HousePlants

  I am talking about what you put at the bottom (under the dirt) of a pot so the water can drain through the hole without all the dirt coming out too. Most of the time rocks will do, but when you have big plants you cannot go putting a lot of rocks in the pot. It will be too heavy to move.  I have seen on a Martha Stewart type show to use those foam-packing peanuts, but if you have ever tried those you know they are a bad idea.

 If you are going to use rocks that you find in your driveway be sure to clean them with bleach. Use a 10% bleach 90% water mixture to clean the rocks.  I put the water/bleach in a bucket, and let the rocks soak for about ten minutes or so. You do not want any unwanted bacteria and junk in your pot.  When using bleach for things that will encounter your plants, always rise well. You do not want the bleach to contact the plant (or its roots).

Picking rocks:  use common sense, try to get rocks that will fit in the pot (duh, lol) and lay somewhat flat. You want the top of the rocks as even as you can get them. Think of it as a puzzle (kids may find this fun).   I have a stash of rocks that I have collected and reused over the years.

Back to the packing peanuts, to explain more about why they are not a good idea I will tell you about my experiences with them. After hearing that using packing peanuts in place of rocks will lighten the load, I went out and bought some from the shipping store, and used them when I transplanted some of my bigger plants (the ones that needed it).

I tried as I seen on the show, packing peanuts on the bottom of the pot and a layer of dirt on top as a base for the plants roots (the usual), put the plant in and fill in around the plant with dirt. The plant grew fine, it was when I transplanted again the next year to a bigger pot I regretted what I had done. The roots of the plant grew through the foam peanuts, and they were hard to get out on them without hurting the roots.  In addition, the dirt mixed with the peanuts so I could not dump the old dirt in my yard. I had to put it in a trash bag and throw it away. Which got me thinking about how they, do not break down and that bag of dirt and packing peanuts will have to go to a landfill.

That is why I say not to use them in pots. There is no reason to use something that is that bad for the environment and cannot be reused when their is other things you can use.

I have been using plastic bags rolled up (twisted around my finger and kind of tied in a knot) and they work great.   Roots do not grow into them and when roots grow around them it is easy and harmless to roots to untangle.  They are light and you can also reuse them, just rise with water and let dry in between pots.

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