What are the Pros and Cons of planting in planting baskets, fabric bags and solid, no holes containers?
Each of these planting containers have specific advantages and disadvantages, and are specific to each plant variety. ALL plants benefit from having their roots accessible to oxygen, and the advantages of planting baskets and fabric containers are that plant roots have access to oxygen. HOWEVER, some plants are more aggressive when it come to roots spreading.
This is where solid, no holes containers become important! This is especially important with plants like lotus, which have aggressive roots and must have water above the soil to grow successfully. Instead of planting your lotus directly in your pond, we recommend that you plant them in a no holes container and then place that container in the shallow area of your pond. This keeps the growth of the lotus from over-spreading, as the lotus roots will stay confined to the container.
The no holes containers actually become small ponds for different plants. This works quite well for plants like Dwarf Papyrus, Dwarf Umbrella Palm and small waterlilies.
Tub and container gardens are extremely popular and some of the ornamental containers can be quite large. We recommend that you insert a no holes container inside your ornamental container. That way, you can more easily lift the no holes container when the need arises.
We recommend planting baskets and fabric containers whenever possible, as the oxygen at the roots allows your plants to absorb more nutrients, aiding in algae elimination, as well as helping you to grow lush, green, healthy plants more quickly! We noticed a remarkable growth increase in our marginal bog plants and waterlilies when we cut a few slits in their pots to allow the increase of oxygen at their roots. Enjoy!