apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is such a great idea. I have a bunch of glass cylinders left over from my wedding and they're just sitting in storage. Now they can be put to good use!

The green thumb in my house says that planters should have a hole in the bottom for drainage. Thoughts?

My mom has a very green thumb and she's always told me that you could put a little gravel, marbles or small rocks at the bottom before adding the potting soil to resolve the drainage issue in situations where you don't have a hole in the bottom of the planter.

She did it with a large, round glass fishbowl that she then hung by a window. The effect was mesmerizing for me b/c you could see the roots as the plant grew and the glass sparkled so nicely in the sunshine.

I belive it's okay to settle your plants in a container that doesn't have a drainage hole so long as the plant does not require watering on a regular basis(ie.cacti, succulents/jade). When re-potting the cacti/succents into these vessels, I mixed sand into the soil since to porvide a more natural habitat for the plants. Also I really like Hannala's tip: creating drainage at the bottom of the pot with non-porus materials. I also house my non-blooming orchids in wineglasses. Orchids have a really long dormant time between flowers, so why not show off their really neat looking tuber-like roots in an oversized wine glass? They do require a special potting mixture(easily found in any store) and need to be flushed with a ratio of water and liquid orchid vitamins weekly, however, I have had no problems pouring out the excess water out by gently tipping the glass almost upside down while making sure the orchid remains in it's housing. Have fun!!!!

OH or if you are not a fan of cacti,succulents or jade, maybe some water plants would be a fun option!

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