When you buy a new houseplant, it comes in a plastic nursery pot. Many people think that this pot is useless, and throw it away at home as soon as they find a nice plant pot. This is completely understandable, but it’s better to keep it. Because this pot helps your plant to stay alive! In this article we’ll tell you more about it.

The importance of the plastic nursery pot

If you take a plant out of the plastic pot and place it in a pot without holes, the roots of the plant will start to rot as soon as you water the plant. The excess water can’t go anywhere, so it will remain at the bottom of the flower pot. This will keep the roots wet, causing them to rot. And that does not make your plant happy. By using a plastic nursery pot with holes in it, the excess water can easily drain away. So always check whether there are enough holes in the inner pot of your new houseplant!

Also read: Things to do when you bring a new plant home

An alternative

If you don’t want to use a plastic nursery pot, you can use a plant pot with saucer. Because there are holes at the bottom of the pot, the water still can drain away.

Repotting

If your houseplant is growing well, it’s important to repot it. You can buy a larger plastic nursery pot at a garden center, these don’t cost much. Carefully remove the plant from the small nursery pot, add some potting compost in the larger pot and place the plant in it. Preferably do this in the spring or summer, then the chances are higher that your plant will survive the shock of moving from pot to pot.

Also read: Repotting an Anthurium pot plant: a few tips