Plants and Pottery, a word to the wise

Learning how to make a pot is probably one of the first (and often times only) ceramic lessons people get, and for good reason.  Whether you are hand building or working on a wheel, pots are a fairly simple thing to make.  This is probably because there are a wide variety of vessels you can make that can still be considered a pot, and (unlike 99% of pottery) they don't necessarily need to be able to hold water to be considered successful. 

However once we get down to functionality of a pot things get to be a little more tricky.  Granted a pot doesn't necessarily have to be used as a flower pot or a planter (I have several that I use just to keep pottery tools in) but I'd argue that if you are actually going to try selling it as such, you should actually put some effort into making something that you can grow plants in without killing them. (This is probably going to devolve into a bit of a rant so be warned)

A good rule of thumb when you are making a pot that you plan on using (or selling) as a planter is that it should have at least 2-3 inches of space inside of it. Even if the plant you plan on putting in there is currently in a much smaller pot than that, you are still probably better off giving it a little room to grow, if only to make it easier to prune or repot if it gets bigger.  It's also a good move to drill or carve a drainage hole in the bottom of the pot before you bisque it regardless of the plant species you put in there. Some species (such as pitcher plants, bonsai, and orchids) are better off sitting in a small tray or bowl filled with water rather than getting it via watering can, and others(like rosemary) can easily get root rot, or be overwatered without a drainage hole.

Granted there are exceptions to every rule, and in this case said exception would be most cacti, succulents, and airplants. Due to the fact that these plants don't require a lot of water, soil, or fertilizer, they can survive in smaller pots without drainage holes. However this can also cause the plants to drown, so having a drainage hole at the very least is recommended. 

Mainly I mention this because any time I plan on buying a cute or fancy pot for a new plant I'm getting, I'll usually wind up just making it myself due to the fact that every single unique or creative pot you can buy online is either rediculously overpriced or built specifically for airplants. This isn't just an issue for sites like etsy, as the trend has spread to amazon as well.

Granted writing a single blog post on my own website isn't going to do a lot to change that, but I'm hoping that it will at least convince a couple of art students to drill a hole in the bottom of a vessel they are planing on putting a plant in for final critiques, mainly because there's a good chance that it will just be a pot full of soil and plant mush in a few months otherwise.