Drainage in large pots?
- Subject: Drainage in large pots?
- From: s*
- Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 12:58:54 -0700
I have a bit of a gardening mystery. I live in rainy western Oregon, with
heavy clay soil. The drainage is good, for clay, but there are a few
things I grow that need drier roots. I decided to create a large planter
for things that need better drainage. I took an old metal wash tub,
drilled some quarter inch holes at the bottom (the biggest drill bit I
had), and filled it with the following mix:
one part perlite
1/2 part beach sand
1/2 part rock dust
one part compost
1/2 part funky commercial potting soil (basically peat, mixed with perlite)
1/3 part dirt from the yard (mainly for worms, microrganisms, etc.)
In other words, I put in a little bit of everything I had lying around
:-). I gave it a good soak with the hose, and to my surprise it didn't
drain at all! The water just formed a big lake on top, wth perlite
floating in it. I put sticks into the drainage holes to unclog them in
case they were clogged; I dug holes from the top down to the drainage
holes; no help. Eventually the lake diminished bit, but it didn't seem that
any of it came out of the holes. I dug around in the center of the pot,
where I found that the mixture was damp, but not as wet as the top and
sides. In other words, my new mix is ABSORBING a huge amount of water. Not
exactly what I intended. So I guess it's clear by now that I know nothing
about soils :-). Can anyone suggest what I can add to this, or what I can
do starting from scratch, to make something that will drain more quickly?
--A very baffled Susannah
