Your ideal pot / container?

[Cactus Kid]

What would your ideal cactus / succulent pot look like and what properties are important to you?
I may have an opportunity to get a mould made and am interested in ideas.

[Tina]

Nice hexagonal bowl, 4.5 cm.
I also like half cascade pots for weeping succulents or ones with turnip roots that need extra leg room

[Diane]

Did you really mean 4.5 cm, Tina? That's rather small, only 2 inches.

[Geri88]

what properties are important to you?

Drainage holes. Plenty of them. And large enough.

[Cactus Kid]

I'm more interested in the properties of the pot than the size at the moment.

Drainage holes, amounts and size. Shape. Material. Design i.e. plain or decorative. Maximum depth, color etc. Plus any other features you would like.

[Tina]

Oops, yes I meant 4.5 inches.

[purzo]

I prefer round plastic pots or hexagonal over square ones, good solid quality like the BEF ones (the round versions). Plain, terracotta colour, good drainage with multiple holes which aren't huge. Some short and some extra long for tap rooted plants. With a rim.

[agavedave]

Pots that are

- close to a square height to diameter profile
- reasonably rigid
- uv stable both in color and resin stability
- good range of sizes below 200 mm dia.

For larger pots, a sturdy rim to get hold of

The next one may be a step too far for some, black on the inside, white on the outside !

[jfabiao]

The next one may be a step too far for some, black on the inside, white on the outside !

Not for me. I would love to have white pots, as the sun in Portugal is merciless and black or terracota-coloured pots frequently get too hot (something I try to compensate by using square[ish] pots closely packed together).
1/1 height to diameter is good for most plants, but many mexican miniatures or Lithops need extra depth.

[DaveW]

You need "silver pots" then Jfabiao or wrap them in aluminium kitchen foil! You could also double pot by placing one inside another leaving a slight air space in between the pots as insulation.

I still prefer the old BEF terracotta square pots. I agree with Jfabaio that black pots are not a good idea for Succulents in the greenhouse since they will heat up in the sun more than most other colours, though at times that may be an advantage in dull old Britain. However not in summer if it is sunny unless your staging's are closely packed to keep the sun off the pot sides.

With the perched water table effect I am not sure shallow pans are that good for our plants. I am tending to find plants usually do better in full depth pots. Not too much of a problem when they are small, but it means pretty big pots when you require the diameter for clumping plants. Though they do not take up more staging room than a shallow pan, they are considerably heavier with all that extra compost in them.