Terracotta for your plants
I'm sure you know that too ... Most of us, even when buying flowers or rather suitable containers for our beloved flowers or plants, get into the dilemma of what kind of material is actually the most suitable for their healthy growth and prosperity. For the moment, let's try to omit the aesthetic aspect, which is completely subjective for each of us, although of course it is important for the visual side of our premises, but let's focus now on evaluating the objective reasons why in the terracotta pot plants actually lives better.
Terracotta is breathable
Terracotta is a porous and breathable material with a thin structure that allows air to pass from the outside without dispersing too much water. Due to its considerable thickness, usually a few centimeters, it also acts as a cavity and protects the roots from #frost, #temperature changes in general and excessive solar heat. For this reason, they significantly #protects and are benefits for plants, and for this reason in Italy they have geraniums that will lasts for years and do not rot at any time of the year.
Allows efficient air / water exchange
When we fill the #container with water, the water inside the container takes the place instead of the air and gets into the soil, where the roots reside, by gradual release. The air is lighter and therefore it is forced to leave room for water. #Terracotta breathes all over its surface, so it has a continuous supply of air to the soil and thus exchanges them. However, if the container is made of plastic or in any case of impermeable material, the only way to give way to the air is for the water to come out of the drain holes and the plant then absorb the liquids from the bottom. In this case, however, the roots do not #breathe, because they are in the #water and the more time the air needs to re-enter the substrate, respectively. clay, and the greater the chance that the roots will get sick.
Terracotta is a living material and does not deform
Terracotta, like #wood and #stone, undergoes atmospheric changes from an aesthetic point of view, colors and ages naturally and enhances its beauty as in the form of an architectural element that develops in a given #environment. A beautiful villa certainly has more prestige if terracotta vessels of natural age and appearance are placed in its #garden. In addition, unlike #plastic, terracotta is not exposed to solar heat and does not deform. One of the main shortcomings of plastic containers, especially large ones with many pounds of soil inside, is that they bulge over time and deform unsightly, even disintegrate, because they are unable to hold the internal tension of the weights and the roots themselves.