Five Different Types of Pots Every Gardener Should Try At Least Once

Part of the enjoyment of gardening–at least for me–is the challenge of learning something new. Of course there is the challenge of growing a particular plant, or growing a gigantic pumpkin. But we container gardeners have another kind of challenge: different types of pots!

Photo by Lachlan Hardy

Everyone has tried the traditional pot, but have you ever tired one of these types of pots?

1. Self-Watering – Louise has had great success growing edibles in her EarthBox. It certainly would be fun to recreate her experiment and compare the effectiveness of traditional planters versus a self watering one.
2. Strawberry Pots – I just potted one up with different types of herbs, mostly basil. I’ve seen great strawberry pots with succulents and flowers too. Adriana wrote a great tutorial on how to rig up a special watering system to keep your strawberry pot evenly moist.
3. Recycled Objects – Recently I tweeted about using recycled coffee canisters as pots, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using found/recycled objects. I’ve even heard of people using rain boots as pots!
4. Hanging Baskets – These can be challenging both to keep well watered and to pot up in the first place. Here is a step by step tutorial (with pictures) on how to plant a wire hanging basket.
5. Vertical Wall Planters – This is a type of pot that I have not tried yet, but long admired. Here is a video from the Discovery Channel about how to make and plant a vertical planter.

Related Posts:

• The Week of Lists
• Five Easy Flowers to Grow in a Container
• Five End of Summer Container Gardening Tips
• Five Fall Vegetables Every Container Gardener Should Try
• Five Tips for Newbie Container Gardeners

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