I've noticed that fabric and coir liners seem to be all the rage right now.

So far my experience has been limited to one coir liner for a hanging wire basket. I found that the water just went right through and the plant died of thirst. I ended up tossing the coir and finding a plastic planter to fit within the wire basket.

One of my raised planters came with a fabric liner. As the seams of the planter are big enough for soil to escape, I'll use the liner when I fill the planter later this spring once the chosen plants get a bit bigger. But I have no experience with them.

So, I curious how others feel about them. Do you find them better for your plants than traditional plastic/clay/resin /metal pots? Are they great for annuals but not perennials? Are they good for veggies? Or are they a gimmick that is a waste of money?

They dry out too fast for me and have to be watered more. Also when the plant roots hit the dry part the tips die. I like plastic the best. The best thing about using plastic is the water weight pressure will force contact between water and roots giving more water holding time. Where fabric has to be kept moist with repeated waterings. Its important to have wet to dry water management using plastic.

Thanks. That sounds like my experience.

I think my container with the fabric liner will be OK because it's not a wire frame box - so the solid floor and walls will retain the water better. The fabric will just prevent the soil from falling out the joints of the planter box.

I use landscape fabric or window screen to keep soil in all kinds of things that aren't even intended for use as containers, like wire baskets. Clay pots have a drain hole big enough for slugs & worms to crawl into so I usually cover those holes with a piece of screen too.

I've seen screening used like that before. When I was looking online at cinder block planters, I saw that folks would use screen to create "floating" planters. It makes sense that the fabric would work, a bit less permanently, for similar. That's how the liner for my one planter box is meant to be used - there is a good 1+ inch gap between the bottom and sides. It seems the manufacturer found it easier/cheaper to include the fabric liner than to try to minimize that gap. I'm fine with that.

I've just noticed when looking for cute outdoor hanging baskets, the majority are wire frames with coir baskets. My one experience with that set up was miserable. I just couldn't get water to the plant at all. I could drench it and an hour later it would be bone dry and the ground underneath would be soaked. Even with just straight potting soil (that retained too much water in traditional planters), the water just ran right through.

That kind of setup is not for all plants, like those that freak out if they get too dry. I usually use ground dirt in those "pots" with maybe some bagged soil mixed in to cut the weight a bit. Just depends on the plant - and the watering style.

Watering a 2nd time is a must for a lot of my pots if I've waited so long that the soil is so dry that moisture doesn't instantly soak back in. I usually water everything twice just to make sure the soil reached max saturation. Any pots that are light enough to pick up or tilt can be gauged by the weight. A soaked soil should be much more heavy than it was before water was added.

You can cheat a little & put some plastic inside across the bottom.

I had a drought tolerant plant (california fuchsia) in it but it couldn't even get established due to the water issue. That same soil would get waterlogged in a plastic pot with good drainage.

I ended up putting a similarly sized and shaped plastic pot inside the wire cage. It's not perfect, but the new plant is happy.

The plastic on the bottom might work. I really like the look of some of those wire planters. I'll have to consider that in the future.

I line those wire pots with a plastic garbage bag.
This year I am planning to place an actual plant pot inside them.
And just use the wire basket as a hanger.

That can work too, as a cache pot.

Interesting thought about using screening. I have 3 of Kinsman Garden hayrack planters. The fiber lets the water run through, as you have stated. By the 2nd year, the fiber has settled down and only covered half the planter. Tried lining with garbage bags and getting less than stellar results. I want to line them with something that will let me actually fill the planter with medium. Will the screen let dirt through or are the holes small enough that it will contain the soil mixture and just let excess water drain? I'm not concerned about how it will all look as I plant Sweet Potato vines in them and they ferociously cascade over and obliterate the planter anyway.

The 1st few times you water, the water might not be clear, depending on the particular soil, but I haven't had any problems with particles washing through window screen material. Easy to find in various size rolls @ any home improvement store. You could also pick up a roll of heavy fishing line to "sew" the screen to the planter if it's wanting to slide around or settle into the gaps too much. Might need to go to a different store for that. The 50 pound line lasts for years out in the weather, just like the screen.

Tiffany, I'm thinking zip ties. Those hayracks are 48 inches long. We have a farm supply store in town that I'm ptetty sure would have it.