After 2 years of container gardening I am giving up on fabric pots

Everyone at the community garden workshop in Portland swore by fabric pots for drainage. But after losing 3 tomato plants to roots drying out too fast in July heat, I switched back to plastic and my peppers are doing great. Has anyone else had this problem with fabric pots on a sunny balcony?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_nelson11d ago

oh totally, my friend Jenna had this exact same issue last summer. she was so excited about her fabric pots from the local gardening club, but by August her basil was all crispy and her zinnias just gave up. she's on a south-facing balcony in Denver so the sun just baked those pots. she switched to these old plastic nursery pots she had in her shed and suddenly everything perked up. her tomatoes went from looking sad and droopy to actually producing fruit. she said the fabric pots were great for her friend who lives in a shady spot but for a sunny balcony they were just too thirsty.

hugo_jones211d ago

50 bucks says Jenna's better at this than me, I once killed a cactus in a terracotta pot on a cloudy porch. @margaret_nelson your friend's story hits close to home, I had a similar disaster with fabric pots and a south-facing patio. My mint turned into sad little twigs and my chives were totally fried. Learned my lesson the hard way too, switched to some cheap plastic containers and now everything is actually alive. Guess some plants just NEED that moisture locked in.