Pot feet or saucer?

Hello gardeners

I would love some advice if you can please?

I have a pot with a hole or two sitting on a saucer but I found at the gardening centre that there also are pot feet. Which is best?

I have asked a member of staff at the garden centre for some advice, she said pot feet are better than a saucer so the water can drain away easily. So go for the pot feet. But.... my Mum said the other way round cos you don’t want soil running through the hole while draining the water and you have mud all over the place - forget feet, use saucer.

Now I’m in a dilemma - I’d like your advice please? Which should I go for? Is it all depends where I put it, gravel for example or on a patio plus which plants.

I have found that although pots at the bottom with a hole is completely flat sits on a saucer, there aren’t any gaps between them to see if they are draining water properly. The same staff at the garden centre agreed with me so that’s why she said go for the feet.

Then again Mum said, some plants don’t like a lot of water over their leafy plants so they prefer from the bottom, like a saucer if it’s not on the beds - so the roots can absorb the water from the saucer.

I hope I am clear. I hope you can advise me with this as I’m thinking of sending either saucers or pot feet back to the garden centre to get a refund.

 

Hi @Sarah Beauvoisin and welcome! I'm afraid my answer is - both! I tend to put pots on feet over the winter damp months to ensure the plants don't get sodden roots. Then in the summer, when the plants need watering a lot, I use saucers, so that if I have left them get too dry, they can reabsorb from the saucer (if too dry the water often runs straight through). But that's only my viewpoint - hopefully you will get other opinions.

 

My only problem with feet is that even with a fairly heavy large pot, the wind if excessively strong can get under and tip it over, this has happened with some palms and a Strelitzia.

 

I just stand pots on pieces of wood in the winter enough to raise them off the ground.

In summer, on anything well established, I put a saucer under them but sometimes in very wet summers you need to remove them as the pot can remain waterlogged.

 

Something I discovered last winter when pots were getting waterlogged is invisible pot feet; non-slip, made from black rubber. They work well and are relatively inexpensive - you will find loads of suppliers on ebay, amazon etc.

 

I join the confusing chorus and use neither

It really depends on where your pots stand i.e. patio or gravel etc, what you grow, how big the pots are and how much water is available. For thirsty plants saucers are a back up solution for missed waterings, and in the winter most plants prefer to stay drier so raising them to improve drainage is sensible.

I gave up swapping especially since my containers are mostly big and heavy so lifting them is not easy.

I do hide dry loving containers in a rain shelter over the winter though.

 

Wow. This is an interesting discussion. I presently use saucers instead of pot feet because winter is never an issue. Nothing stays outside or it would freeze solid as ice and I like to bottom water plants. They just seem to do better.

But you got me thinking. I wouldn'tmind trying pot feet with a bit of height and having a strip of felt pushed up into the pot hole and the bottom sitting in a smaller diameter saucer full of water. Capillary feeding and not having the roots drowning perhaps. I'll have to give it a go!