Planter shopping: The quest for the perfect terracotta pot

For the gardeners of urban Dhaka, it's time to prepare for winter flowers. One might say it's too early, but October is when you need to prune your roses and feed them with compost, besides preparing beds and soil for other winter blooms.

In Dhaka, many of us do rooftop or balcony gardening, so pots and planters are what we always buy. We do most of our planter shopping in October for the lovely marigolds, zinnias, and snowballs. However, we tend to purchase multicoloured plastic pots or cut-up old drums and use them as big tubs. It looks unappealing; it is not the right choice for planters either.

I am not fond of plastic or tin planters. I think terracotta pots are gardening-friendly. The porous texture of terracotta helps the roots to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. It also absorbs the excess moisture after watering, which prevents the roots from staying in soggy soil for too long.

Earthen products like huge urns and plant basins are not common in the Dhaka market. Even if you find one, it comes with an exorbitant price tag, which is not very cost-effective, especially if you opt for bulk buying. A simple regular 18-inch terracotta pot in local sidewalk pop-up stores is priced at Tk 250, and they keep on adding Tk 50 extra every season. Chari, a basin used to feed cattle, which can also be used as plant basins, is almost out of the Dhaka market. A shame really, since potting your colourful petunias in them gives your garden a happy lift.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

People who desire them mostly collect them from places like Dhamrai, Patuakhali, and Faridpur, or go to the urban villages at the periphery of the metropolis. These places still wheel out big ornamental pots and other utilitarian items that were once used for carrying water and storing grains, and are now upcycled as planters.

So, I suggest you go on day trips to collect your environment-friendly planters at wholesale prices. Many might think it to be an outrageous idea, but plant moms are crazy people with a bohemian spirit; they will go anywhere for garden accessories.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

Recently, while coming from Joydebpur, I took a detour to avoid traffic and discovered a gem of a store, selling all sorts of local crafts and terracotta items. The sidewalks of the nameless inward lane were lined with three stalls owned by one entrepreneur. Items like palm leaf hand fans, wooden jolchoki or stools, terracotta plates to grind ingredients for bhortas or vegetable mash, pitchers, urns, etc were all there. The owner collected his stock from as far as Barishal.

The huge burnt-orange clay pot with whiplash curve designs, inspired by vines, caught my attention. I was on the lookout for a huge terracotta pot for my Ficus plant that I planned to keep indoors, and this unknown store in the middle of nowhere, had just what I was looking for, that too, for a price reasonable enough for me to get four more for my winter garden.