Planting Containers: Mesh Baskets vs Fabric vs ?

[Bromeliad]

Hi All,

I've been reading up on the best way to pot aquatic plants and I'm encountering a lot of different opinions.
Some swear by the standard mesh baskets, whereas others say they allow too much soil to escape and allow roots to grow too free, destabilizing the pot from beneath.
Others prefer fabric pots for their flexibility.
Some say that regular solid plastic pots work just fine.
Similarly, some people are adamant that gravel on top of the soil is essential, whereas others seem to be very against gravel.

I was wondering if you could share what has worked best for you over the years? Does it depend on what you're planting?
As always, greatly appreciate your insights.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Other than my waterlilies which are in solid plastic dishpans to protect them from my koi, all the rest of my marginals are planted directly in the gravel of the pond shelves with no containers at all. I want the roots to be able to run free & soak up the maximum amount of nutrients possible (plus, I don't personally like the look of containers in a pond) I do have butterfly ginger which is not reliably hardy to my zone (7a) so in the fall, right before a hard frost, I just yank as much of it as I can out of the areas it's growing & toss it in large rubbery bins that are overwintered in my cool but climate controlled basement storage room.

 

[Mmathis]

I only plant my water lilies in a contained pot. Any other plants that go in the pond, either get tucked into rocks and/or stuck into gravel. I keep the majority of the original planting medium on the roots.

 

[TheFishGuy]

I currently pot plants, because of my pond depth they all have to come inside for the winter, and I just use the standard pond plant plastic containers. it works fine, best thing I can say is don't overthink it. ( Looks like you already have )

as for gravel, I normally keep a layer, only because the fish/ me moving the plants around seems to make the dirt go everywhere and cloud up the water. although some plants ( my hostas ect) get turned over and tossed about by racoons regularly, so I have them in a pot with no substrate at all! they don't seem to mind but this definitely isn't the ideal condition.

 

[Tula]

I use Walmart oil pans and the plastic basket pots, both work well. I used to have a gravel covered pond bottom and grew them directly in the gravel. They flourished, but were very over grown and hard to remove when I took the gravel out of the pond.

 

[Lisak1]

@Bromeliad - the answer is yes. All will work. Some things work better for some ponds, some plants, some pond owners. You really just need to play around with things and see what works for you. I think anyone who believes they know the "one best way" hasn't really tried a whole lot of other ways.

In my personal opinion, the more plants you can get growing directly IN the pond (no pots at all) the better. The more contact your roots have with the water the more effective they will be at helping keep your pond balanced. Like @Mmathis the only plants in pots in my pond are my lilies. Everything else is growing directly in the pond.

I had a few plants that started their life in those mesh bags. They quickly outgrew the bags and split right through them. The now-shredded bags are still there - they're part of the root ball now! I liked using them when I was trying to get plants started in a bit deeper water than the plant really wanted to be in. I could fill the bag with gravel or small rocks to create a higher planting level for my marginals. It was one way to create a stabile planting spot until a plant gets established. I also did the same thing with a ring of small boulders filled with gravel. Once the plant gets started, you can remove the rocks, or leave them be as you prefer.

 

[Mmathis]

As @Lisak1 reminded, I think sometimes people don’t understand that the most important part of having plants in the pond, is for the plant roots to have direct contact with the water (with some exceptions). Think of it like a hydroponic garden, where the roots are growing in the water fertilized by fish. Without the direct contact with water, the roots can’t uptake the nutrients it needs and can’t filter out the harmful by-products of the nitrogen cycle, keeping the fish healthy.

 

[Bromeliad]

Yes, that totally makes sense! These are good tips, thank you!