 2: I gently took my first plant out of its old pot. The roots were all tangled up, poor thing!
- Step 3: I placed the plant in the new planter and added more soil around it, making sure the roots were covered. I gave it a little pat, but again, not too tight.
Then, I did another planter a bit differently. This time, I put a layer of rocks at the bottom before adding any soil. I’d read somewhere that this helps with drainage, but I also read that it doesn’t, so… I was basically just experimenting.
- Planter 2: Rocks at the bottom, then soil, then the plant. Same process as before, just with that extra rock layer.
After I was done potting, I watered both plants. I watched carefully to see how the water drained. Honestly, I didn’t see a HUGE difference between the two. The one with rocks might have drained a tiny bit faster, but it wasn’t dramatic.
I’ve been keeping an eye on both plants for a few weeks now. They both seem pretty happy! They’re growing, they’re not wilting, and the leaves look healthy. So, my totally unscientific conclusion is that, at least for these plants and these planters, it probably doesn’t matter too much whether you put rocks at the bottom or not.
I’m sure there are fancy gardening rules about this, and maybe I’ll learn more as I go. But for now, I’m calling this a success! It just goes to show, sometimes you just gotta try things out and see what works. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty!
