Benefits to Individuals Using This System for Their Yard:
1) The individual can use this method to make it easier to bring in tender plants
for the winter.
2) It allows the use of palms and other tropicals as landscape plants in areas with
cold winters.
3) It also allows you to move your plants around and keep the “good stuff” in the
public areas of your yard - such as a Curbside Garden.
4) Prevents blow over - using an above ground pot with a tall plant, such as a Palm
Tree, will cause you to have issues with the plant being blown over by the wind.
I will discuss more about pot blow over in the Potted Plants section of this site.
Disadvantages:
A Drip Irrigation System will need to be installed or you will need to water often
- about every other day. (Tropicals need a lot of water anyway - so this is just
part of having them.)
Where to Obtain Pots:
I buy my pots from B&T Grower Supply. I use Trade 2 Gallon Pots (actual size is 1.6
gallons) for the plant and Trade 3 Gallon Pots (actual size is 2.3 gallons) for the
socket. (The pot that is placed in the ground is called a socket pot.) For larger
plants I use Full 3 Gallon Pots for the plant and Full 5 Gallon Pots for the socket.
The general rule of thumb is that the socket pot should be 50% larger in volume than
the plant pot. Keep in mind that the height and width also need to be compatible.
The Florida Friendly Plants site also has some good information about this method
- they use smaller pots - I prefer larger pots because it keeps the temperature and
moisture more stable. The Florida Friendly Plants site also uses the same sized pot
for the socket and plant. This works with smaller pots, but the weight of a larger
pot will cause the pots to stick together. You will need to experiment - actual pot-in-pot
systems are not available to the general public - with the exception of 15 and 25
gallon sizes that I have seen offered.
Tri-Pot-in-Pot Method:
This is a twist on the original Pot-in-Pot Method - it is intended to be used with
with Elephant Ears and other aquatic plants like Cat Palms, Majesty Palms and Pigmy
Date Palms. Yes, these three plants commonly sold in Minnesota as houseplants are
somewhat aquatic. (The book, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms, has a lot of very
detailed information about palms.) In my experiments during the winter of 2009-2010
with the palms, I would just set the potted plant in a bucket of water and leave
it there for a month or so until all of the water was gone in the bucket. While the
soil in the pot was still moist, I would then add more water until the bucket was
full - in essence trying to create a flooding effect - similar to what the plant
experiences in its natural habitat along rivers and boggy areas. During the summer
of 2010 I continued to experiment with letting the palms stay in water for extended
periods of time - I found that they do excellent in these conditions. I have read
a lot of information about these plants and I seriously doubt that many of the authors
have any experience with these three palms. The standard advice to keep them on the
dry side during the winter only leads to new sales for the plant growers. You WILL
kill your palms if you take these authors seriously. My observations with the methods
that I am discussing here; leads to vigorous growth during the winter and summer
months. It also allows you to spend less time taking care of your palms.
The Tri-Pot-in-Pot Method is just the simple act of adding an aquatic pot between
the plant pot and the socket pot. (The aquatic pots used are just normal pots without
drainage holes.) That way, if you decide to move your plants around, the socket will
still be able to accept a plant that needs good drainage. Aquatic pots are difficult
to find and I have found two sizes that will work with the Trade 3 Gallon Pots (actual
size is 2.3 gallons) being used for the plant, and The Full 5 Gallon Pot used for
the socket. One size of pot is a 10 x 6 Aquatic Pot or you could go with a 3 Gallon
Cheater Aquatic Pot - the 3 Gallon Cheater Aquatic Pot is almost 10 inches high and
will create a deeper boggy microclimate for the plant. The 10 x 6 aquatic pot is
only two-thirds as high, and the advantage of using a shorter pot is that it keeps
the soil that is saturated with water further away from the top of the plant. You
could just use an Aquatic Pot, but you would need to be 100% positive that the plant
can tolerate having it’s roots submerged at all times. Two other options are to use
Trade 2 Gallon Pots (actual size is 1.6 gallons) for the plant and Full 3 Gallon
Pot used as the socket - a 9 x 6 Aquatic Pot will fit between these two pots or use
Full 3 Gallon Pots for the plant and 3 Gallon Aquatic Pots as the socket - you will
only be able to use the socket for aquatic plants - this would be a good option to
use in large above ground decorative pots...there will be more about this in the
Potted Plants section. I am still learning when it comes to keeping palms in water,
and during the summer of 2011 I am planing to experiment with a Cat Palm in full
sun with this method - I have read that it can be done. I have already figured out
that Majesty Palms will do fairly well in full sun with plenty of moisture, and it
is common knowledge that Pigmy Date Palms do well in sun or shade.
I will post a video that will demonstrate this method in the near future.
Other Sources of Information About This Topic:
Florida Friendly Plants - Pot-in-Pot Landscaping
Louisiana State University - Pot-in-pot Nursery Production
Note:
While the main focus of this site is using palms and tropical plants in Minnesota,
the methods presented on this site should also work in the following states, provinces
and territories: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi,
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington,
West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan,
Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon.
Updated May 12, 2011
