Shallow pots wanted

[Andy_CT]

The past year I've been trying to find wider but shallow clay pots. Can't seem to find any Specifically want pots in the 5-7 inch width range but not deep like typical clay pots, even the azalea shape is too deep for some plants.

Hypertufa to the rescue!

I decided to just make my own by finding bowls that are about the right size for molds.

Here's what I used

With the hypertufa slapped on and 48 hours of curing.

Unmolded, I'll have 5 nicely shaped usable pots in a few weeks when they fully dry. Holes will be drilled then.

[Tony]

Dude! Great idea!
whats the recipe?
I just had a fellow club board member ask me about how to make pots like that last wednesday.
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Tony
http://www.gatescss.org/

[Andy_CT]

Everything you ever wanted or don't want to know about it.

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8344

Only things I didn't like about my write up back then is one: the use of dowels for drain holes, hassle/waste of time. Drill the holes after the piece has fully dried and hardened good. If you drill while its still curing its easy to flake big chips off or even break it. Two: if you elect not to use sand in the mix I found that they are much much more fragile in the unmolding stage, great care is needed, maybe even longer curing time before attempting.

[Tony]

Thanks Andy!

Could pumice be used instead of perlite or vermiculite?
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Tony
http://www.gatescss.org/

[Andy_CT]

[iann]

Yes, you can use pumice. It will produce a stronger concrete than either of the other two although also heavier.

Here's one that I think is a vermiculite mix.

Or you can make troughs.

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--ian

[Avirosa]

You could try bonsai nurseries, they usually stock shallow pots in a range of sizes.

[lancer99]

Why the interest in the shallow pots, even shorter than azalea pots? Are there some species that need them or do better in them?

Those pots are deeper than azalea pots!

-R

[Andy_CT]

[lancer99]

I'm no judge of horseflesh, but the 5" azalea pots I buy at my local garden center are less than 2" deep, and the 6-1/2" inch pots just over.

-R

[Andy_CT]

[iann]

A "standard" azalea pot depth should be 3/4 of the width. A "standard" pot is the same height as the nominal width, although they always look taller to me.

Lots of cacti are wide with very shallow roots, especially the clumpers like some Mammillarias. Azalea pots are good to maybe 4" wide but you don't want to go beyond that 3" depth even if the clump gets wider. Shallower again are "half" pots, actually a little over half, but they're not easy to find. Then it is bowls and dishes.

Or rose pots for taproots
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--ian

[daiv]

I was doing some repotting this weekend too and had the same problem. Actually, I could have been fine with a "standard" 6inch pot, but was running low.

My brother is in the landscape biz and so I have access to more plastic pots than I know what to do with. The trouble is, they are all "rose pots" as Ian calls them. It occurred to me that I could just do this:

Here is the plant that got this particular pot:

It has shallow roots. The odd shape is because the roots rotted and I had it in a shady spot while it made new roots.
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All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti

[John C]

I'll have to try making pots like you did.

On a side note, I ran out of small pots for seedlings eaerlier this year, so I took regular 3 inch-ish pots and cut them in the middle and had small seedling pots.
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John C.

[CoronaCactus]