@Cinta, I potted this with thoughts of you. I hope the roots of all of these stems will survive in the ground, so I left them there & trimmed off the stems. It only needs to survive until spring, and the past few winters, my main problem has been plants getting too dry. I think I can do this. I'm going to try! If I'd taken a pic an hour earlier, the flowers were all open. I probably won't catch them again until next weekend.

I'm not Cinta but that sure is pretty, is it a Callisia? Love the stripes in those leaves!

Lin, TYVM! And sorry, I didn't realize I didn't say what it is. It's Callisia elegans. It's so small, I have a little piece of it in a mini garden.

Striped Inch Plant (Callisia gentlei var. elegans)

Love it. I will be waiting to see if the roots comes back after winter,

I have never killed a plant with no drain hole but have killed plants that do have drain holes. But you know me watering is not my thing. Once every two months is all they get indoors. It usually ends up maybe one or two water events all winter in my house.

IKR! If only the presence or lack thereof of a drain hole was the key to success for me! LOL! I'm banking on luck...

@purpleinopp, so courageous of you! It is one of my big fears, that's why I prefer pots with many holes, lol. I think one without any holes would scare me to death that I'd rot my plant! Good luck to you and success!

TYVM! And agree, I wouldn't try it with a more long-term goal. Not that brave or skilled. ;)

I don't recommend using pots without drain holes. However, my work sometimes requires me to do just that and it is possible to successfully maintain plants that way. If you are reasonably experienced with plants and have a pretty good idea how much water plants tend to use, then it should not be feared.

As long as you don't add water until the soil has dried to an appropriate depth (surface for some plants, halfway down for others) and it reaches that level of dryness every week or two, then you should be okay. Make sure you don't use hard water or much fertilizer as the excess mineral salts have no way to flush through and will accumulate and cause root damage.

Fear not, but I repeat it is always preferable to use pots with drain holes!

I think the important thing WillC, is how much water you add when it is time to water.

I only keep bog plants and succulents in pots without drain holes becasue I know I can drown the papyrus and peace lillies, and the succulents will tolerate it when I only add a drop. Otherwise it requires too much vigilance for my taste.

The good news is you can drill holes in pretty much anything with the right drill bit and patience, but the bits for glass and porcelain are expensive and dull quickly. You're better off just buying a pot with holes.

Doing well so far.

looking great, Tiffany!
I often find myself searching for the holy grail of a cheap plastic pot with holes that fits 'just so' in a nice pot with no holes.

I've tried that too, but then it's usually difficult to remove the inner pot for watering. I usually end up having to grab the plant since I can't get my fingers on the inner pot.

Tiffany, that's why is so hard to find that holy grail- has to have a fingernail of wiggle room to avoid this. Or be one eighth inch taller. LOL Or put rocks in the bottom to prop it slightly. I don't like the plastic pot to stick up noticeably.

The struggle is real! LOL!

It's only hard if you look for the perfect pot- and if you look for a "pot"!.. Really only width is important- and not even that important...

I have all kinds of take out containers upside down/right side up, cut down plastic cups, even a hand full of pony beads set in hot glue to get inside pots to the right height to match the outside container (with a bit to grab) and don't sit in standing drainage water...
the height is really important to get the drainage done- but you can shove anything that stands up to water in the base of a planter, I like to melt hot roofing nails (wide head) through a take out pint container as a base inside my pretty ceramic pots. Solo cups are my best friends becasue I can cut them to support the inside pot just 1/4" higher than the container rim... as long as there is some drainae gap -

Okay- yes- this is nuts- but it only takes 20 minutes and a garrage full of stuff you should have thrown out 20 years ago.... Ohhhh... right.

^^ what she said!

So far, so good! (knock wood!)

Great job Tiffany, it's looking wonderful! That is a beautiful plant and great photo ... I hope you will consider adding it to the database!

Over the years, I've grown quite a few plants in containers without drain holes but currently, I only have one planted like that; a little Hypoestes (Polka Dot Plant) growing in a little plastic juice glass, sitting on my kitchen counter. I like being able to view the roots. I see it needs to be pinched back again .


I took a cutting of Pachira aquatica last year and rooted it in a glass container without drainage. It was doing really well but when we moved, the container got broken. It was a really busy time so I sat the rootball down into a plastic storage container and just left it; I pour a bit of water over the roots every so often and let it soak in and then pour off any standing water. That plant is still sitting in the plastic bowl 4 months later .... I really need to repot it!

plantladylin said:Over the years, I've grown quite a few plants in containers without drain holes but currently, I only have one planted like that; a little Hypoestes (Polka Dot Plant) growing in a little plastic juice glass, sitting on my kitchen counter. I like being able to view the roots. I see it needs to be pinched back again .

• Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya)
• Uploaded by plantladylin

• Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya)
• Uploaded by plantladylin

I took a cutting of Pachira aquatica last year and rooted it in a glass container without drainage. It was doing really well but when we moved, the container got broken. It was a really busy time so I sat the rootball down into a plastic storage container and just left it; I pour a bit of water over the roots every so often and let it soak in and then pour off any standing water. That plant is still sitting in the plastic bowl 4 months later .... I really need to repot it!

That kitchen....

Aww, thank you ... we just moved here four months ago and I miss having a large center island but I do like this kitchen which is more updated than at our other house. We currently have an little round table in the middle of the kitchen that does not serve any purpose other than collecting junk. There's a large breakfast area leading into the kitchen with a more usable table so I plan to donate the little one to a thrift shop in the very near future.