Drainage, Saucers and Why Pots Crack After the Monsoon

A planter that cracks over the wet season has usually not failed because it was cheap. It has failed because water sat in it, and water that sits either rots roots or, in a cold snap, expands in the wall of the pot.

What a drainage hole actually does

A drainage hole lets excess water leave after the soil has taken what it can hold. Without one, the bottom two inches of a pot stay saturated permanently. Roots in that zone have no air, and a plant that looks fine on the surface can be losing its root system quietly. Most planters we list have holes; where a pot ships closed, the listing says so.

Closed pots are not a mistake

Cachepots, decorative glazed bowls and some indoor ceramics are made without holes on purpose. They are meant to hold a plastic nursery pot inside them, so the plant drains into the outer shell and you tip the water away. That is a perfectly sound arrangement, provided you actually tip it away. It becomes a problem only when soil goes straight into the closed pot.

Saucers help and saucers hurt

A saucer keeps water off your balcony floor, which matters in a flat with neighbours below. It becomes a hazard when the pot sits in the collected water for days. In heavy rain, a saucer under an outdoor pot fills faster than it drains and holds the pot in a puddle. Either lift the pot on feet so the base clears the water, or move outdoor pots off their saucers for the wet months.

Why crazing is not a fault

Unglazed terracotta absorbs water. Over a wet season it darkens, and fine surface lines called crazing can appear in the glaze of glazed ceramics. That is normal ageing in a porous material, and it is not the same as a crack through the wall. A crack you can feel with a fingernail on both faces is a failure; a fine surface line is not.

Simple habits that prevent most of it

• Raise outdoor pots on feet or a stand so the base is not sitting in water.
• Empty saucers after heavy rain rather than letting them stand.
• Use a layer of coarse material only if the pot is deep; it does not replace a hole.
• Move light ceramics away from an exposed railing before a storm.

Each listing states whether holes are present, whether a saucer is included and whether the maker rates the pot for outdoor use. Where that rating is not published, we do not invent one.