Plastic or Mica Pots for beginer?

JudyB

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I have made 3 buys from this store.

The first one arrived broken and was replaced with another broken pot (inadequately protected in the box).
The second purchase arrived with a different glaze color than shown...different by enough that it couldn't have just been the photography.
The third one was unglazed, and arrived in a much different clay color than the two-tone deep brown burnished colors shown.
Nice people, but I've gotten something different (lower in quality) than what must be a representative sample listed each time.

I agree, sometimes I have found the photo colors to be inadequate representations of the pots. But most of the time I'm purchasing unglazeds that are not too far off. I have emailed them about colors in the past, and they can't really tell you anything more. But the price has been good enough for the most part for the purposes that these pots serve. In one case I liked the color better...
 

remist17

Shohin
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thank you for all your replies. I took your advice and bought ceramic pots. I bought 3 pots from a local dealer and for a good price.

My questions is with ceramic and PA winters, do I need to remove the plant from the ceramic pot every winter? I heard these crack over winter?
 

JudyB

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I find that my unglazed pots fly through winter with no problems, but glazed ones not as much. I move my glazed ones into winter unglazed pots of same size or a bit larger to make it easy to move back in the spring... I've had better made glazed ones do fine, but be careful if you bury the pot in mulch, as the mulch can cause discoloration to the glaze on lighter ones.
 
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used my 1st plastic pot today with quite a large tree and it was terrible - far too flexible so the silly thing distorts as you tighten up the guy wires - go with something more rigid.
 
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In my opinion, as said above, plastic < mica < ceramic. Mica used to be a nice bang for your buck, but it has become more expensive "lately" (last couple of years). I've read this is due to the fact that China has been buying up all the necessary raw materials from Korea for unrelated industrial uses. So, cheap ceramic alternatives are about the same price, and many vendors no longer bother with mica.

Mat,
From what I hear, that for the most part Mica pots aren't even being exported anymore... everyone I know that usually brings these in, is telling me Mica pots are a thing of the past.
Sad thing though is that they looked pretty good, and really held up to the UV Rays down here... Also, held up alot better with the occasional branch falling out
of a tree, or animal knocking it off it's post... :)

I would suggest one buys them when one finds them...
 

mcpesq817

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I have made 3 buys from this store.

The first one arrived broken and was replaced with another broken pot (inadequately protected in the box).
The second purchase arrived with a different glaze color than shown...different by enough that it couldn't have just been the photography.
The third one was unglazed, and arrived in a much different clay color than the two-tone deep brown burnished colors shown.

Nice people, but I've gotten something different (lower in quality) than what must be a representative sample listed each time.

I had a similar experience with them. The pots are not very high quality - they seem to leach minerals a ton, and are difficult to clean. Cheap for larger sizes if you dont care about quality.
 
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