Plastic pots inside your "nice pots"

Kmeh

I've been trying to put plastic pots inside my nice pots, largely  so that i can chop and change for my perrenials when coming into bloom, that i don't have time to re pot into the nice pots eg roses and peonies. Problem is, they never seems to fit properly or they always look awkward or ill fitting within the pot. Any brands that do plastic pots that fit nicer pots?

Obelixx

Plastic pots tend to be a standard format depending on manufacturer.  ceramic pots are more "artistic" and less standardised.

I just put plants straight into the ceramic pot of choice and organise the displays according to aspect and season so they get the right amount of sun or shade.  I buy pots in the sales and have built p a collection over the years.

There's also a good range of decorative plastic pots available now in a good range of sizes, styles and prices and the bonus is they are lighter to move about.

JennyJ

I think the main thing would be to choose a plastic pot that doesn't stick out of the top of the nice pot, which isn't always easy. I only bother with an inner pot if the outer one is narrower at the top and the plant that I want to put in it is one that couldn't be removed easily. If it's something temporary like annuals or something that can be divided to remove like hostas, I don't bother.

Fairygirl

I've done this for years and years. Sometimes the plastic pot has to be a bit smaller, so that it fits, but you can put it on little feet [blocks of wood etc] inside to get it to the right height.
If you want a decent sized pot to fit as closely as possible to the nice one, you can cut the tops off the plastic pot. The most awkward shape of pot to fit anything inside are the bellied ones. 
I have varying sizes of plastic pots - just bog standard ones though, that plants I've bought have come in. 

GravelEater

Chuck some gravel into your nice pot to make a base that is easier to level, if your nice pot tapers a bit too much.  Once the plastic pot is in, add a bit more gravel around the edges between the two pots, not far up.  This will stabilise the plastic pot and also add mass to add further stabilisation against wind.

5 and 7.5 litre re-used plastic pots from bought plants and oakland.
https://www.oaklandgardens.co.uk/round-pots-1---20-litre-39906-p.asp
Pot Pourrium frost resistant pots.

Oakland at least provide some idea of the sizes of their tapering plastic pots.  Something there might be useful.

edhelka

I have so many plastic pots that something always fits.

Athelas

I don’t have too many pots — just a handful of large ones 45 cm diameter or so — and I suspect this isn’t going to be terribly useful for you as you probably already have your nice pots, but I bought my plastic pots and nice pots at the same time at the garden centre, so I was able to try them out to see which ones fitted best together. Or I would buy the inner plastic pot from the GC and plant it up, wait a while to ensure the plants were thriving and then later go back to the GC and pick up the same brand and size plastic pot to use to help practice on which nice one to get. I probably looked slightly mad in the shop.

I ended up with mostly black Elho inner plastic pots inside something like this: https://www.diy.com/departments/verve-ammer-dark-grey-fibreclay-round-plant-pot-dia-42cm/5059340327655_BQ.prd (not the same brand, but similar in material, size and shape).

If I already had nice pots, I’d take note of the dimensions and buy a few likely inner pots from the GC, and return the ones that didn’t fit… My GC also has a ‘used plastic pots’ depot where anyone can leave their old plastic pots, or take the used plastic pots for free, but it would generally not have very large ones.

They don’t always fit perfectly — I tried putting gravel as a base layer in a couple of pots where the inner pot needed a bit of height, but after some time found one of my box balls had grown roots through the holes of the plastic pot and into the gravel… I now use either a layer of larger ‘pot-topper’ rocks or a small ceramic bonsai pot turned upside down, or spare pot feet, depending on how much lift is needed and taking care that water can drain well out of the nice outer pot.