PICKING A FLOWERPOT

How big? What material? Garden experts get to the root of the issues.

When it comes to buying pots for your plants, you have to think like Goldilocks. The container you choose should be just the right size. “You don’t want to oversize the pot for the plant,” said Lou Coy of Boyle Heights shop Latinx With Plants. “People say that when you repot a plant you should put it in a really big pot so that it will encourage it to grow. That’s actually not true, I find. If you put it in a pot that’s too large, it’s going to take longer to drain and dry out, and you risk drowning the plant.”

Spring is an ideal time for repotting plants, as some begin to produce new growth after a dormant winter.

Choosing the right pot for your plant doesn’t seem like a big decision, but when people visit home and garden centers, they often face a bewildering number of options.

Materials range from unglazed terra cotta pots and orangeish containers shaped like styrofoam coffee cups to real wood whiskey barrels. There’s a big price spread, from a few dollars for a small clay pot to more than $100 for elaborate wall planters with self-watering drip systems.

If you need to go up to a larger pot, Coy said in a phone interview, you should only go up 2 inches.

Plants may be outgrowing their containers if soil appears to be dry or hard, roots are growing out of the bottom or the plant seems top-heavy, according to home and garden websites such as Pistils Nursery in Portland, Oregon.

Todd Bazik, co-owner of SarahCotta Plants in Glendale, also cautioned against putting plants in too-large pots.

“It’s not going to be able to absorb all the water you put in the pot, and more water means root rot. And you don’t want that. It’s just important to go up gradually in sizes.”

Symptoms of root rot include yellow leaves and stunted growth, according to Pennington Seed. Beneath the surface, roots are mushy and brown instead of firm.

If pots don’t have drainage, roots will also rot, Coy said.

You have to decide what material you want and whether you need a drainage hole or if you will use the pot as a decorative outer covering.

Bazik likes terra cotta, as the store name SarahCotta suggests. (The store’s co-owner, Bazik’s wife, is named Sarah.) Terra cotta pots are porous and most have drainage holes.

However, many decorative pots do not have drainage holes. But that doesn’t have to be a disadvantage if you keep the plant in its original plastic container and use the decorative container as a cachepot.

“If you decide to rearrange or redecorate a little bit, you can just pop it out of one and into another one,” said Bazik.

Some experts say some pots are better for certain kinds of plants. For example, cactuses do better in dryer soil, so a terra-cotta pot with a drainage hole would be a better choice than a ceramic pot that retains water.

But Bazik said people don’t need to be that concerned with matching plant to container.

“As you see, as they come from the nursery, they’re all in the same thing.”

An exception would be certain exotic plants with exposed roots. They require net pots, which have holes on the sides and are used in hydroponic gardening, which is growing plants with nutritious water instead of soil.

“They need something that will drain, that will let the roots dry and get a break between waterings,” he said.

Polymers: Polymers such as resin are also used to make pots that resemble clay, wood or a number of other materials. They are durable and lightweight but not porous. Some have solid bottoms and some have drainage holes.

Plastic: Most plants are sold in plastic containers with multiple drainage holes.

Fabric: Grow bags, also called fabric pots, are often made of breathable but nonwoven materials called geotextiles, which translate to polypropylene or polyester. They are considered good alternatives for people with limited gardening space but aren’t as durable as solid pots.

Terra cotta: These are affordable, sold in various sizes and porous, meaning water and air can flow through them, which is good for plants. Most have drainage holes. Disadvantages include being somewhat heavy and breakable.

Ceramic: These are pots made of clay that has been glazed. They come in a wide variety of colors, shapes and styles. Many do not have drainage holes. Unless you drill one into them, they’re best used as cachepots.