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Plastic planters with no drainage holes HELP

tnabnatnabna Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hello, 
first post and newbie gardener here looking for some advice form you fine folks. 

I bought these verve grey plastic planters and would like to put star jasmine in one side and herbs and vegetables in the other. 

However these have no drainage holes, and I could drill some but I am worried about the mess it would leave underneath with water coming out, either ontop of the plants underneath one side, or on the patio out the other. 

Can anyone advise the best way I should approach this? I’d rather not have to put separate pots inside but have no idea what would work best. 

Thankyou ☺️🪴 

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    You don’t have much choice,  if you want to put plants in them you’ll need to drill holes. Any pots will leach water out onto whatever they’re standing on.
    Can you put the whole thing onto your soil or grass.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    You will either have to drill holes, as Lyn says, or put a layer of gravel on the bottom to allow for some drainage and put plants in pots in them.

    I don't think they are big or deep enough for Star Jasmine. You need a very big pot for that. They look more suitable for herbs or strawberries or bedding plants.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • KiliKili Posts: 1,104
    Put some grit and stones in the bottom of your planter this will at least mitigate the rate at which water flows out to a drip. If you have any put some trays underneath to catch the excess water. If you water carefully ( don't flood when watering) you may be able to avoid water pouring out anyway.

    'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.

    George Bernard Shaw'

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    As @Lyn and @Busy-Lizzie say - there's no choice.
    Star jasmine wouldn't suit the size anyway, and I doubt it would suit your location either. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • jo4eyesjo4eyes Posts: 2,058
    You are definitely going to need to drill holes to succeed with growing anything, unless you want pond plants. 

    If you look at the bases there are round ‘hole’ sites. Looks to me as if that’s where you or someone needs to drill for drainage. 

    Otherwise they are just stands for pot plants. 
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    I suspect that they will drain perfectly well. Take a close look at how they are constructed, there is a seam where the lighter grey wall connects to the dark grey floor of the container. That doesn't look watertight to me. The dark grey bottom will act as a shallow reservoir which would be useful. It will be very simple to test, just pour a bucket of water into an empty planter and see what happens.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I suspect they will be best for putting small pots inside. as others have said - a plant stand. Star jasmine won't be happy.
  • tnabnatnabna Posts: 2
    Thank you all very much, you’ve given me a few ideas to try.

    I did think they were designed to have things actually planted inside them like as steephill said:
    I suspect that they will drain perfectly well. Take a close look at how they are constructed, there is a seam where the lighter grey wall connects to the dark grey floor of the container. That doesn't look watertight to me. The dark grey bottom will act as a shallow reservoir which would be useful. It will be very simple to test, just pour a bucket of water into an empty planter and see what happens.
    They look like they should drain, or at least that the top and bottoms come apart easy but nope. I will try filing them up completely like you suggested tho and see what happens. 

    I’m probably worrying about it too much and drilling holes and being careful when watering will be fine. It rains alot here though 😂

    I’ll probably stick to herbs and veg etc too now and put the jasmine elsewhere, my plan was one of the Jasmine in the right hand side planter and everything else on the left. 

    Appreciate all the thoughts and ideas, thankyou!


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