Stones, pebbles, cracked terra at the bottom of pots worsens the drainage. Solved

[el48tel]

Used newspaper is cheaper, so favoured in my part of Yorkshire

Chuckle ... a Yorkshire solution

[MikeDom]

And Gloucestershire … recycling is the name of the game.

[Cidermanrolls]

Does this also depend on what’s below the pot?
There’s not much capillary action from the hole in the bottom to the staging below the pot....

[BrianMc]

I think the issue here is to find the potting mix/drainage that suits your plants, your environment and your watering methods. When you get the results you want, stick to that method.
We can all argue about what addition of grit of different sizes achieves etc, but there is no particular right or wrong when we all grow under different conditions.

So many times I have heard that we put gravel as a top layer of the pot to improve drainage around the neck of the plant.........Nonesense! its more likely to keep moisture around the neck than avoid it. Gravel on the surface is better if plants are shallow rooted and the climate dries the soil too quickly.

Regarding the gravel as drainage in the bottom.... yes it may hold on to more water, capillary attraction/surface tension. If the pot is on a flat non porous surface that will hold the water more, but if the pot is raised with air circulation underneath the water will drain/evaporate. if the pot drainage holes are smaller the water will rest longer, one big hole as per old clay pots then it dries faster.

You also have to remember that there may be an advantage to having more moisture at the bottom of the pot in certain instances. As long as it is in balance with the growing environment and your watering regime it allows for plants to send their roots down. If you have ever grown your plants in gravel trays, where do the plants roots end up? out of the bottom of the pot and into the gravel that stays wetter longer, but very importantly, with plenty of contact with air.

I think it is also fair to say that in habitat, ignoring environments where water arrives via light precipitation or from fog, more moisture will be found the deeper you go into the soil. Climate and environmental factors will mean that surface layers dry out quickly due to evaporation.

Get the balance right, whatever that is for your conditions, and all will be good.

[el48tel]

I think the issue here is to find the potting mix/drainage that suits your plants, your environment and your watering methods. When you get the results you want, stick to that method.
We can all argue about what addition of grit of different sizes achieves etc, but there is no particular right or wrong when we all grow under different conditions.

So many times I have heard that we put gravel as a top layer of the pot to improve drainage around the neck of the plant.........Nonesense! its more likely to keep moisture around the neck than avoid it. Gravel on the surface is better if plants are shallow rooted and the climate dries the soil too quickly.

Regarding the gravel as drainage in the bottom.... yes it may hold on to more water, capillary attraction/surface tension. If the pot is on a flat non porous surface that will hold the water more, but if the pot is raised with air circulation underneath the water will drain/evaporate. if the pot drainage holes are smaller the water will rest longer, one big hole as per old clay pots then it dries faster.

You also have to remember that there may be an advantage to having more moisture at the bottom of the pot in certain instances. As long as it is in balance with the growing environment and your watering regime it allows for plants to send their roots down. If you have ever grown your plants in gravel trays, where do the plants roots end up? out of the bottom of the pot and into the gravel that stays wetter longer, but very importantly, with plenty of contact with air.

I think it is also fair to say that in habitat, ignoring environments where water arrives via light precipitation or from fog, more moisture will be found the deeper you go into the soil. Climate and environmental factors will mean that surface layers dry out quickly due to evaporation.

Get the balance right, whatever that is for your conditions, and all will be good.

That ----- makes perfect sense!

[conolady]

..........Get the balance right, whatever that is for your conditions, and all will be good.

Well said, that man! I’m with you absolutely. Horses for courses.

[D^L]

So many times I have heard that we put gravel as a top layer of the pot to improve drainage around the neck of the plant.........Nonesense! its more likely to keep moisture around the neck than avoid it. Gravel on the surface is better if plants are shallow rooted and the climate dries the soil too quickly.

I adolutely agree it is horses for courses.
I think the advantage of gravel round the neck of plants is when you want it to support the plant or cover up old corking. It is then usually better to use a coarse medium than doing that with compost. I agree it is worse than air!
The word drainage gets much misused. Sometimes this is measured by how quickly the water flows out the bottom of the pot. What really matters, is how damp the compost gets. The two ideas are linked but different.

Cheers
David Lambie
Bristol

[conolady]

So many times I have heard that we put gravel as a top layer of the pot to improve drainage around the neck of the plant.........Nonesense! its more likely to keep moisture around the neck than avoid it. Gravel on the surface is better if plants are shallow rooted and the climate dries the soil too quickly.

I adolutely agree it is horses for courses.
I think the advantage of gravel round the neck of plants is when you want it to support the plant or cover up old corking. It is then usually better to use a coarse medium than doing that with compost. I agree it is worse than air!
The word drainage gets much misused. Sometimes this is measured by how quickly the water flows out the bottom of the pot. What really matters, is how damp the compost gets. The two ideas are linked but different.

Cheers
David Lambie
Bristol

Exactly!

[Peter]

I'll chip in here with a comment that I've made before on the subject of pebbles or the like in the bottom of pots.

Follow the advice of not having pebbles in pots and you'll be in danger of having plants that are totally pot bound, solid with roots that cannot take into new compost in the larger pot when the plant needs to be potted on. Trying to loosen the roots will only damage them. In my view, a ridiculous situation.

Far better to have some pebbles that can easily be removed, leaving exposed roots that will readily grab the new compost.

Tradition doesn't always mean wrong.

[Bonsai2]

Thank you to everyone for your comments.