Planting in pots

[Deadeye]

So when I converted my mbuna tank into a planted tank, I forgot to take substrate into account. Turns out, plants aren’t fond of a crushed coral substrate (who would have thought).
In an effort to get good growth/save them from dying, would I be able to get some planted substrate and small terracotta pots, and plant them in that? Seems easy on paper, just making sure it isn’t actually a stupid idea.
The plants in question are aponogeton, Val, Amazon sword, and whatever else I might see at the lfs…

 

[Chub_by]

Planting in pots is possible but terracotta or other terrestrial plant pots will not allow water flow which can cause problems down the line.
Pots for pond plants are a good choice however they obviously don't look good. Otherwise you could drill some holes in a pot but I believe terracotta would crack.

 

[Deadeye]

Ah okay thanks!
Would plastic be better suited? I could drill into that.

 

[Chub_by]

Ah okay thanks!
Would plastic be better suited? I could drill into that.

Yes, absolutely. Mind you I'm not sure if you can drill terracotta or not, if you can then if would be absolutely no problem. The only requirement here is getting some sort of water flowing laterally through the pot

 

[aussieman57]

I've drilled holes in terracota pots before using drill bits for ceramic/ccncrete. Just go slow.

 

[Deadeye]

So would something like this work:

https://www.amazon.com/Nursery-Plastic-Starter-Outdoor-Balcony/dp/B087JJFTVX/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=3OGSS97BZTZ5L&keywords=small+plastic+plant+pot&qid=1645045291&sprefix=small+plastic+plant+pot%2Caps%2C60&sr=8-4

Or this since it already has holes:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08QHT5QM7/ref=syn_sd_onsite_mobileweb_199?ie=UTF8&adId=200030606265698&qualifier=1645045311&id=71007364504893&widget=sd_onsite_mobileweb&spPl=1&psc=1&pd_rd_w=2yxnF&pf_rd_p=eb5f44a0-b33f-40e0-99ff-9a366bba71ed&pf_rd_r=VDB3EXNKFARH7DNC0MTB&pd_rd_r=be75ae17-1798-4940-8115-507848ea42f9&pd_rd_wg=T7ut7

I would think the second gives too much room and the plants won’t be getting the nutrients from the planted soil.

 

[Fishman Dave]

The second are what potted plants in the uk come in with a sort of rock wool fibre internal. Surprised that the plants won’t root and grow in the crushed coral itself. Would have expected that it still have a decent substrate even if the water chemistry is a bit different. If they grow in pots I would expect them to grow in the substrate.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

I've planted lots of plants in terracotta pots in my tank. Biggest issue was they'd eventually get rootbound, there seems to be enough flow through the hole in the bottom and up through the roots for them.

I tried the pond pots, all the soil just fell out unless I lined it with filter wool, but then that looked like crap.

 

[jjohnwm]

I just use standard terracotta clay pots in appropriate sizes. Cut a piece of filter pad material to cover the hole in the bottom, put in an inch or more of organic potting soil, put the rockwool plug containing the plant on top and then backfill around it with pool filter sand or fine gravel. Usually need to add some more sand/gravel a couple weeks later after the initial batch settles a bit; very easy to stick a tab of root fertilizer in each pot if you wish. Never gave any thought to water flow through the pot; how much flow is there through a mud or sand bottom in nature?

I don't like non-natural decor, but I have used terracotta pots for so long, both as growing containers and also as hiding spots, etc. that I have managed to delude myself that they look natural...

 

[Bluesandtwo]

In my opinion, it's less about water flow and just about size of the pot. In reality our substrates get little to no water flow through them.

Anything can work as a container, even a lunch box! Lots of discus keepers have bare bottom tanks and then just plants in pots. Terracotta would be fine.

If you wanted to get creative, you could smear silicone around the Terracotta pot then pat dry crushed coral sand over that - so it blends better in the tank.