When you don't buy your plants and pots at the same time, you can end up chasing your tail. You are always one (or many!) plants ahead of pots to fit them. So if you want to get in sync, let's talk about how to choose the right sized pot for your indoor plant. That way, when you're ready to buy a new pot or planter online, or in store, you'll get the right sized pot for your plant!
When people come into the Basil & Ivy shop, they're often looking for a pot for an existing plant. But when we ask what pot size they need, they usually hold out their hands and say "about this big". Which, needless to say, means they're really unlikely to end up with the right sized planter! So let's talk about how to get the right sized pot.
MEASURE YOUR PLANT...THEN MEASURE YOUR POT
Measuring is critical, particularly if you want to keep you plant in its grower pot. We recommend this for many plants as they're easier to remove and water, plus this gives you access to a wider choice of decorative plant pots (as many don't have drainage holes).
You can use a pot that's LARGER than the plant - but you can't use a pot SMALLER than the plant. So your aim is to buy a pot that's bigger than the plant in its planter pot.
So what do you need to measure?
Well, there are a couple of important measurements.
1. The width - inner pot measurement
You need to know that your plant will fit inside your pot. So you need to measure across the top of the plant AND across the top of the inside of the pot. The inner pot measurement is what will determine if your plant will fit.
So your plant in its planter pot needs to be slightly smaller across that the inner pot measurement.
At the very least it needs to squeeze inside, but you can also have the outer pot be significantly wider and it can still look good.
Because we believe this is so important, many of our indoor planters at Basil and Ivy have the inner planter measurement in the title of the product. If we say it's 120mm pot, that means we know it will fit a standard 120mm planter pot. (Plants in plastic planter pots tend to come in fairly standard sizes, like 95mm, 120mm and 170mm).
Inner pot measurement
Outer pot measurement
2. The height of the pot
This is slightly less important, as many people don't mind the top of the planter pot being a little visible, largely because its often obscured by the plant.
But if you can, you should ensure your pot is taller than the plant in its planter pot.
That's it, you're done. Measure you plant and then shop with confidence for your ppot!
Shop indoor planters, hanging planters, handmade planters and outdoor planters at Basil & Ivy!
Leave a comment