Pros and Cons of Indoor Planters vs Outdoor Planters

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Benefits of Outdoor Planter Boxes

There are a number of reasons that you might want to have planters that can be used indoors and or outdoors but there are several issues you will have to deal with primarily centering around the watering and drainage of your planters. Outdoor planters are subject to rainfall and other precipitation that can cause over watering if the excess water does not have a place to drain.  This means that you will need very good drainage and your primary cause of root rot will come from not having enough drain holes or your drain holes clogging.  With good drainage this means you can pour as much water in the box as you want however and you don't have to worry about the planter getting too much water.

Benefits of Indoor Planter Boxes

Indoor planters, on the other hand, will only receive water when you manually water them, but generally need to be watered with less water and more frequency to prevent overwatering due to not having as good of drainage.  This means they can be subject to neglect if you forget to water, but need to be watertight so they do not leak and cause damage to their surroundings. This is not a problem when you have dedicated planters for each area.  If you don't want to use water tight planters for your indoor space then you will need to have indoor planters with drip pans or trays for peace of mind and you can add a self watering reservoir or other watering system to help you manage your water level.  Generally you will water your outdoor plants heavier but less often, and the indoor planters lighter and more often. This, of course, depends on what you are growing and where you are located. 

Indoor and Outdoor Planter Boxes?

So you have indoor planter boxes and outdoor planter boxes, but, what if you have some plants that need to be able to transfer back and forth? If you are growing perennials that are cold sensitive and need to spend the winter inside, then you will need a planter that can drain excess water during its time outdoors and a drip pan to go under it for its time indoors.  You probably also want to get planters on wheels so that they can be moved from outside to inside and back and forth.

Plants that you might want year round and could be conducive to moving back and forth might center around food plants; fresh herbs, peppers, and tomatoes can add a dynamic impact from a small investment. Easy to handle herbs would include Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Cilantro, Chives, and Sage. You can grow a variety of smaller peppers in sweet and or hot flavors. Smaller tomatoes like Cherry or Roma can be kept in smaller planters with a climbing cage. These three varieties of plants can be maintained within 10 minutes or less a day and be ready to go at a moment's notice to take your food to the next level. Other people just want to add color, and natural fragrance, or even an air purification aspect to their homes. For this there are a number of plants for the first time plant parent and the expert horticulturist alike just be careful and do your research, as many of them are not pet friendly.