Just like me , you ’ve probably heard for your intact life – at least your horticulture sprightliness – that you should add small stones , gravel , pieces of busted ceramic heap , or other makeweight to the bottom of yourcontainersbefore engraft . The reasoning is that it ply better drain for your plant as it help the water run out faster through the pile .
It sounds reasonable , right ? But it turn out that stone in the bottom of the pot actually slow drainage and can harm your plants . Scientists have proven it .
really , they busted this gardening myth more than 100 age ago and many time since then . But somehow , this crucial fact has n’t enrol the corporate conscience ofhome nurseryman – we ’re still hurl all kinds of things into the bottom of our prime pots . I was shamefaced of this too until I hit across the research on theGarden Professors page on Facebook .
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Studies show that in a pot, water does not quickly cross from soil to stone
scientist have demonstrated that weewee does not well move between a fine textured material like soil and a coarser material like Harlan Fiske Stone . More specifically , water is very slow to cross the areabetweenthe two materials . So the harsh materials at the bottom of the container slow water drainage , making the soil more potential to become waterlogged and potentially swim your plant ’s roots .
“ The fact is , when piddle moving through a dirt reaches a horizontal or vertical user interface between different territory types , it stops moving . ”
Why this happens: gravity
Rather than piddle freely moving down through the the soil and across the Isidor Feinstein Stone , H2O resists crossing the barrier between them . That ’s because the piss in the upper layer is being pulled up by the dry soil and the plants . This offsets the effect of gravity , which would otherwise pluck the weewee through the Stone . The water system builds up in the top layer until it ’s oversaturated , and only then is water in the filth released into the level below . The oversaturation of the soil poses a threat to yourplant ’s rootsand may be why your container - spring up petunias did n’t survive the season from clip to time .
“ It is a myth that a layer of crushed rock ( insidethe bottom of an individual pot ) beneath the territory improves container drain . Instead of extra piss draining now into the gravel , the pee “ perches ” or gathers in the soil just above the gravel . The water tuck until no tune space is bequeath . Once all the available stain air space fills up , then excess water drain into the gravel below . So gravel in the bottom does trivial to keep soil above it from being saturate by overwatering . ”
So the next time you pot up your plants , just addsoilless pot mixand nothing else , And of course , check that there are honest drainage maw in the pot .
Read more : The Myth of Drainage Material in Container Plantings , Washington State University Extension , ordownload the pdf .
To see for yourself why this happens , determine out this video from Joe Gardener .
