The proper care of potted plants consists not only of regular watering and fertilizing. About once a year, in early spring, the plant should be re-potted. This dirty, time consuming task can include trimming excess roots, adding new soil and increasing the pot size. Instead, a pot insert made of soil particles encased in corn starch or other slow-decomposing material with 5 cm thick walls would do the trick. The young plant, with rooted soil, is placed in the insert in a large pot. The contact with wet soil would slowly break down the inside of the insert at about 1 cm per year, letting the refreshed soil grow with the plant.
-- FarmerJohn, May 21 2002

peat pots http://www.alwaysgr...9&ObjectGroup_ID=22
Not exactly this idea but related. [bristolz, May 21 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]

You get pots like this made up of something like compressed compost or cardboard, which you can use for growing seedlings and then plant directly in the ground. I know nothing about gardening, but my dad used to use them.
-- pottedstu, May 21 2002


What I mean is several layers of that kind of pot interspaced with layers of soil, or a thick "cardboard" pot with imbedded soil. This would then be placed in your porcelin/clay pot with minimal maintenance for 5 years.
-- FarmerJohn, May 21 2002


Still sounds like the same thing. Why not a series of pots, individually thinner, which can be nested to produce the same effect? After all, it's not like the plant's root system is the only thing that's going to be breaking down the pot. Exposure to the elements will cause deterioration from the outside in while the plant is working from the inside out.
-- phoenix, May 21 2002


Croissant for the title...
-- RayfordSteele, May 21 2002



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