"Due to the shortage of properly shaped pots (with drainage)"

Sorry, but what shortage is that? It's news to me!! They're shaped just fine -- I can't imagine what makes you think otherwise.

I've done great w/ plastic 3" nursery pots for decades (20 yrs. at least), then larger when needed OR also terra cotta (or smaller clay pots for small succulents).

I'd hazard a guess (exhibits & shows aside) most of us are far more interested in the plants than the aesthetics of the pots.

It's the plants we care about, few of us amateur collectors actually use them for decor as seems to be the current trend (often not good for the plants, i.e., succulents in glass globes/terrariums).

The exception being several Potters in the group like the exceptional 'Caudex' I think his name is Keith.

Otherwise, I can't imagine doing this. Maybe if you have 6 plants or so, but not my collection which I downsized considerably from about 200 in a large studio apmt. & most importantly, WHY?

Maybe because she wants to?

For some of us, it's about having our pretty plants in pretty pots, too. I even paint some plain terra cotta ones.

I've been collecting cool pottery pieces at the thrift store and bought some drill bits to put my own holes in them. I'm not a potter, but I can appreciate nice pottery and enjoy the aesthetic of having some of my 100+ nice plants in unique pots.

I have never made my own pots, but I have painted and re-purposed when the urge hits me. These 2 pots were actually salad bowls! I drilled holes for drainage -- and hubby surprised me with a set of 10 different sizes of diamond drill bits! Yea!

I have never painted terra cotta pots, but I have painted several plastic pots. I found that plastic pots will fade degrade in the sun over time, so it also help prolong their life. I am a Krylon queen. LOL

Thrift stores are a great resource, too!

Love it, Crenda!!! ❤️

And now I will have to look in the kitchen section for salad bowls to repurpose ;)

Crenda, what fantastic paint jobs those are! Can I ask, did you spray paint them? Sorry Heather to hijack your thread....

Gill

Heather, where did you see these tutorials? Did they look fairly easy to accomplish or do they require special equipment like a kiln?

Crenda, love those pots!

Here's a fairly recent thread on this topic :)

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4059566/making-pots-for-succulents?n=8

Hi Heather! I am very interested in making some hypertufa pots for my succulents. I have over 120 plants and I personally despise the plastic nursery pots. We've had over 100 days over 90 degrees with high humidity here in Alabama this summer, one can scream at me also but those temps, humidity and just for the pure esthetic quality I prefer terra cotta and hypertufa (because of the light weight) . I've not personally made any yet but my niece has and she's made many sizes, even troughs. She got her recipe from Pinterest. Be sure and use gloves. Good luck!

Nomen, you have the best pots!!! I'm drooling over here.

Have a look at the pots by Keith...you'll drool more. He also grows fantastic plants. Didn't post for a very long time....(he is the one someone mentioned on another thread)

Ermahgerd, Rina, yessss! I remember you sharing his work before. So good, so good.

Gill - yes, I used spray paint. I made the patterns with painter's tape.

Thanks for the link to Keith's pots, Rina. I haven't looked at them in quite a while. It always makes me smile!

I've wanted to try hypertufa but have never had the time. One of these days . . .

I kinda do the opposite. Instead of making pots from nice things I sometimes make pots from ugly things like aluminum cans.

Rustic has its own aesthetic appeal, polypom :)

I must apologize for not responding yesterday my daughter was sick and it was a very LONG day for me. Anyways...as for the first comment, Imontestella...unlike you have only a few succulent plants because just started collecting! I have 3 Pleiospilos Nelii that require a small pot but yet it needs to be tall enough to support the long tap roots that they have. But I'm sure since you have 200+ succulents in your selection, you already know this. Also, I live in a small town in North Carolina and I don't have a lot of places available to buy pots that are what I need. Being that you live in New York it's a lot easier to find what you need! As far as the why part goes...I would like to make my own because I would be able to have a specific pot for specific plants and their individual needs...ex: the split stones. One of the main problems I find with clay pots the bigger/taller the pot means the diameter gets bigger. Sure I could maybe pack up my kids and travel to succulent and cactus shows but I don't have that kind of time. Yes I probably could buy them online but I still won't be able to find the exact one that I would need. Not to mention there is most certainly a shortage considering that people have to drill holes in things to make it work for their succulents and cacti.

I have seen the tutorials mainly on YouTube. There are a lot of pots and containers that can be made for all kinds of plants. And the good thing is they are very cost effective and durable and they don't require a kiln. I have seen them made by using cement, cement and moss, mainly I've seen the hypertufa pots and many ways of making them. I really LOVE the way they are light weight and with me having rheumatoid arthritis it would be so much easier on me. I just liked the way you can make the pots exactly the way YOU want them to be! And since I have just under 20 plants I thought why not spend some free time I get making something to put them in. My split stones grow at a really slow pace so it's not like they are going to need to be potted again soon...but the plastic container it was bought in is too short for the root system they require. I guess I just like trying different things. The other good thing about making my own is I would be able to have drainage holes which is kinda hard to find when it comes to beautiful type pots that can be bought. Being new to succulents as I am I would be able to make light durable pots and I wouldn't have to spend out a lot of money if something happens and I lose some succulents. I'm sure I'll lose a couple before I get my feel for each one that I buy. I guess I thought it would be a great way of expressing the artistic side that I have and it would be a very fun thing to do with the kids. ;)

As my collection has expanded to well over 100, perhaps closer to 150, I've started making my own pots too - mainly because I want to make larger community pots, and most commercially available pots are too expensive, or too deep for succulents. I'll post pictures tomorrow, since my most recent batch is soaking to leach out some of the lime.

I've tried two different types. First is a basic hypertufa that used some old thin-set mortar, peat and perlite. Came out great! But they're kinda thick walled. So the next batch I just finished is made with ShapeCrete. It's a concrete blend that you can make much thinner walls with. My pots aren't very pretty, but I think once I get plants in them, they'll look just fine!

Edit: I should add that for molds, I hit the Dollar Store and got a variety of large plastic party bowl - all kinds of fun shapes (my favorite is a large football party bowl) The softer sides made it easy to unmold them. And, I started counting - well over 150 plants, getting pretty close to 200. I have issues...

Left to right: 2 just mortar, 3 hypertufa, 3 ShapeCrete (two with blue concrete pigment added.) I'lll be doing a huge bowl tomorrow that I'm going to do a hybrid - ShapeCrete with added perlite and peat to make it lighter weight. For reference, the big hypertufa football pot weighs about half of what the similarly-sized ShapeCrete pot next to it weighs. And, I realize the insides of the pots look pretty messy, but once they're filled with plants/mix, I'm hoping they'll look great!

OK, Leslie! Quit giving me more ideas for more projects to get into! LOL

Personally don't have the space to do hypertufa -- and trying it in my apt would be incredibly unwise, unfortunately. I have obtained some, IMO, nice pots-to-be by occasionally frequenting thrift stores like GoodWill or Salvation Army. There, if luck favors me that day, I'll come across a wooden or ceramic bowl or cache pot that I can turn into a pot with the aid of a drill.

Don't bother with hypertufa. The material has diddly squat for tensile strength. If you want to make hypertufa pots you should use a GFRC (glass fiber reinforced concrete) concrete recipe as your base.

Nil, that's why I was going to try my next batch (with much bigger bowls/molds) using the ShapeCrete - it has tiny fibers already mixed in.

Oh - and Crenda, seeing your pots makes me want to take a can of Krylon to my pots too! :) Although, I think the batch I'm making tomorrow might be purple. That will make me happy!

Very nice Leslie! I especially like the blue hue that you added. I'm sure they'll look wonderful with your plants;)

Hypertufa rocks! The possibilities are endless. You really only need fiber if you are planning to leave them outdoors in winter (i.e. for semps). Otherwise, they only need to be cured properly (no shortcuts!).

Pagan

Very nice, Pagan!

I 'sort of' made this pot. One of a trio of Christmas Palms (aka dwarf Royal) got rot, probably ganoderma, and died. My son and I cut down most of the tree, but we couldn't remove the stump. So I left it long enough to make a planter.

I used wood chisels to scoop out the interior, drilled some holes, added gritty mix and filled it with some plants. It actually filled in a rather bare area on the island.

Obviously, I can't move this pot!

Obviously, from all the responses, examples and ideas posted here, LOTS of people care about the pot a plant goes in, and have also found DIY the better choice over store-bought. So, ignore the curmudgeon. <makes raspberry sound>

I have been using some salad and desert bowls recently because I like shallower pots than I find at the store. There's a trend right now for square salad and soup bowls, which suit my purpose perfectly. I just drill a drain hole. Target and Walmart have both had some pretty sharp salad bowls on sale recently for just a couple of bucks. They have glass, plastic, and ceramic, so nice choices. I also like heavy coffee mugs, ceramic candy dishes, soufflé dishes and casseroles. I found some nice, shallow dishes at my local St. Vincent de Paul recently that appear to have been kids' school projects (names scraped in the bottom).

im not nearly as creative as some people on here. Wow! So many amazing planters.

Crenda - That is so pretty! I am a lurker in this section...just learning about succulents and have picked up a few. Would love something like that in my yard, but alas I live n NW Montana and the snow and freezing would destroy it. We had our first frost that killed much of my vegetable garden 10 days ago.

massey

There are many hardy succulents, some will survive winters in z2. They can be grown in ground (or even containers) and overwinter well, as long as there is good drainage.

Massey, I'm going to be putting in a hardy succulent garden in zone 4 (a? b? Depends on the resource I look up Lol) I'm in southern Alberta anyway, very similar to Nw Montana :)

I've got some sedums and sempervivums in the ground. It's my first year with the semps but sedums come back every year. No succulent containers yet but I have a few ideas for next year! My problem is the chinooks - it's the freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw that destroys containers (and plants!) here.

With thaw-freeze cycles, it is even more important to have good drainage.

Crud, I wrote out a big long post but it timed out. Oh well, it was probably mostly OT hehe. My outdoor pots/containers have thus far been mostly annuals. I had garlic chives that survived several years until I forgot to water them last year and the ants moved in a destroyed the roots.

would hyper tufa be durable enough to winter outdoors? I'm intrigued by the pots Leslie and Pagan have shown.

I didn't make these vintage pots, just drilled holes in the bottom of them....easy.

Heather,

Thanks for coming back & clarifying. I hope your daughter is feeling better.

While I have scaled down my collection a lot, I never had the problem, nor known other gardeners to mention it. My Haworthias don't have tap roots or such long roots.

I still don't understand "Due to the shortage of properly shaped pots ", it's never come up.

I guess I was speaking about mostly indoor gardeners (in cities too), but I see when it comes to custom pots, lots more folks are into it than I had any idea.

So this is one curmudgeon who can say, gee folks, I'm sorry, seems I was quite wrong on this one!!

Bunkfree,

I certainly understand that someone might want to make their own pots & as an artist myself wouldn't discourage ANY creative endeavors at all. I just didn't understand & still don't about "... shortage of properly shaped pots". Folks I know will trim the root to fit, as & if necessary.

I guess that's what makes a horse race ...

I agree with above, don't believe there is shortage of properly shaped pot...I can see that ppl want to make their own, would never criticize anyone for trying. The 'surprise' may be that they are not at all less expensive, and better materials one will use, pricier they get. Reading the info on net/youtube makes it seem all so simple...but it isn't (ask me how I know :) And to make something really nice, unique - it takes talent.

Hope you guys have lots of success and pls. post photos when they are finished...

Rina: you don't think that someone can be in a location where there is a shortage of properly sized pots? When I lived in Savannah, I had a very difficult time finding different sized pots--and a wide variety of plants, for that matter.

I believe some are - but it is not shortage in general...just for someone's location (I should know, I live in small town with no stores at all, couldn't buy cheep plastic one if I wanted...just a convenience shop in a gas station - but they are selling booze!). In Toronto, I could buy gold plated if I wanted to :) - I think there are so many, one may have hard time to choose.

It's same with food, shoes, clothes, other goods - many places don't have much to choose from but that doesn't mean there is a general shortage.

More of a shortage than ones think! If it wasn't then there would be pots of every size made in terra-cotta. I don't know of ANY tall skinny small diameter pots. Which is usually why people use other things besides actual pots that are meant for our succulents and cacti. Even being in a big city doesn't improve the number of planting pots and containers. I'm specifically speaking of normal pots such as clay and even plastic. Sure things can be used for the plants but they wasn't meant nor made for the purpose of putting plants and especially succulents in. There are too many times where I see someone post that a plant is over potted and they end up having to put it in something else. I can't count how many times I've seen other plants in bonsai trays and containers. I like clay personally. I agree things can be pretty when used that wasn't meant to be used this way but it still shows that there are shortages of pots. I have searched all over the net and still can't find the appropriate pots that are needed for many succulents and living rocks. But one day I look forward to a specific succulent/cacti line of clay pots and containers ;)

Keep in mind, Heather, that if you're planning to put the Pleiospilos in a gritty mix, a larger pot is fine. You can't really over-pot with gritty mix. Lots of people plant mesembs, Gasteria, Aloes and so on in large pots of gritty mix because it looks nice that way. You can't do that with absorbent media like soil though.

I haven't found any tall, narrow terra cotta pots in retail stores, but I do have a couple from the secondhand store, so someone makes/made them. The pot below is only 4", but twice as tall as most 4" pots. The second photo is a tall glazed pot also from a secondhand store.

Have you tried eBay? You can sometimes find really oddball things there.

Ack. I forgot how badly Houzz distorts vertical shots. Let me try again.

Heather

Next time I am in the city, I'll make point of taking pics of available pots.

I am not sure what exactly you mean by ..."pots that are meant for our succulents and cacti"...There are zillions of pots sold and there is no reason a 'bulb' pot, or any other pot, shouldn't be used for other plants like succulents. As long as container accommodates plants roots, it is ok to be used. Whatever is to ones liking is fine. Just like making ones own. But not because pots are not available (I am talking in general terms, not for any specific location).

If desperate and can't/don't want to make own, and cannot find any in stores, there is plenty available on line...

Heather,

What I will recommend are not pots but a drill press and the appropriate drill bits. After that, the possibilities are endless. Probably my most interesting drilling project was a baby pink Burmese glass Fenton shoe that I then gave to my sister as a present. She has sedum growing in it now.

I can say this about the supply of pots I like---there is definitely a shortage!

Speaking of which---if anyone wants these pots below, they're yours for postage. They were a present so I used them for haworthias for one season until I got around to re-purposing a bunch of plastic desert cups. They're fine pots, just not the "look" I like.

Pagan

I like those! I think they would be a great size for singles. I'm interested in getting them! What do I need to do to get them? Thanks in advance!

"What do I need to do to get them? " Very tempting lol Donate all your wealth to Medicins Sans Frontieres?

Seriously, send me a message with your address and I'll box them up, Heather.

Pagan

I just made up two more pots, using two different shaped punch bowls from Party City. One is (hopefully) burgundy, the other is (hopefully) red. However, they might end up more like brown and pink. :(

Making my own lets me make them as big/deep as I want, and for significantly less than I could purchase one. For me, the cost savings on smaller pots isn't really worth the effort.

Hehe:) I know this is so cheap but I like to use milk cartons I chop the bottom off (at different points, depending on the plant) and sometimes paint or decorate it. You can even put drainage holes in it using scissors or knives! You can just stand this wear you like it but sometimes I use string to make a DIY macrame holder so that it is a hanging planter. Like I said- cheap

I've done that, too miacomas :) I use baskets as "cache pots" with milk carton, coffee pot, or soup can pots and drip tray inside. I've also knitted & crocheted cozies for my DIY pots.

I concur with Rina. Just because a pot is billed as a "bonsai" pot, for example, that hardly means it is unsuitable for cacti/succs. Media choice and cultural practices will play a major roll in suitability. But if for some reason you must have a tall skinny pot, then you try a cymbidium pot:.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tall-unglazed-clay-orchid-pots-with-beautiful-oriental-design-handmade-/252426554962?var=551279703083&hash=item3ac5cb8e52:m:mWGRcKJgrcDeAmiJ9qdAAiw

Or visit a website like:

http://www.hayneedle.com/outdoor/planters_material-clay_list_187730_12407?source=msadcenter&kwid=terra%20cotta%20pots&tid=modbroad

(Scroll down a few rows).

But do keep in mind that you may have to pay considerably more for such.