Move over Bill Nye! 😂 I loved this. My drainage hack: I keep a turkey baster in my watering can to easily slurp up excess water from the trays as I go. Easy to stop overflows and reach hanging pots with it too. It also helps me precision-water my terrariums, propagations, and anything with dense or spiky foliage it’s hard to get the watering can spout into. Best $1 store purchase ever.
Putting a paper coffee filter over the hole or holes of a pot will keep the soil in the pot and allow water to drain out easily....it has been such an easy way to do this. They are very durable yet light. Great info here! Thanks!
I have watched many Indonesian videos on growing plants in containers and some of them also suggested putting a few pieces of pebbles or gravels at the bottom of the pot to cover the drainage holes ( around 4-5 pebbles ) so as to prevent the soil from blocking the drainage holes and therefore providing good drainage . However the amount of pebbles used are not in a huge amount (as shown in the experiment and covering almost half the container and this will eventually make the pot very heavy ) because the aim is just to cover the drainage holes. I had many instances whereby the soil did clog up the drainage holes of my containers and caused root rot ( I didn't add pebbles). Even" Gardening is my Passion" suggested putting some broken pieces of a terracotta pot at the bottom of the containers for the same reason : To prevent the drainage holes from being clogged by the soil. He normally uses only one piece of a broken terracotta pot because the pots used have only one drainage hole. So maybe one shouldn't fill up almost half or one third of the container/pot with pebbles in order to avoid the perched water table problem. Gardening Is My Passion (India) always uses garden soil in his potted plants as part of the soil medium(this helps to cut costs) ; however not solely garden soil. To improve the drainage, he also use sand, perlite , rice hulls/husks and others.
This is one of those times where you don’t offer a reason why you did something specific because in your mind, it’s something that can be filed under “common sense” or even in the “no duh” cabinet. I don’t know Maria and this is the first video that I’ve watched from this channel. That said, I’m pretty sure that in the experiment, she filled half of the pot in question with semi-hydrous balls as an exaggeration. A deliberate attempt for the 3rd grader in the class to visually see and hopefully understand the concept of the perched water table. What makes all of this funny is that until I read the comment above, I thought she was saying “purged” water table.
Correct. Only a small layer around the drainage hole should be used. Roots grow down and eventually, in time, will find the drainage hole and as they grow, will clog that drainage hole. Then your plant will drown. I lay flyscreen mesh over the layer of pebbles and soil above the mesh. This slows the roots from going into the rock layer and water will always drain. The best thing people can do is not to overwater their plants.
where have you been all my life? Finally! Soil science made plain. This is knowledge that ALL plant growers need! But you ALL NEED to see the video described by the text "Water movement in the soil".
Hands down the best explanation of the parched water table. I finally understand why puttings gravel at the bottom of pots won't work. everybody says it can be detrimental to plants, but no one was able to provide a clear explanation of the why. Good job!
I was going to play this on 2x speed to quickly get the info and also just skip through but it ended up being so interesting and engaging from the start that I watched it all the way through. My attention deficit disorder is shook.
When I do put hard, heavy bits in the bottom of a pot, it's either to weigh down something to protect against tipping, or it's crock shard (not flush) over any very large drainage holes to prevent losing too much soil until the roots can bind it up better. I feel like what a lot of people *think* they're doing would be better accomplished by placing drainable growing containers *on top of* pebbles or fired clay pellets so that you don't raise the perched water table, but you also provide a greater reservoir than a shallow saucer would. This way you either don't get a spilling saucer, or if you have deep-rooted plants, you can keep the drainage holes more open to the air than they would be if the bottom is close to flush with a saucer.
Great demonstration of what “tapla” used to preach on the old gardenweb forums! Using his advice I started planting almost exclusively in gritty mix. Another good tip is to tilt the pot diagonally to reduce the water table volume even more! 💫
Was watching this in incognito mode, had to switch over to my main account so I could like and post a comment for the algorithm. Great info, and well-illustrated with real world examples. Thanks!
You are literally one of the most adorable people I've ever seen! Oh and the video's content? Informative and coherently organized! And of the delivery? Charming, perfectly and absolutely so!! Fantastic effort!
U blew my mind with the perched water table. I've never heard of it and I've been growing indoors for years. That really helped me understand where i run into problems now n then. Thank u 😉
This was amazing. Had to teach myself what PWT is for my Plant Propagation class and this was the most useful video I watched. Thank you for taking the time to relay this information!
I have tried pebbles on my very large terra-cotta part as well as just a few large river rocks to which does better. To make the comparison trifold, another had nothing but potting soil in it. With the first round I noticed that the pure potting soil and pebble lined ones retained more moisture on the bottom of the pots while the one with a few large with rocks rocks did not have that issue. A little research showed larger parts tend to have an issue with standing water along the bottom because the bottom of the pots are so flat and wide. So three smaller holes were drilled through the bottom and round two was conducted. Both the pure soil and pebbled pots did a little better, but not as good as the one with large river rocks. This could be due to my pots being 26 inches wide and 24 inches deep, wider at the top then the bottom. For the pebbled pot, it was a thin layer of pebbles instead of filling up half the pot.
Very interesting. A couple of questions (I am REALLY new to houseplants): What determines the perched water table level? You mentioned sometimes leaving some water in the tray the pot sits in so the roots can later soak up what they need through capillary action. So the soil has capillary action which contributes to the level of the perched water table, and roots also pull in water through capillary action? I cannot really say what I learned that I didn't know, because nearly all of what you said I didn't know! Thank you for these lessons.
Thank for the free learning. I had a feeling this was the way to go. And remember how the past generation held plants before all the leca stones was a thing.
I've always added large chunks of bark and other chunky media to my mix, unsure why but I've always done it from day 1 purely to add more aeration into my pots 🤣 glad I started off in a semi okay way but still not quite right I don't think lol Great info to soak up in this video, thank you for making content :)
This is very helpful! Thank you for posting this video! I was about to be a victim of the idea of the perched water table... you saved my plants from that myth.
These are awesome experiments. I am so glad you enjoyed the class and took the gained knowledge into the next level! Great job. Very engaging. I will show this to my future students.
wow thank you for taking the time to show and explain what you learned, I am a beginner who has some plants with drainage and some without and I couldn't understand the difference in benefits drainage could have on a plant.
Very helpful information! Thank you!! I have two plants that are looking quite sad due to drainage issues, and I believe I know how to help them now! 😃
Thank you for this educational and easy to understand explanation! I was about to put clay balls at the bottom of my tiny pots. I might mix in a tiny amount (1:4 clay to soil) instead of just layering them for the plants that need more air and drainage.
Fantastic work! Information dense and engaging little class, hope you continue with teaching. I stumbled on your video actually looking for an NYBG class, but your succinct 15 minutes gave me exactly what I needed since I am replanting into an expensive line of pots with no drainage. Instinct and common advice says to start with a layer of pebbles and that the higher that layer is, the more effective the drainage is. How wrong. With the perched water table, that would have just brought the water level up higher in the pots and actually decreased the usable growing space. I am off today to find some liners for those gorgeous pots.Thank you so much for posting this.
Thank you for the clear and informative video. Can one use normal garden soil mixed with perlite, organic potting soil? Will the mixture be effective for well draining? Reason for mixing,is to save on costs in large containers
You're a really good teacher. You have a passion for education. I've never really all about the soil in that way although I have removed most of the clay out of stuff I dug out of the yard. Not for planting I was actually after the clay. It will actually dissolving become a liquid so you could separate it like a gray slurry that's down in Alabama. I've been growing peppers for about three months. By accident some seeds started growing so I figured that's my calling. Grow big or go home.With a electromechanical background and winter approaching I'll be applying my knowledge to grow lights and experimenting with different LEDS color combinations and you know all the other alphabets, reflectors, lenses, diffusers, airflow, maybe learn something new. Intelligence is sexy and it's a whole lot easier to pay attention to somebody well-informed, speaks clearly and not to sound like your average male although it is what it is. Men pay more attention to somebody they find attractive. Hell here's proof I subscribed. I'm looking forward to more experiments and education. I believe maybe the best video I have seen on RU-vid since the invention of the internet.
So what happens if you have a soil mixed in with your rocks for a "drainage" area? The saturated area would then be moved down within the rock area instead of above it, no?
I have a new gold lantana in a pretty big pot outside and it gets alot of attention. Over the last 3 weeks its been looking sad and had me scratching my head on whats going on.. Figuring it was root bound with all the soil used up I removed it today from the planter and guess what was at the bottom? A lot of rocks! Ive learnt about not using rocks over the last 6 months and dont do it anymore but just forgot about this planter having them. The lantana was not rootbound. The soil was hot! The rocks was even hotter. The rocks was absorbing the heat making the medium super hot. I wish I would have measured the tempature of soil for reference but need to get me a soil thermometer.
1- in the experiment to show the sponge draining off the water down & capillary action pushing it up, the theory of perched water table is not enough established /for it will keep dripping off down & so the lower portion remains moist.. which portion will dry out once all water has dripped away Wonder if i am able to put forth my view 2- if the gravel is not placed at the bottom, the holes get clogged & there’s no drain off & roots rot In absence if gravel, how ensure drain out
What do you recommend for wall planters. Can’t use a saucer to hold the water and because of the flat back you can’t use a nursery pot. I hat can you do in these cases besides mop after every watering. Also because pot is nailed to wall not ideal to remove to water. Any suggestions?
If I'm gonna transplant to another pot I use plastic pots but the final pot I always use a smart pot(fabric) has great air flow no water just sitting in the bottom like a plastic pot. If you have root rot get some SLF-100 pretty much cleans roots and gets rid of root rot.
I use medium sized River rocks at the bottom of many pots and never have a problem. My pots all have drain holes. The ones with rocks at the bottom drain quicker. Maybe bc it has a lot of spaces for the soil to fill in between, so the water table stays low in between the rocks?
Thank you for this informative video! It was a bit difficult to see how the water pooled in the soil demonstrations, but you explained very well! The sponge demonstration also showed the effect clearly. I am just starting out growing herbs on my window sill, so this information is super helpful!
if you dont add the rocks, the soil compacts, blocks the holes, and doesnt allow drainage from the edges of pot, holding even more water in your perchered water table which is now a river at the bottom and ur plants roots sit in pure water and rot, what youre doing only is ok for tiny pots but larger pots will need it
Ok so I'm from India and I'm into growing peanuts in my balcony. So I use a 50% soi,l 20% cocopeat and remaining vermi compost or organic compost. So I use used water cans about 10 litre. I make holes on sides for aeration and even at the bottom and the curved bottom part for efficient drainage. I also cover the holes only with few stones
