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flowerpotting (was cracking (again))

updated fri 24 oct 97

 

Tadeusz Westawic on sat 4 oct 97

Lynn Korbel wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Greetings!!
> I recently threw some pots with saucers to contain plants. In the first
> couple i forgot to put in the drainage hole and put it in while turning the

---snip---8<

> Best Wishes,
> Lynn Korbel
> on the Mississippi coast, where for the first time since last fall i have
> dispensed with the canned air and have opened the windows to let in the
> glorious fall ambiance :-)))

Hi Lynn!

I can't answer your question but have a suggestion related to
flowerpots.

I saw many years ago, hand-thrown flowerpots that were saucerless. They
were very attractive and in eliminating the saucer also eliminated the
double-work in what is essentially a single product.

The trick was that the potter made the flowerpot double-walled from the
bottom to about one-third its height. At that point of one-third height
the inner wall was flared-out and joined and sealed to the inside of the
outer wall. I think the spacing of the walls was about three-quarters of
an inch. The somewhat doughnut-shaped cavity was then holed through the
bottom of the inner wall and through the outer wall. The holes in the
outer wall were placed as high up as possible but where they still
penetrated the cavity. Thus, there were inside holes for excess plant
water to enter the cavity and water couldn't flow out because the
outside holes were higher. Excess plant water could be absorbed back
into the potting soil and-or evaporate through the outside holes.

Of course there is the disadvantage that the plant husbander cannot see
excess water until it is running-out the outer holes. Watering by
immersion is the way to avoid this.

Besides the mechanical advantage of going to a one-piece flowerpot,
there is the aesthetic advantage that with the elimination of the
saucer, the form may now vault uninterrupted from its base. This allows
the maker to fully reconsider the range of form that can be applied to
flowerpotting. A potter may also take aesthetic advantage of the shape
and placement of the outer holes.

Tadzu -- Scattered thunderstorms last three days in Southwest New
Mexico.