The density of foam is very small. Compared with stone, the weight of stone is much heavier than foam. Merchants spread a layer of foam on the bottom of the flowerpot, which can greatly reduce the weight of the flowerpot and facilitate transportation back and forth.
2. Reduce costs
After the flowerpot with the same volume uses a layer of foam bottom, the amount of nutrient soil for potted plants will be reduced. Comparatively speaking, the price of nutrient soil is definitely much higher than that of foam. Merchants can save costs and earn higher profits to some extent by adopting this method.
What happened to the bottom of the bubble? Foam is easy to deform and block the drainage hole. Not only merchants, but also many flower lovers will use discarded foam sheets to pad the bottom of flowerpots as a seepage layer. In fact, this method is not feasible, because the foam is easy to deform, and it is easy to deform when it is placed at the bottom of the flowerpot and squeezed by the upper soil, making the drainage hole airtight. In this case, after the water is poured, it is not easy to flow out from the drainage hole, and water will accumulate, so that the roots will soak in the water and rot.
Things that can replace the bubble bottom There are many things that can replace the foam pad as the water seepage layer at the bottom of the flowerpot, such as pebbles, coarse cinders, bricks, broken tiles, ceramsite, pine cones, pine bark, charcoal and so on.
1. Small stone
Small stones are the most common and easy to get. You can bend down on the road or in the field and pick it up at will. As long as you pick up stones with moderate particle size, you can pile them at the bottom of the flowerpot as a drainage layer. One disadvantage of using pebbles as drainage layer is that it is too heavy. Putting it at the bottom of the flowerpot will make the flowerpot very heavy and difficult to move around.
2. Coarse coal cinder
After soaking in water, crushing and sieving, the largest particles can be padded on the bottom of the basin as an impervious layer. Slag-free is a very good substrate for flower cultivation, but it is not so easy to get slag-free now.
Step 3: bricks
Broken bricks are common in rural areas. After the brick is broken, it is also a good choice to take a pad with appropriate size at the bottom of the flowerpot as the drainage layer.
4. Broken tiles
Ceramic tiles cover the drainage holes to prevent the mud from flowing out, which is especially suitable. Because the tile is fixed, it is not easy to deform, it will not block the drain, and it can also prevent soil from leaking from the drain. It's just that it's not very common and it's not so easy to get.
5. Ceramsite
Ceramsite is also an ideal material for impervious layer, which is relatively easy to obtain. Online shopping is particularly convenient now, and the price of ceramsite is not expensive. A dozen dollars can buy a big bag.
6. Pine cones and pine bark
If pine cones or bark can be picked from pine trees, it is also good to put them at the bottom of the flowerpot after a series of treatments, but it is best not to put the fresh materials that have not been decomposed at the bottom of the flowerpot to avoid burning the rotten roots.
7. Charcoal
The carbon pad at the bottom of the flowerpot can not only be used as a seepage layer, but also protect the growth of roots with its unique bactericidal characteristics. It's just that it's expensive, and it doesn't seem to be cost-effective to use it exclusively for growing flowers. But if you have extra charcoal on hand to grow flowers, that's really good.