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If you want to have a plant inside your home, it is likely that when you hear about pots without holes you will want to get one, but I do not recommend that you put a cactus in it if you do not want to run out of it. Although it may surprise you, that is not the only reason why these types of 'modernities' are not at all suitable for growing succulents.
To find out why you should not buy a pot without a hole for cactus I invite you to read this article. In it I will discover the importance of drainage for these plant beings and, in addition, I will tell you how the container should be for them.
The problems of pots without a hole
Although a pot that does not have holes is very clean by not letting water run out of it, its qualities end here. Put a cactus or any other succulent on it is predestining you to a slow but sure suffocation death. Sorry if it sounds pretty -or very- cruel, but it's reality.
The roots must be aerated, that is, the granites that make up the substrate must be a little separated from each other so that the air can circulate. This cannot happen when the excess water becomes stagnant, as there comes a time when there is so much that the root system literally cannot breathe. Then it will be when they rot, first they and then the rest of the succulent.
How does the pot for succulents have to be?
- With holes: They are fundamental. The water that has not been able to be absorbed by the substrate must go outside.
- Terracotta: being a rough material, the roots can hold much better, so that the growth will be optimal. Be careful, the plastic ones are not bad -especially if you plan to have a large collection-, but they do not allow the root system to develop perfectly.
- The right size for the plant: if, for example, the cactus is about 5cm wide, it must be in a pot of about 8,5 or 10,5cm in diameter for more or less the same depth.
And the substrate?
The substrate has to facilitate the sewer system. You have to think that succulents, the vast majority of them, grow in sandy soils, so It is highly recommended that they be planted in, at least, a mixture of black peat with perlite in equal parts. But if we can get washed river sand, pumice, or small-grained construction sand (4mm or a little less), it will be ideal because, whether mixed or used alone, our plants will grow that will be a pleasure to see them.
Do you have any questions? Don't leave them hanging. Ask. 