Spanishfly
Rising Star
The regular 4" terracotta plant pot
has an internal diameter of 4" (no surprises there), an external diameter of 4 3/8" and a height of 3 7/8" - I know that because I just measured one.
So it is not an ideal container for many of our cacti that have deep taproots, like Lophophora, Ariocarpus, Pelecyphora, Turbinicarpus and others. In fact I recently repotted my Ariocarpus trigonus because its taproot had ´bottomed-out´ and was pushing the plant out of its pot.
These cactus genuses do better in a pot that is deeper in comparison to its diameter
what British horticulturists call ´Long Tom´ pots.
So I embarked upon a quest to acquire some ´Long Toms´.
No garden centre around me here in sunny Spain had anything like, and an internet search of Spanish suppliers came up with zilch, although ´half-pots´, the opposite requirement, were available.
So they had to be sourced from the UK - but even there your common or garden centre did not stock them, and I found they had to be ordered from a specialist supplier. An online UK horticultural supplier called ´The Plant Directory´ had the business, but would not deliver outside the UK.
BUT I had arranged to visit the UK for 12 days in October - my kid sister, who is a US citizen, and her husband were visiting our mother, then going to a NFL match at Wembley stadium (long way to go for a football match!!), so before I left I ordered a selection to be delivered at my son´s house near Southampton, where we were going next.
The most common size I use is 4", so I ordered 15 of them, then smaller amounts of 3.5", 6", 5" and 8" Long Tom pots. A total of 43 pots in all. So how to get them back to Spain?? Road hauliers wanted 120 UK pounds to deliver a credit card - so the cheapest option - and the most convenient, was to fly them back with me and Mrs. Fly.
They all came in boxes and wrapped in tubes of 5 or so, very well protected by ´The Plant Directory´ in bubble wrap and foam padding. So keeping them in the as received units I packed 10kg of pots, the smaller ones and the weight limit, into my carry-on cabin bag.
A tube of pots went in each of our two suitcases, protected by clothing, and I made up a large cardboard box for the largest pots (ensuring it was well padded with clothing and paper) - I had to book and pay for an additional item of baggage - 30 UK pounds, as I said, easily the cheapest option.
After unpacking on arrival here is the consignment
After removing the bubble wrap I had:
every one of these fragile pots arrived intact - remarkable as Spanish baggage handlers are not renowned for their delicacy of touch.
So mission accomplished !!
has an internal diameter of 4" (no surprises there), an external diameter of 4 3/8" and a height of 3 7/8" - I know that because I just measured one.
So it is not an ideal container for many of our cacti that have deep taproots, like Lophophora, Ariocarpus, Pelecyphora, Turbinicarpus and others. In fact I recently repotted my Ariocarpus trigonus because its taproot had ´bottomed-out´ and was pushing the plant out of its pot.
These cactus genuses do better in a pot that is deeper in comparison to its diameter
what British horticulturists call ´Long Tom´ pots.
So I embarked upon a quest to acquire some ´Long Toms´.
No garden centre around me here in sunny Spain had anything like, and an internet search of Spanish suppliers came up with zilch, although ´half-pots´, the opposite requirement, were available.
So they had to be sourced from the UK - but even there your common or garden centre did not stock them, and I found they had to be ordered from a specialist supplier. An online UK horticultural supplier called ´The Plant Directory´ had the business, but would not deliver outside the UK.
BUT I had arranged to visit the UK for 12 days in October - my kid sister, who is a US citizen, and her husband were visiting our mother, then going to a NFL match at Wembley stadium (long way to go for a football match!!), so before I left I ordered a selection to be delivered at my son´s house near Southampton, where we were going next.
The most common size I use is 4", so I ordered 15 of them, then smaller amounts of 3.5", 6", 5" and 8" Long Tom pots. A total of 43 pots in all. So how to get them back to Spain?? Road hauliers wanted 120 UK pounds to deliver a credit card - so the cheapest option - and the most convenient, was to fly them back with me and Mrs. Fly.
They all came in boxes and wrapped in tubes of 5 or so, very well protected by ´The Plant Directory´ in bubble wrap and foam padding. So keeping them in the as received units I packed 10kg of pots, the smaller ones and the weight limit, into my carry-on cabin bag.
A tube of pots went in each of our two suitcases, protected by clothing, and I made up a large cardboard box for the largest pots (ensuring it was well padded with clothing and paper) - I had to book and pay for an additional item of baggage - 30 UK pounds, as I said, easily the cheapest option.
After unpacking on arrival here is the consignment
After removing the bubble wrap I had:
every one of these fragile pots arrived intact - remarkable as Spanish baggage handlers are not renowned for their delicacy of touch.
So mission accomplished !!
