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Looking for the best garden pot for your home or garden? Our experts took a deep dive into the market and purchased 9 of the top options to test side-by-side. We transplanted our own precious plants into these pots, setting them up for use in our gardens and inside with houseplants. Each different garden pot was judged for value by quality of construction, its versatility for different uses, considered aesthetics and design, and whether they come with any features like drainage plates or self-watering systems. Our comprehensive lineup includes a range of styles and brands to help you deduce which model is right for your home or garden.
Whether you are looking to improve indoor air quality with a few lush house plants or are excited about building up a garden by starting your own seeds and installing one of our favorite compost bins, our home & garden experts are here to offer advice on the right products for your gardening needs. We have in-depth reviews covering essentials like the best gardening gloves, best garden hoses and best hose nozzle attachments, and even the best gardening shovels, so you can break new ground on your own backyard garden. If you want a little help with the forecast, we also have you covered with the top weather stations for home use.
Capacity: 1/5, 2/5 and 4/5 Gallons | Material: Ceramic
REASONS TO BUY
Set includes three pots
Offers variety
Great style
REASONS TO AVOID
Hard to clean
Our team loved this planter. The Le Tauci Plant Pot is easy to use, elegant, and has an attached water dish at the bottom. It's made of ceramic with a smooth finish and has small mesh circles to keep the dirt from falling out of the hole at the bottom. Because of the bowl-like shape, it's incredibly easy to fill with any plant of your choice and could be used either outside or indoors. It's hard to find such a beautiful and simple ceramic planter, and this set comes with three.
The main drawback with this garden pot set is that the water dish is attached to the planter. We love the added convenience of this feature, but it can make it hard to clean the pot. If dirt gets into the water dish, it would be a pain to dig out. Still, it's nice to be able to move your plants without worrying about water and dirt dripping out of the bottom. With the nice clean look and feel, and the three different sizes, the Le Tauci Plant Pot is an excellent buy.
Capacity: Between 14 cubic centimeters and 2 Gallons | Material: Hard Plastic
REASONS TO BUY
Set includes five pots
Made out of stiff, quality plastic
Good for both inside and out
REASONS TO AVOID
No decorative or self-watering features
We were surprised by how much we liked the Homenote Plastic Planter. Instead of your normal run-of-the-mill plastic planter, this is sleek and stiff, with a matte finish. It's easy to use and comes in a set of five different sizes, from a succulent pot to a perfectly sized pothos planter. The largest has a capacity of about two gallons. Each pot also comes with a matching drainage plate so that if you decide to take these guys inside, you can water your plants without watering the window sill.
There aren't many negative aspects to the Homenote Plastic Planter set, but these planters don't offer anything extra. If you're looking for something flashy or a self-watering feature, these planters just don't have it. However, if you are a fan of simplicity, this is a great deal for five great planters.
The Homenote planters are lightweight and easy to plant in.
The fun and colorful Gepege 6-Inch Beaded Ceramic Planter is beautiful and functional. This set of two pots has a wide opening at the top, making it easy to plant, and comes with a matching drainage plate. For how decorated these pots are, they really don't disappoint in size or function. They are a good size for a medium-sized house plant or small herbs; they are decorative without being too flashy or uniform and would look beautiful anywhere in your home or your garden. We found that they are easy to plant in and love that they are similar but slightly different.
Despite our love of ceramic pots, there are disadvantages. If you're worried about breaking it, the Gepege 6-Inch Beaded Ceramic Planter may not be the right choice for you. As lovely as it is, it's better to have a whole pot than a broken one, even if it has an attractive design. Still, these are terrific garden pots for sturdy surfaces both inside and out.
These decorative pots come in two different styles.
This pot is now sold in a 3-pack for only a few bucks more than the single pot that we purchased. We're linking to the 3-pack above.
There's no other way to say it — the Gardenix Decor 7" Self Watering Pot is fun. It comes in several pieces you must assemble and includes two coconut coir pucks. It's fairly easy to put together, and the coir puck just needs to be soaked before you are ready to plant seeds or re-pot a succulent. This puck expands to just about all the extra soil you will need if you're repotting, and you'll only need a handful of extra soil if you're sowing seeds. Once everything is assembled, this pot has a nice, clean, and simple aesthetic, and the self-watering feature helps keep even your neediest plants low maintenance. It's a great size, allowing room for any standard-sized house plant or a tiny herb garden.
Assembling the pot was pretty easy, but the instructions weren't the most clear. The additional step of assembling can make the difference between a garden pot you love and one that's a hassle. Overall, this is a great option for those who want something low-maintenance that looks great around the home.
The Gardenix planter includes a self watering feature for easy long term use.
Capacity: 1/2 Gallons per pot | Material: Terra Cotta
REASONS TO BUY
Set includes four pots
Made out of stiff, quality plastic
Good for both inside and out
REASONS TO AVOID
1 gallon is the largest size
When you think of a garden pot, you're more than likely to think of the Large Terra Cotta Pot, and for a good reason. These pots are a classic not only because the simple aesthetic goes well with any decor or landscaping but because they do the job and are built to last. These pots are easy to plant in, with a wide opening at the top and a drainage hole and drainage plate at the bottom. We love that this product has four pots to coordinate your interior and exterior designs.
Although we love the traditional Large Terra Cotta Pot, we wish this particular model were just a little bit larger and slightly less breakable. Fitting a medium-sized plant in one of these pots is a tight fit, and knocking it over would undoubtedly be the end of your Terra Cotta Pot. However, these planters are timeless and do the job well.
These pots are timeless and a great size for small flowers or veggies.
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The small succulent pots were difficult to plant due to their size and the needles on the cactus.
Why Trust GearLab
While testing these pots, we evaluated them using a series of criteria and metrics while considering how we might want to use them in our own homes. We planted and replanted the plants we love dearly and assessed where each pot might work best and which features were most important to us. We based our results on versatility, ease of use, construction, and special features.
When it comes to picking out garden pots and planters, our team knows what to look for. Head tester Liv Mertens has a love for gardening and has even built a couple of her own planters. She has been living in apartments for the last couple of years and has learned to keep her garden mobile. Good pots are essential to a mobile garden, and she has learned through trial and error what matters in picking a pot. The team put in lots of hours with these products in hand, planting and replanting. They used critical analysis to assess which pots work the best for the given criteria. Our team has both an eye for aesthetics and function so that you can have both a beautiful and productive garden.
The Homenote pots have plenty of room for your hands and fingers making it easier to plant you favorite flowers.
The Novelty Full Depth Round Garden Pot is one of the largest pots we reviewed and provided plenty of space for this fig tree.
The Sun-E 2.5-Inch Owl Pots and the Brajttt 6-Inch Succulent are undeniably adorable, but only fit the smallest plant.
Analysis and Test Results
The testing we performed on the products was based on the four metrics that best represent what to look for in a garden pot. We looked at the size and material but also considered cool features such as self-watering or any particularly nice aesthetics. To test these factors, we brought the pots into our own homes and experienced firsthand what it was like to fill them with soil, use the self-watering features, and repot house plants and garden plants alike. Throughout the testing process, we found that we preferred ceramic pots over pots made of soft plastic, but also preferred hard plastic pots over ceramic pots. We found that the style of the drainage plate is important and the size of the pot even more so. Using our findings, we built a comprehensive review based on the following criteria.
What's the Best Value?
Value is a measure of what you get compared to what you pay for. This is important when looking at pots because most of these products sit in the same price range, but that doesn't mean you'll get the same product for the same amount of money. We assessed the value of the planters by looking at the number of pots you get with a single purchase and comparing that price per pot to the product's scores.
The Homenote Plastic Planter provided the best value for the price by a long shot. You get five sturdy, different-sized pots for a very reasonable price, much lower than many competitors. If you aren't looking for a plastic planter, the Large 6" Terra Cotta Pot also provides great value with a pack of four pots. Of the small succulent planters we tested, the Brajttt 2.5-Inch Ceramic is a much better value due to its solid overall performance and low price. Of the self-watering pots, we have determined that the Gardenix 7" Self Watering Pot has the most value. Not only is it a good size with a more sophisticated self-watering feature, but it also comes with potting medium in the form of an expandable coconut coir puck.
The Homenote planters and versatile and classic.
The Brajttt 6-Inch Succulent resemble tiny honey pots and come with tiny bamboo drain plates.
The Cyclone 7" Planter comes with a couple fertilizer pucks to help keep your plants healthy.
Quality of Construction
For the quality of construction, we considered the durability of the products and the material each pot is made of. The garden pots we reviewed come in one of three materials: hard plastic, soft plastic, and ceramic. After spending hours moving around the garden and home, potting and repotting, lifting and adjusting, we noticed distinct advantages and disadvantages in each material.
Soft plastic is incredibly malleable and light. Soft plastic pots are easy to plant in, empty, and move about even when they have a full load. However, they also collapse under the weight, don't hold their shape, and tend to be cheaply made. Ceramic has a classic look and feel to it and is built to last, but it breaks more easily and is heavy. Finally, hard plastic is durable and light, giving it an edge. We were surprised to fall in love with the hard plastic pots, but they consistently look good, are light and easy to use with just a touch of elastic bend to them, and we were never worried about breaking them. Ultimately we decided that structurally, hard plastic is superior to ceramic, and ceramic is superior to soft plastic.
The Homenote planters come in 5 different sizes and come with detached drainage plates.
The Gardenix 7" Self Watering Pot and the Homenote Plastic Planter are made with hard plastic, which makes them light and virtually indestructible. On the other hand, the HBServices 8" Self-Watering Pot and the Novelty Full Depth Round Pot are made of soft plastic and are without a doubt the flimsiest of the bunch. The difference between the soft and hard plastic during the testing was the difference between a beautiful, light, and strong product and a product that could easily get bent out of shape. We also prefer the way the hard matte plastic looks compared to the shiny, softer plastic.
Plastic pots are usually lighter and easier to move than ceramic models.
Versatility
Versatility is evaluated based on the size of the pot and whether or not you can use it both indoors and out. We found this to be the most important factor in assessing the pots because although plants may die, planters last a very long time. At least the good ones do. Assuming you don't want to buy a new planter every time you forget to water a plant or the season calls for a new flower, being able to use a pot for a variety of plants in various seasons and settings is an invaluable feature.
Most of the pots offer good versatility, allowing for both indoor and outdoor use and without specific requirements of its plant. However, some planters are less versatile. For example, the small 2.5-inch succulent plots could not house anything other than a small succulent. The Novelty Full Depth Round Pot, on the other hand, is so large that it might be inappropriate for something so small unless you plan on letting it grow for a very, very long time.
The 2.5-inch succulent pots are just big enough for one succulent and nothing else.
The most variable pots are the Homenote Plastic Planters and the Le Tauci Plant Pots. Both of these sets offer multiple sizes, and each size could be used for any number of plants. Not to mention, both products can be used for your indoor plants or outside if that suits you.
The Le Tauci Plant Pots come with three different size pots for great variability.
Ease of Use
The next metric we considered was how easy it is to use each pot. In general, larger pots with a wide-open mouth are easier to work in than smaller pots with a small opening at the top. We saw this primarily in the small 2.5-inch succulent pots, especially when trying to shove a prickly cactus inside one of them. We also considered whether the product had self-watering features, making long-term use easier, or, in the case of the Le Tauci Plant Pots, an attached drainage plate to make transportation easier.
The Gardenix 7" Self Watering Pot is certainly the easiest pot for long-term use. It's big enough to make planting easy and has a self-watering feature and a gauge to let you know when to NOT water it. However, you do have to assemble it, which is definitely more complicated than all the other competitors. The easiest pots to plant in are the Homenote Plastic Planter because of their wide-mouth design and simple drainage plate and also because they are super light and don't break easily.
The Cyclone 7" Planter comes with instructions for assembly and includes a gage to help keep track of how much water is in the bottom of the pot.
The Homenote planters are light weight and easy to use.
Aesthetics
When it comes to aesthetics, it's hard to keep personal bias out of it. A fun design that we love might not be what you love. To keep this category objective and simple, we decided to assign points to certain qualities. For example, we gave points to pots that are firm and did not change shape easily. We gave points for a matte finish or ceramic material, and finally, we gave the most points to the pots with designs.
Because the testing for this category was broken down into categories, we had quite a few top-notch aesthetically pleasing planters. The Brajttt 6-Inch Succulent Pot manages to be both simple and ornate. The Gardenix Decor 7" Self Watering pot has beauty and bronze as it performed well enough in other testing areas to make it into the top picks.
Special Features
The final category we considered was the extra features. We considered features such as self-watering, drainage plates, beautiful and fun designs, and mesh soil catches.
The Gardenix 7" Self Watering Pot has the most features as it offers a self-watering system, a coconut coir puck, and a nice aesthetic. This planter is an all-in-one package, making the planting process easy and convenient.
The Cyclone planter is a good size for a medium sized house plants or some herbs.
The Cyclone 7" Planter is incredibly practical with its self watering feature, and also manages to have a clean classic look.
The Le Tauci Plant Pots come with mesh circles for the bottom of the pot. We appreciate this, because it would be hard to clean between the drainage plate and the pot if dirt were to get through.
The Le Tauci Plant Pots come with small mesh hole covers.
The HBServices 8" Self-Watering Pot also offers a self-watering feature. A removable tab is included with the pot to make watering easy. However, it should be noted that it's easy to spill while pouring water into the tab and requires a gentle touch.
The HBServices 8-inch pot has an easy-to-use self-watering feature.
Conclusion
Choosing the right plant pot can be tricky business. Too often, we bring home a beautiful pot but have nowhere to put it. It's important to know beforehand the size of the plant and the size of the space you intend on placing it. The products in this review represent a range of possibilities, from outdoor succulent planters to indoor fig tree pots. We sincerely hope that you find the information we compiled helpful during your search for the perfect planter.
