Using Netted Produce Bags in My Flower Pots

I save the large netted produce bags in which onions and sometimes oranges come packaged. I set them aside in my gardening cupboard and use them as I find need. I've used them to create a barrier at soil level in pots to prevent squirrels from digging up tulip bulbs. I've used them for making gigantic tea bags to make compost tea. And today I use one large bag to make screens for the bottoms of my two flower pots for the front porch. 

When my pots have single large drainage holes I like to use some sort of screen to prevent soil from washing through the drainage holes after watering. A screen covers the hole, holding in soil, while allowing excess water to pass through. A screen will also discourage many insects from taking up residence in my plant's pot.

Plastic mesh screens, cut to fit the bottom of flower pots, can be bought from Amazon for about 30 to 50 cents each. By folding a section of a netted onion bag, fourfold, I can create a screen that has fairly small holes and is effective at holding in the soil.

This afternoon I potted my "new" green pots with fresh potting soil and a trio of coleus plants. I filled the pots on the deck right outside the kitchen door (in the pathway to get in and out of the house). 

I laid the folded over netting on the bottom of the pot , covering the hole, and held it in place while I began scooping soil into the pot. When the netting was covered, I poured in the rest of the soil to fill the pot. After planting the coleus, I moved the pots from the deck to the front porch. The deck where the pot had been sitting while filling was clean, no little circle of potting soil under the pot's drainage hole. The netting prevented soil from leaking through the hole.

I watered the two newly planted pots once moved to the front porch. An hour after watering I checked under the pots to see how much dirt or dirty water seeped through the netting-covered drainage hole. While it was clear that water had drained through the hole, running down the slope of the porch, and there were drips of water still under the pot, no dirt was on the paving. 

I wish I'd gotten to planting these pots last month. I hope my small plants grow quickly. But I can only do what I can only do.