Why Am I Replacing My Large Terracota Pots With Plastic Ones

Let’s talk about containers! In today’s video I’m comparing some advantages and disadvantages of both terracota and plastic pots. I give you some examples in which situation one might be a better option than the other. I also share with you a few thoughts on why I am replacing my larger terracota pot with plastic ones.

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#terracegardening #balconygarden #containergarden

Hi guys welcome to this new video! Today I would like to chat with you a little bit about the  
choice of pots for a container or a balcony 
garden and to focus specifically on plastic  
versus terracotta, to chat a little bit about the differences between these two types of containers,  
about some advantages and disadvantages and at the end I also want to share with  
you a couple of thoughts on why I’m switching some of my larger terracota pots to plastic.
In my container garden I have all kinds of 
containers, I have terracota, plastic, galvanized  
buckets, wooden crates, wicker baskets, grow bags, probably missing something, but yeah pretty much  
any type of container that there is. But the 
majority of my pots are terracota and that’s  
because terracota has many great advantages. Most of all it’s a porous material, so it allows water  
and oxygen to pass through, which is really great for your plants’ roots. It’s also a great option  
if you tend to overwater your plants cuase the soil in terracota pots will dry out quicker,  
another advantage in my opinion is just the look of a terracota pot, I really like that look and  
kind of gives me um cottage garden vibes. But that being said terracota also has some disadvantages  
and the main disadvantage is that it’s not very winter resistant. When the soil freezes terracota  
pot tends to crack, also terracota is pretty 
heavy and now this could be an advantage in some  
situations for example if you have a very windy terrace or a very windy balcony terracota provides  
a little bit more stability to your plants, 
especially those smaller plants. But if you’re  
someone who can’t lift heavy things or you just want your pots to be lightweight because you want  
to move them easily or if you have a weight limit to respect on your balcony, which most balconies  
have a weight limit to respect, terracotta may not be the best solution. But that being said it  
would be a great option for those plants that like to slightly dry out in between watering,  
so herbaceus perennials they tend to grow really well in terracota, alpine and rock garden plants,  
cacti and succulents, so this is would be 
a great option for those type of plants.
Okay so now let’s move back a little and let’s chat about plastic. Now plastic has a lot of  
those things that could be an advantage and disadvantage at the same time depending on  
the situation and depending on what you grow in them. First of all plastic is lightweight,  
which can be a huge advantage for all of those reasons that I mentioned before, if you want to  
be able to move your pots easily or if you can’t lift heavy things or if you want to have a lot of  
containers in your balcony garden but you have a weight limit to respect. In these situations  
plastic will be a really good idea but the fact that it’s lightweight can also be a disadvantage,  
especially if you have a windy terrace and 
you have a lot of smaller plastic pots,  
these tend to fall over easily and they are 
very susceptible to wind. Plastic also holds  
on to more moisture. Here again could be a huge advantage especially if you have a sunny balcony  
and you have a hard time keeping up with watering your plants especially during the heat ofsummer,  
plastic will be a great option, it would be also a great option for all of those thirsty plants,  
plants that like consistent moisture, that 
do not really appreciate sitting in dry soil,  
but this could quickly turn into a disadvantage especially if you live in a rainy climate or  
during a rainy season where you can’t control how much water your plants are getting,  
for example if you have uncovered balcony 
like mine. In these situations the plant  
could become water logged and it could cause your plant to rot. Another disadvantage of  
plastic is that it doesn’t provide a lot of 
insulation to plant roots during winter and  
it also tends to heats up quicker during summer. So keeping that in mind plastic will be a really  
great option for all of those plants that are 
water thirsty, that like consistent moisture,  
for example in my balcony garden I grow hydrangeas in plastic pots, Japanese maples also would grow  
really well in plastic pots, and all of those 
summer annual flowers that need frequent watering.
Okay so having said all that why I decided 
to no longer buy large terracotta pots and  
to only buy large plastic pots and to slowly 
start to change all of those terracotta pots  
to plastic. There are two reasons for that, 
reason number one is um usually the larger  
the plant the more water it requires, so when you grow trees and shrubs or taller, larger climbers,  
not only you need to water them frequently but you also need to use large amounts of water to  
fully saturate all that soil in those larger 
containers, and then when you grow them in  
terracota, teracota dries out quicker, so you 
have to do it over and over and over again,  
so at the end you need to water them frequently and you need to use large amounts of water to  
keep them happy and healthy. So by switching to plastic that holds on to more moisture not  
only you water less frequently but you also use less water, so you keep your plants happy and  
you save a little bit more water. Now the reason number two and this is the main reason like the  
fact that it holds on to more moisture is just like an additional bonus but the main reason is  
that my terrace is very very windy and at the beginning I used to buy smaller plastic pots,  
but the problem is that each time I went out to my balcony I saw all of those plants rolling all  
over the floor because they were lightweight they didn’t provide any stability. So then I figured  
okay I’m going to switch them to terracota because terracota is heavy so it provides more stability  
and it does! But to those smaller pots it doesn’t work as good anymore with all of those taller  
trees and taller shrubs and those plants that are very topheavy that create a lot of resistance to  
the wind. Cause these plants no matter what you do they are going to fall over in the wind, if you  
have a very windy terrace, unless you find a way to stabilize them somehow to attach them or to tie  
them to something there’s no way from preventing these plants from falling over, so over the past  
years I lost more terracota pots to wind than to frost. So I figured okay I’m going to switch to  
plastic because plastic even if the plant falls over and the plastic pot hits the floor it may  
crack a part of it may break off but most likely it’s going to stay in one piece, versus terracota  
the moment it hits this concrete floor it shatters into a thousand pieces there’s nothing you can do  
it’s really hard to repair terracota pot if it 
shatters into many pieces and you can’t reuse  
that pot anymore. So having to change those pots three, four times a year that becomes a little bit  
complicated. So I figured I’m going to switch those larger terracotta pots to larger plastic  
pots and I’m trying to choose plastic pots that have a wide base that have a wide bottom because  
this way um they are less likely to be knocked over by the wind and so far so good all of  
these plants that I switched to plastic pots are growing healthy happy and none of them so far,  
fingers crossed, none of them fell over in the wind. So I think that long term this is also going  
to be a more durable solution because I won’t 
need to replace those pots several times a year.
All right you guys I hope that you found some helpful informations in today’s video  
and that’s sharing a little bit more of my 
experience with these two different types of  
containers will help you make a better 
decision for your plants and for your  
balcony garden. Thanks so much for watching 
and we’ll see each other in the next video!