Container gardening offers a convenient way to cultivate plants, and pots with attached saucers are popular due to their integrated design. This style eliminates the need for separate drip trays, providing a cleaner look while protecting surfaces from water damage. The primary benefit is managing excess water flow, creating a temporary reservoir the plant can utilize. This guide provides instructions for using these pots to ensure optimal plant health.
Understanding the Design of Attached Saucer Pots
The mechanism of an attached saucer pot is simple, designed to manage drainage without messy runoff. These containers feature drainage holes that connect the main soil reservoir with the attached, non-removable base. This saucer functions as a secondary, passive reservoir, collecting gravitational water that moves through the potting medium.
The design prevents water from escaping onto furniture or flooring, containing the excess moisture beneath the pot. This collected water is then available to the soil through capillary action—the process of water climbing up against gravity through small spaces in the soil. Understanding this integrated system impacts both planting and watering techniques.
Preparing the Pot and Planting Medium
Selecting the correct planting medium is important for the health of any container plant. Use a lightweight, well-draining soilless potting mix, often composed of materials like peat moss, perlite, or coconut coir. This medium ensures sufficient air pockets remain, even when saturated.
Avoid placing gravel, rocks, or pot shards at the bottom before adding the soil. This material does not improve drainage; instead, it raises the perched water table, the level where the soil remains completely saturated. This excess moisture zone can impede root respiration and increase the risk of root suffocation. After selecting the mix, transplant the plant and gently firm the medium around the root ball.
Watering Techniques for Optimal Moisture Control
The watering technique for these pots involves a “soak and check” approach to utilize the attached saucer effectively. Begin by watering the plant thoroughly from the top, soaking the entire root mass and displacing any stale air in the soil. Continue watering until a small pool of excess water collects in the attached saucer below.
This overflow signals that the entire root ball is saturated and gravitational water has exited the pot. Allow the plant to sit for four to twelve hours, giving the soil time to wick the collected water back upward via capillary action. Before re-watering, check the moisture level of the upper soil layer. The goal is to allow the top inch or two to dry out to ensure adequate oxygen reaches the roots.
Managing Overflow and Long-Term Maintenance
If the saucer still contains standing water after 12 to 24 hours, the plant is not absorbing the excess water quickly enough, indicating overwatering or poor drainage. The excess water must be removed to prevent prolonged saturation of the lowest roots. Because the saucer is attached, carefully tilt the entire pot to pour the water out, or use a small implement like a bulb syringe to suction the water from the base.
Routine maintenance should also address the accumulation of mineral and fertilizer salts, which appear as a white or yellow crust on the soil surface or pot rim. These salts can raise the soil salinity, making it difficult for the plant to absorb water due to osmotic pressure. Periodically, every four to six months, flush the pot with a large volume of clean, fresh water. Use at least three times the volume of the pot, allowing it all to drain out, which effectively leaches the damaging salts from the medium.