Draining pots

[ludocris]

DH has recently put a lot of plants in pots around the garden, which look lovely. The only thing is, he's not an experienced gardener (nor am I), and he didn't realise he needed to think about drainage, so now some of the pots are holding a lot of excess water. Is there any way to fix this without having to take everything out of their pots? They range in size and it would be a faff to do it with some of the bigger ones...

if they are made of plastic you can drill holes in the bottom, but beware that electricity and water don't mix. do them on their side.

If the plants in the pots are waterlogged, they will die if you don't take them out. Just lift them out whole, and stand them without a pot so the water can drain and the soil can dry out a bit. Then you can deal with making holes in the pots while they recover. I've done that with houseplants!

If they have drainage holes but it's just he hasn't bottomed them with crocks (I don't do this either) - then adding some pot feet to the bottom can help the water find its way out.

Otherwise, you need to add holes - which probably means lifting everything out again to do so.

You can drill holes either with a power drill, or a augur, or the point of a secateurs blade and a lot of determination, even while the plant is in the pot. Maybe easier to drill in the side just above the base, works as well.

start by draining excess water by tipping the pot on its side for a few days

Thank you, great idea to do them in the side!