What is the best thing to put in the bottom of a succulent pot? Line it with this kind of stone and the roots won't rot for years

A gardening friend asked: I grow a lot of succulents, but I don't know what is best to put in the bottom of the pot. The purpose of putting something in the bottom of a pot is to increase air and water drainage, and generally some large-particle solid is used, such as pumice, clay pebbles, coal cinders and so on. Of course, some pots come with a plastic screen, but the purpose is the same: to increase drainage and prevent water from pooling in the pot. So gardeners don't need to be fussy about exactly what to use, as long as the goal can be achieved.

Do succulent pots need drainage holes? A pot can have no hole at the bottom, but the grower needs to be able to control the amount of water given. If you can water without causing waterlogging, no hole is fine. In practice this is very hard to do, so whether you are an expert or a beginner, you buy pots with holes, and if there are no holes you make them yourself.

How to make a hole in a succulent pot: Step one: stuff a towel into the bottom of the pot. Step two: turn a stool upside down and set the container on the stool legs. Step three: hold the nail with pliers in one hand and a hammer in the other, then strike hard until the hole is made. If using a ceramic container, you can first soak the container overnight, then stuff a towel into the container, turn the container upside down on a soft pad, hold the nail with pliers in one hand and a hammer in the other, and strike until the hole is made.

A pot with holes, planted with succulents, also makes repotting easier. With a pot that has no bottom hole, when repotting you can only dig the plant out from above; whether you loosen the soil first and dig it out, or grab the plant and pull it out, the damage to the plant is relatively great. But if the pot has a bottom hole, you can use a stick as thick as a chopstick to push the soil outward, and combined with loosening the soil, hold the plant and pull it out, and the damage to the plant is relatively small.

If you don't make a hole, you must be very careful about water control. Succulents are still quite easy to grow. In winter, with the large temperature difference between day and night, the beautiful colors of the succulents come out. Actually, you just need to place the succulents in a ventilated spot. For drainage, your first choice can be a container with a hole in the bottom. If you don't want to miss out on a beautiful holeless planter because of this, you can first put a layer of well-draining pumice or even coal cinders, foam and so on in the bottom of the holeless container, and just pour out the excess water each time after watering thoroughly.

As long as the soil mix is airy, when you pour water on top, a few seconds later the feeling of water flowing out of the bottom hole is as satisfying as gulping down cold water on a hot day without a care. But if the pot has no bottom hole, you need to water very carefully: too little water and it doesn't reach the bottom, so the roots stay suspended and won't stretch downward; too much and it collects at the bottom, so the roots stay stifled in the mud without air and easily develop problems.

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