TERRACOTTA POTS

hi all
i bought a lot of terracotta pots at morrisons 1/2 price , some very large and some half that size,
i understand there is a risk of them cracking in the winter,is there a way to prevent them cracking,

 

Hi Pamsdish, I bought a load of cheap terracotta pots last year and I di lose about half of them over winter. I am not too bothered as they were very cheap and I can use them broken up as drainage in this years pots. If you are planting summer bedding in them then I would empty them at the end of the season and store them in the shed to protect them, that's what I plan on doing this year

 

Hi Pam you could empty the pots out in winter, dry them out and keep them safe from freezing temperatures until needed again.

I'm not sure if there is a treatment you can use on them so if you don't want to do the above you could always take a risk.

I like taking risks and don't seem to have a huge problem of pots cracking on me. Others might have a better idea for you to try.Hel.xxx.

 

Lol Ellie we posted nearly at the same time. :D Hel.xxx.

 

heard of loads of of solutions to stop tcotta pots cracking..and none of them work the only thing you can do is to have very good drainage holes and pray for the best..not had a pot crack in 4 years..fingers crossed, if the drainage holes are to small its pot luck :D

 

thanks guys i will have to leave some in pots but if i wrap well with fleece and bubble wrap and try to keep them sheltered i might get away with it

 

Hello Pam, i had exactly this problem last/this year. Like you they were bought cheaply so can't moan.

Only thing i would say (or reiterate) is, if its annuals you put in, empty them & store. That's what i will do this year. I will make a point of not putting perrenianals (spelling) or bi-annuals in them. Learned this now through being on this site (2nd year now!).

Depends what you like. Plenty of plastic pots around.

cheers

 

Terracota so pretty though but at end of season I store them in my greenhouse.

 

Pam, its worth understanding why pots crack in winter. When water freezes it expands with enormous force; enough to burst copper pipes or crush ships in the Artic. Its this freezing of water that does the harm. It works two ways. Unglazed terracotta is porous, rain can get into the pores and when it freezes it expands and flakes come off. But that is unlikely to crack the pot itself.

The other way is when the pot is full of water in the form of wet compost, the resultant expansion can crack the entire pot, irrespective of how strong and expensive it is.

If they are glazed, as bought, or you coat them with a sealant, you stop the water getting into the terracotta itself, and you will stop them flaking, but this has no effect on them splitting. To stop the splitting, you must have the minimum amount of water in the pot - preferably none. You can do this by mixing compost with sand to improve the drainage. But the simplest way is to empty them or put them under cover, where they will dry out, or just cover them to keep the rain out. Dry cold doesn't harm pots. But if they are wet, wrapping with bubblewrap probably won't help much.

With my largest pot, which I have had for 5 years and is too heavy to move, I can just get a bin liner over the neck in winter. This keeps the rain out, so there shouldn't be any reason for it to crack. Covering a pot with a wooden board would do exactly the same, as long as it doesn't get blown away. If the pot is dry it doesn't matter if it is full of compost or not.

 

The modern trend of making pots smaller at the top than the bottom is a bit of a problem, the frozen compost has nowhere to go, so the pot cracks.
The standard tapered pot, (smaller at the bottom), allows the compost to expand upwards.
Also, pots made in Britain, although more expensive, are less likely to be damaged by frost.
Something to do with the firing temperature I think.

 

You are right Pete about the shape, and there are other factors as well, like the intrinsic strength of the material and its thickness.

When I tipped a plastic bucket up a while ago, which had been left outside in freezing weather, There was a good inch of ice all across the top and only very thin ice down the sides. This implies that the damage is done right at the top of the container. - not sure how that helps - but an interesting observation - possibly. :D

It might imply that just putting a dry mulch on top will stop it splitting - but that is no more than just a thought.

Ed: Thinking a bit more about this, it could well be that covering the top of the pot, not sides, with bubblewrap would do the trick. It could have a double effect of keeping the rain out (prime importance) and also insulation the top in case any water does get through.

[ 20. April 2008, 01:31 AM: Message edited by: PeterS ]

 

thank you all for your input,it has given me several avenues depending on what is in pot,