Blog

Terracotta pot for your plants

Who has to buy a flower pot, is in the dilemma of what kind of material to buy to plant the beloved flowers. Leave out the aesthetic aspect, which is completely subjective even if it is important for the architectural vision of your spaces, and let us concentrate on evaluating the objective reasons why a plant lives better in a terracotta pot.
The terracotta pot is breathable
The terracotta is a porous and breathable material, with a thin texture, which allows the passage of air from the outside without dispelling too much water. Thanks to the considerable thickness, generally a few centimeters, it also acts as a cavity and protection for the roots against frost, temperature changes in general and excessive solar heat. For this reason it saves your plants even if you have roughly put garden soil in the pot ... and for this reason your grandparents had geraniums that lasted for years and didn't rot at every season.
Allows an effective air / water exchange
When we fill a container with water, it takes the place of air inside the pot and into the soil where the roots dwell. The air is lighter and is forced to leave space for water. If the container is made of plastic or in any case of non-breathable material, the only way to give space to the air is that the water comes out of the drain holes and that the plant absorbs the liquids. In this expectation, the roots are not breathing and the more time the air takes to re-enter the substrate, the greater the chance that the roots will get sick.
Terracotta is a living material and does not deform
Terracotta, similarly to wood and stone, undergoes the atmospheric agents from an aesthetic point of view, stains and ages naturally and increases its beauty as an architectural element of an evolving environment. A beautiful villa certainly has greater prestige if naturally aged terracotta vases are placed in its garden.
Moreover, unlike plastic, it does not undergo the action of the sun's heat and does not deform. Often one of the major defects of plastic containers, especially the large ones with many kilos of soil inside, is that over time they bulge and deform in an unsightly manner, even breaking up to no longer be able to contain the internal thrust of the weight and roots.
Certainly there are furnishing situations in which terracotta is not suitable. Think of the delimitation of urban spaces where cars pass often and close and which would replace the vessels due to breakage due to impacts. In these cases, do not forget to treat your plants well, entrusting yourself to an experienced gardener who will use very light soil and appropriate replacement nutrients. Or if you have to put many containers in elevated terraces and you are at the limit with the weight (do not forget or underestimate that water and soil weigh a lot and maybe in the end the earthenware pot is not really so decisive).
In all other cases, an eye to the health of the plant and the environment and four eyes to the aesthetics of your space and you can not choose a terracotta pot that represents the best solution.

< Other from Blog