Have you ever watered your pot plants, just to have the water go straight down the insides and out the bottom? Me too, which is why I avoided growing in pots for so long. But as a renter, it made sense. This way I could take the pots with me when I move. This is especially important for fruit trees or other plants such as asparagus which are perennials and take several years to grow. The main problem that I have had with growing plants in pots in the past is that they either dry out too quickly or the soil becomes hydrophobic (it repels water).

Using the no-dig method of layering browns, greens and fertilisers in many thin layers,  instead of using just potting mix, means that the pots are full of organic material which breaks down into beautiful soil, especially if you add worms and compost. It rarely becomes hydrophobic but instead holds water beautifully, while still being free-draining, that magical middle land of soil that so many plants thrive in.

The soil will sink down as it develops but you can just top it up with more layers. My pots act like a worm farm as well, so when I am making new pots, I just carefully dig around in my older pots for a handful of worms which I transplant into the new pot.

Ingredients

• potting mix (see my recipe here)
• browns (hay, dead leaves, shredded paper, sugar cane mulch…)
• greens (aged manure, fresh grass clippings, pond weed, vegetable scraps…)
• fertilisers (Blood and Bone, aged chook poo, Dynamic Lifter or Rooster pellets…)
• worms (optional)
• compost (optional)
• seasol or other liquid tonics (optional)
• water

Other equipment

• large pot for planting in
• water
• container or wheelbarrow for soaking materials in (optional)
• plants

Method

If used solid, dried manure, pre-soak it to help it soften. I mostly soak overnight with something heavier on top to ensure full submersion of the manure.

Soak hay or other browns in water with optional Seasol added.

Make sure your pot has drainage holes.

1.  (Browns) Fill the bottom of the pot with wet hay and press down. Depending on how big your pot is, I usually make this layer around 6 – 10 cm thick.

2. (Greens) Add a layer of hydrated manure or other greens and water in. This layer is thinner than the browns, usually around 3 cm deep. My rule of thumb is to make sure you can still see some of the brown layer underneath. Do not press this or other layers down.

3. (Fertiliser) Add a sprinkle of Blood and Bone or Dynamic Lifter (according to the amounts on the packet) or other natural fertiliser.

4. (Browns) Repeat with a layer of dead leaves or other carbon rich material. You want this layer thicker than the greens so I make sure that the layer beneath is all covered up.

5. Repeat with the other layers until the pot is nearly full. (Browns then greens then fertiliser)

6. Add a layer of compost, if you have it, for your final layer of fertiliser.

7. Add worms if using. Try to give them a pocket of soil or potting mix to be in.

8. Top with a layer of potting mix and then your wet mulch.

9. To plant into, make a hole in the layers and fill with potting mix. Make a smaller hole in the potting mix and plant your seedling.

10.Water well.