A Little Pot Shopping

[ColinFraser]

I recently had the opportunity to rummage through a whole bunch of inexpensive Chinese imports and stock up on pots at a very reasonable price. I think I may have gotten a little carried away This is what ended up in the back of my car:



Actually, I really do need a bunch of inexpensive pots to start moving some of my prebonsai in the right direction, and to improve the look of my garden without spending a fortune on nice pots for material that doesn't deserve them yet . . . and some of the little stuff is just for fun and to be able to give cheap gifts to friends and family.

 

[M. Frary]

I recently had the opportunity to rummage through a whole bunch of inexpensive Chinese imports and stock up on pots at a very reasonable price. I think I may have gotten a little carried away This is what ended up in the back of my car:

View attachment 106568

Actually, I really do need a bunch of inexpensive pots to start moving some of my prebonsai in the right direction, and to improve the look of my garden without spending a fortune on nice pots for material that doesn't deserve them yet . . . and some of the little stuff is just for fun and to be able to give cheap gifts to friends and family.

I'm a big proponent of cheap pots.
But then again I'm so tight I have to screw my socks on in the morning.

 

[ColinFraser]

At least I feel ready for next spring now.


Man, I just noticed I need to get the mower under my benches!

 

[ColinFraser]

I'm so tight I have to screw my socks on in the morning.

Haha, me too, but I'd also much rather spend a couple of hundred bucks on a selection of cheap pots, to have a baseline of choices available at home, than have to run around looking for one pot at retail every time I want to repot something! I can breathe a little easier now, knowing I have pots around to choose from.
As the trees (and their roots) progress, I will begin hunting for the "perfect" (read: expensive) pot for some of them . . .

 

[Adair M]

Good idea!

I don't know if you follow Boon on Facebook, but during potting season, he often posts a tree with several alternative pots and asks for comments and picks. There's usually no "right" answer as to which one is "best", but it's always fun to see who likes which pot and why.

Anyway, having a selection is nice. Even if the one you use isn't the best quality pot, at least by trying several, you'll be better informed when you do go shopping for that "special" pot.

I'm "lucky" that I have a lot of pots hanging around from my early days in bonsai when I had more trees than I could take care of! Back then, I didn't know about "quality" pots, so most of my old ones were "production" pots. But, like any monkey at a typewriter, I did buy a few that would now be considered "semi-antique" at least. I just bought them for size, shape, and color. At the time, I didn't know anything about pots. (Still don't, really.)

By the way, good idea to leave them out on the bench (or under it( to start to build patina! Go ahead and oil them, it helps build patina.

 

[sorce]

Damn!

You're gonna need a lot of sticks!

Sorce

 

[ColinFraser]

Damn!

You're gonna need a lot of sticks!

Sorce

Hahah, for sure!

 

[cmeg1]

Good idea!

I don't know if you follow Boon on Facebook, but during potting season, he often posts a tree with several alternative pots and asks for comments and picks. There's usually no "right" answer as to which one is "best", but it's always fun to see who likes which pot and why.

Anyway, having a selection is nice. Even if the one you use isn't the best quality pot, at least by trying several, you'll be better informed when you do go shopping for that "special" pot.

I'm "lucky" that I have a lot of pots hanging around from my early days in bonsai when I had more trees than I could take care of! Back then, I didn't know about "quality" pots, so most of my old ones were "production" pots. But, like any monkey at a typewriter, I did buy a few that would now be considered "semi-antique" at least. I just bought them for size, shape, and color. At the time, I didn't know anything about pots. (Still don't, really.)

By the way, good idea to leave them out on the bench (or under it( to start to build patina! Go ahead and oil them, it helps build patina.

I am glad to here pots outdorr storage is good.All mine are coming out.Many production pots.

 

[ColinFraser]

Thanks @Adair M ! The other scenario I was thinking of is working roots on a tree and then finding it can't fit in the chosen pot - nice to have some spares.

I arranged the benches that way specifically to have a place to stack pots

 

[ColinFraser]

Anyway, having a selection is nice.

So far, so good. This was today's choice:

 

[bonsaibp]

just a word of caution- very often those cheap Chinese pots have low spots around the bottom or in the feet. If not filled with epoxy or the like water will sit in those parts and rot your roots. Fill them and you're good to go.

 

[Smoke]

Wow, you could maybe work out a deal with Sirloco and corner the cheap glazed pot market in Ontario, Canada.

 

[rockm]

just a word of caution- very often those cheap Chinese pots have low spots around the bottom or in the feet. If not filled with epoxy or the like water will sit in those parts and rot your roots. Fill them and you're good to go.

I've had cheap pots kill a couple of trees because they just don't drain well. The holes in them sometimes are raised above the floor of the pot or the pot's entire bottom is curved up in a kind of dome with two drain holes at the top. That makes water pool on the edges and rot roots. Filling in those low spots can be very time consuming and cost more than the pot did.

For all those reasons, I just gave up on the cheap Chinese container route. Ultimately "cheap" was not all that cheap...

 

[M. Frary]

Sirloco

Blue maples in blue glazed pots.
A win,win situation.

 

[armetisius]

I recently had the opportunity to rummage through a whole bunch of inexpensive Chinese imports and stock up on pots at a very reasonable price. I think I may have gotten a little carried away This is what ended up in the back of my car: . . . doesn't deserve them yet . . . and some of the little stuff is just for fun and to be able to give cheap gifts to friends and family.

Okay; so that is what made the cut for the back of the car.
Now show us the few little "gems" that made front floor
board and backseat cuts. JK. Quite a haul.

 

[ColinFraser]

just a word of caution- very often those cheap Chinese pots have low spots around the bottom or in the feet. If not filled with epoxy or the like water will sit in those parts and rot your roots. Fill them and you're good to go.

Good call; I'll keep an eye on that.

Wow, you could maybe work out a deal with Sirloco and corner the cheap glazed pot market in Ontario, Canada.

Haha, these things wouldn't survive five minutes in a Canadian winter!

 

[LanceMac10]

Good call; I'll keep an eye on that.


Haha, these things wouldn't survive five minutes in a Canadian winter!

Ooooooo, hate those pots!!! I'll hose 'em with water before I use them.....you know, see where the water pools on the bottom. Use some wax, melted of course, to level it out.
Seems to work ok, unless it's warped beyond reason.

 

[Giga]

Looks like fun! For my cheaps I buy plastic bonsai pots and drill extra drainage holes in them - that way it looks like a bonsai pot and only cost a few bucks.

 

[ColinFraser]

looks like a bonsai pot and only cost a few bucks.

These too