Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

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phoenixbunny
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Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:14 am

Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

Post by phoenixbunny »

I can't seem to find 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots anywhere. I've checked Home Depot, Lowe's, Micheal's, and Hobby Lobby. They only had Azalea pots in the larger sizes (6" and 8"). Does anyone know where I can buy them online or in-person? I live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Also, I'm wondering if there are any downsides to using terra-cotta pots in Phoenix. For soil, I'm using a 1:1 ratio of pumice and Black Gold Cacus Mix. I figured I didn't need to go any gritter than that since the weather is SUPER dry and hot here. That being said, is the weather TOO dry and hot to be using terra-cotta pots? Or does that not matter to the plant as long as I water when needed? Of course, I don't want to have to water every day!

I'm a little OCD, so I like the idea of using terra-cotta pots for my entire collection, but I'm also a certified clean-freak and I'm worried the salt build-up on the outside of the pots will drive me crazy. If I use water from my kitchen's reverse osmosis system, will I still get salt residue?

Thanks in advance for any responses :)
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ElieEstephane
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Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)

Re: Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

Post by ElieEstephane »

If you are using RO water it most probably won't leave salt deposits but fertilizer might.
As for using terracotta pots in hot dry climate, that would be okay but i'd advise against it unless you feel like watering every day. In addition the roots will thank you for it. However i cannot arbitrarily judge so you might wanna try with a couple terra cotta pots and see how fast the soil dries.

If you don't want to use plastic pots and access to terracotta pots is limited, you can look into glazed ceramic pots or large clay bowls and arrange cacti in them.

One brand of plastic pots i like to use is called kuma. The pots are very sturdy and are designed for cacti. They have enhanced drainage and will take the full sun without discoloring and breaking down. Look for them online or on ebay.

If you are dead set on terra cotta pots, you can use the taller ones instead of azalea pots and fill the bottom with large rocks (but the roots are gonna get there eventually too).
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
DaveW
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Location: Nottingham, England/UK

Re: Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

Post by DaveW »

Best way is just to Google for 4" terracotta Azalea pots, or search on EBAY. I just did a search for pots in the USA from the UK and this was the first I turned up, no doubt there are many others. They are 4.25" but near enough your size. As with all heavy items though the shipping costs can build up for small orders, therefore you may find a source closer.

http://www.craftwareusa.com/product_p/gc%20atcp.htm

It depends what type of clay pots you want, whether porous or just decorative since porosity of clay pots depends on the temperature of firing. Only the traditional lower fired ones being really porous. The modern high fired ones, often sold as frost proof, are no more porous than plastic or ceramic pots, since it was a porous pot absorbing water and then freezing in the past that caused them to laminate. Therefore though many clay or terracotta pots these days may look like traditional ones, they are much higher fired to make them frost proof and so non porous. Obviously with plastic, ceramic, or non porous terracotta you will not get salts build up on the outside of the pot.
phoenixbunny
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Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:14 am

Re: Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

Post by phoenixbunny »

Awesome! Thank you!! I will get myself some non-porous terracotta pots. That will solve the salt build-up problem and I won't have to water daily. The main reason I don't want to use plastic is I'm super clumsy - I'm very lanky and always seem to knock things over - I feel like I'm much less likely to knock over a heavy Azalea terracotta pot than a lightweight plastic pot. Also, my cacti will be outside year-round and Phoenix gets crazy monsoons, haboobs, and microbursts that will blow-over anything lightweight. One day last year it was perfectly sunny/calm outside, when all of a sudden we got an intense microburst of wind. I looked in the backyard and realized one of our three pool umbrellas was missing (we've had several umbrellas end up in our neighboor's backyard!). We walked all around our neighborhood and couldn't find it anywhere!! It completely vanished like something out of the Wizard of Oz! At least we didn't find it through a car windshield...

For those of you who have never seen an Arizona haboob before, this is what they look like:

Image

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... homes.html
keith
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Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:50 am
Location: S. CA USA

Re: Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

Post by keith »

Also, I'm wondering if there are any downsides to using terra-cotta pots in Phoenix."

yes they dry out too fast. even in CA I use plastic pots for cactus in 4" pots and under. Big terra- cotta pots 6" and over work ok if you're growing hard core desert cactus in filtered sunlight. Full afternoon sunlight in Phoenix in a pot, too hot don't do it.

I lived in Phoenix for 3 years, grew cactus at 110F all Summer. Most did well but needed more water than were I live now in CA.
I used to freeze water in water bottles and add them to 5 gal buckets of tap water so I could water my cactus with 60F water instead of 90F water.
The ice would melt really fast. I then poured the water into a sprayer and that's how I watered the cactus.

I know they sell clay pots at Bach's in Tucson. they used to at least its been awhile.
DaveW
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Re: Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

Post by DaveW »

If the pots get too hot you could try the old gardeners trick of plunging them in sand or something similar as the alpine growers do in order to keep the sun off them. Even just burying the pot in the garden (yard) for the summer. Or using wooden boxes or frames filled with sand to contain several of them.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/wisley/2007/300807/log.html

As well as conserving moisture double potting can be used as a way to keep the main pot cool:-

"Another good way to conserve water in container gardening is double potting.

If you have one pot with a plant, place it inside a slightly larger pot. Then fill the gap within the larger pot with soil, top with moss and/or stones and pebbles. When you water, water both the plant and the soil around the first pot. This will lessen evaporation. It's a great alternative for plant watering if you go on vacation or leave the house for an extended period of time."


Scroll down link for example of double potting Plumeria, almost like a single pot version of plunging within a larger pot, you can use sand or grit for the infill between pots too:-

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussion ... ng-too-hot

In places with colder winters like the UK, staging space is at a premium in heated greenhouses, therefore all our pots are packed tightly together to get the maximum amount of plants in, which keeps the sun off the pots in summer since they shade each other and my staging's have a 6" upstand front and back, which also shades the front pots.
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greenknight
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Re: Where to buy 4" Azalea terra-cotta pots?

Post by greenknight »

I just set the pots inside a larger pot and leave air space around them.
Spence :mrgreen:
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