How to Maintain Outdoor Glazed Ceramic Planters

Maintaining your outdoor ceramic planters is an important key to keeping your plants and flowers healthy and free of pests and diseases that can contaminate your soil. Maintaining your planters will also help with making sure your plant has enough room to grow within the soil and the planter itself. Weather conditions can also affect your outdoor planters if they are not properly maintained, especially if they are stored in extremely cold temperatures that can cause your planters to freeze and crack.

Steps 1

Raise your Glazed ceramic pot off the ground to allow for proper drainage. If the drainage holes at the bottom of the planters are blocked, any moisture retained inside will cause your planter to rot.

Mount your planters on blocks to raise them off the ground or purchase "pot feet," which are decorative mounts you can place underneath your pots to allow for draining.

2

Store your plants inside or under a covered area during harsh weather conditions. Harsh wind, rain, hail, or snow storms can knock your large outdoor ceramic pot over and permanently break your planters.

3

Remove any saucers you have placed under your planters in cold weather.Excess water that drains from your planters may freeze on the saucer and cause it to crack.

4

Switch your plants to larger planters when they outgrow their current planters. Sometimes the roots of plants will cause your planters to split or crack if they grow too large for the ceramic pot.

Look on the bottom of your planters for roots that are growing out of the drainage holes. If the roots are growing out of the holes, you may need to re-pot your plants immediately. This will give your plants more room to grow and prevent the planters from breaking or splitting apart.

5

Position your tall outdoor glazed pot away from foot traffic to prevent accidents.

If you have children or pets, you may want to place your planters where they cannot be knocked over or ran into.

6

Sterilize your planters before and after plants have lived in them. This will prevent the plants you place in them from getting diseases caused from existing mold or parasites.

Wash out the inside of your planter with a liquid dish-washing soap and water mixture to remove any existing soil clumps or hard-water stains.

Soak the planter for at least 3 hours in a mixture of 1-part bleach and 9-parts water. If you prefer, a commercial gardening sterilizer can be used in place of the bleach mixture.

Rinse your planter under running water if it is made from plastic to remove the bleach; otherwise, soak the planter in clean water for at least 3 hours.

7

Treat your wooden and ceramic planters with waterproofing agents that are non-toxic. Wood and metal planters are more susceptible to rot or rust, which can also damage your plants.

Line your wooden planters with black plastic for further protection against moisture in the soil that can damage your planters. If any chemicals exist on the wood, the black plastic will also protect your plants.

Cut holes into the bottom of the black plastic so your plants can drain properly.

If you need to enforce your wooden plants with extra nails, use nails that are rust-proof.

8

Repair cracks in ceramic pots with polyvinyl acetate (PVA), or white, glue. The components in white glue will effectively seal any existing cracks in ceramic.