How to keep terracotta pots from discoloring?
by
Gail
I have a small lily planted in a 6" terra cotta planter. The planter has strong colors on it. Is this mold/mildew from moisture? How can I keep the planter from doing this? It is indoors right now because it is snowing outside. The bottom of the planter dark is soil. I am mainly talking about near the top of the planter- it is beige in color and looks like it has texture to it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Paint
Hi Gail, it seems they discolor from fertilizer and other things. Here is a site on how to clean it to make it look good again. It seems pretty easy.
https://getbusygardening.com/how-to-clean-terracotta-pots/
It's minerals leaching in thru soil then pot from the water,just take stiff brush or sponge and brush it off. If you paint the pot you are defeating the whole purpose of buying a terra cotta pot, you are closing the porous/texture/holes in it and restricting the drainage/air flow & it looks really healthy so just scrub it off don't mess with plant or pot. Also some paints are not good to use on porous pots since they leach into the pot then soil.make sure you use a plastic or glass liner under saucer if it's also terra cotta because it does retain moisture from pot and can damage what you have it on.