To Pot or Not to Pot: Grow Pot vs Planter

So your plant arrived in its nursery grow pot—now what?

When you bring your new plant home in its nursery grow pot, you might be tempted to pot it from grow pot into a planter right away. However, you'll be more successful if you let your new plant acclimate to its new environment first. Why?

It might sound strange to say about a plant but given the potential stress of acclimating to a new environment—adjusting to different light, levels of humidity, and temperature—you don’t want to unroot your plant at the same exact time. Think of its grow pot as allowing it to staying safe in its original home for a while.

So first, place your plant in the spot you plan to keep it and let it acclimate for about 2-3 weeks. (If it’s the the spring–summer growing season, you can shave off a few of those days to get it in a new planter sooner. More on that below.) 

After this adjustment period, you can decide to leave as is or fully pot it into a decorative planter. Remember, potting a plant early on is optional: as long as it looks healthy and the roots have space to keep growing, you don’t need to lift a finger!

We break down different plant parent preferences below, and what to look when assessing if it’s time to pot your plant.

Why some prefer nursery grow pots

Some plant parents prefer to keep their plants potted in their nursery grow pots within decorative planters for months, as long as the plant still has room to grow. They do this for a variety of reasons, some of which you’ll find below:

• Ease of watering: Grow pots have drainage holes so you don’t have to be as mindful when you water
• Added planter choice: Grow pots give you the ability to use decorative planters that don’t have drainage holes (à la cachepot) - the decorative planter serves as a saucer, catching excess water that drains out
• Easier to move: Easily move your plant from one decorative pot to another when refreshing your decor, without added weight
• Time of year: If it’s fall or winter, the plant is semi-dormant and growing slow, so it doesn’t need more room or new nutrients

About that last bullet… did you know even indoor plants can be on a seasonal schedule? The best time to repot your plant, be it introducing a new planter or simply providing fresh new soil, is during the spring–summer growing season. This is when plants will have the energy—thanks to more sun and longer days—to make use of the new nutrients in fresh soil and grow into the extra space of a new planter.

When to consider fully potting 

So now that you know you can keep your plant in its grow pot if you prefer, here are some reasons why you’d want to eventually pot it into its planter, outside of aesthetic preferences.

• It’s grown up: You know your plant has outgrown the nursery grow pot if...
• Roots are growing through the drainage holes at the bottom of the grow pot
• Roots are pushing the plant up, out of the grow pot
• It’s top heavy, and falls over easily
• It’s growing slower than normal (outside of winter dormancy)
• The size of the plant is three times or more the size of the grow pot
• Dry potting mix: Your plant’s potting mix dries out more quickly than usual, requiring more frequent waterings
• It’s the season: Your plant could use fresh potting mix and more space for the spring–summer growing season

How to pot your plant 

When the time comes to move your plant from its nursery grow pot into its planter, here's what you'll want handy in addition to your plant and planter: 

• Fresh potting mix
• Lava rocks or similar, if your planter does not have a drainage hole

We carry apartment-friendly sized bags of indoor potting mixes, as well as lava rocks, here. Or use your favorite all-purpose indoor potting soil for houseplants and container gardens. River rocks or gravel can be substituted for lava rocks. Essentially you’re looking for something to create crevices at the bottom of the planter for excess water to pool into, away from the plant’s roots. To learn more about why this is necessary, check out our video on drainage here!

Now that you have your supplies, here’s the steps you need to take to move your plant from its grow pot into its earthenware planter. (Prefer a visual? Watch our plant expert go through the motions here!)

Steps to pot your plant

1. Remove plant from nursery grow pot
Turn your new plant sideways, hold it gently by the stems or leaves, and tap the bottom of its grow pot until the plant slides out. You might need to give it a bit of help with a couple gentle tugs on the base of the stems. If it’s very secure, you can also cut through the plastic grow pot with a pair of scissors.

2. Loosen the roots
Now that you’ve removed the grow pot, loosen the plant’s roots gently with your hands. You can prune off any threadlike roots that are extra long, just make sure to leave the thicker roots at the base of the foliage. If your plant is root bound – the roots are growing in very tight circles around the base of the plant – unbind the roots as best you can and give them a trim.

3. Remove some potting mix
Remove about one third or more of the potting mix currently surrounding the plant. As it grew in its grow pot, your plant removed some of the nutrients in the current mix, so you'll want to give it fresh mix if you're potting it anyway!

4. Add new potting mix
Pour a layer of fresh potting soil into the plant’s new planter and pack it down, removing any air pockets. If your planter does not have a drainage hole, layer the bottom with lava rocks or similar before adding the potting mix to create crevices for the extra water to pool into.

5. Add your plant
Set your plant that you removed from the grow pot on top of the fresh layer of mix in the new planter, making sure it's centered, then add potting mix around the plant until it is secure. Be sure not to pack too much soil into the planter, as you want the roots to breathe.

6. Water and enjoy
Even out the potting soil on top, water well, and enjoy!

We’ve got you! 

For some, the mantra ‘plant care is self care’ means the convenience of leaving it in the nursery grow pot, while for others, it may mean getting your hands dirty to repot. We say: do what works best for you! Do not be afraid to try different methods for different plants. And if you’re overwhelmed and unsure—ask us. We’re here to help.