Do these mean the same thing to you?

[klmama]

I've recently read and heard several people use the expression "pot plant" to mean "a plant in a pot."  It's startling and very confusing to me, because where I grew up "pot plant" always meant a marijuana plant, while a plant in a pot was a "potted plant."  Is the use of "pot plant" to mean "plant in a pot" a regional usage?  If so, where?   

 

 

 

 

[MercyA]

We only have potted plants in Indiana. For now. 😉 

[J-rap]

We'd say potted plant here.

[katilac]

We'd say potted plant, but maybe it's just sloppy speech? 

[KrissiK]

24 minutes ago, myblessings4 said:

I'm with you.  Pot plant equals mj, potTED plant meant plant in a pot.

This.

[Bootsie]

I grew up with people using the term pot plant to refer to a potted plant--in Louisiana/Texas

[Jentrovert]

Oklahoma. It can be used either way here. I most frequently hear it referring to a potted plant, and the other simply as "pot" (or "weed") with no "plant" added on. But I have heard people say "pot plant" when referring to the actual plant, as opposed to the product.

You just go by the context to know which one people mean.

[Tap]

I hear it both ways; context makes it clear. I can't think of a time when I was confused on the speakers meaning. 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Tap

[Selkie]

I’m in Illinois and have never heard pot plant used that way here. Haven’t heard it in my online houseplant hobbyist groups, either.

[Bootsie]

Thinking about it a bit more, growing up the term "pot plant" was used to refer to a type of plant that would usually be grown in a pot rather than in a garden.  So a pothos ivy would be a "pot plant."  You would go to the nursey and purchase a pot plant.  If you had a pot plant in a nice pot or basket, perhaps to give as a gift, then that package was a "potted plant".  You might get a potted plant at a flower shop, already to take somewhere as a gift or send to a funeral.  

Growing up, I don't even remember anyone talking about marijuana plants, especially as an individual plant.  

[Tanaqui]

It's a regionalism. Among other things, I believe it's more common in the UK than the US - but, as usual, don't quote me on that!

[Ausmumof3]

Pot plant means a plant in a pot here.  Pot without the plant refers to marijuana.

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

4 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Pot plant means a plant in a pot here.  Pot without the plant refers to marijuana.

 

 

And if you were wanting to grow pot, you'd want more than you could grow in a pot anyhow, no?

[kiwik]

Pot plant is and indoor plant in a pot.  

[SounderChick]

Pot plant=marijuana

Potted plant=plant in a pot

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I've never heard of a pot plant being anything other than marijuana (which is sometimes in a pot, but that's not what makes it a pot plant).

A plant in a pot is always a potted plant. 

[Hannah]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Pot plant means a plant in a pot here.  Pot without the plant refers to marijuana.

 

 

Same here in South Africa.

[Hannah]

2 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

 

And if you were wanting to grow pot, you'd want more than you could grow in a pot anyhow, no?

Yup, in the far corner of the garden, or behind the shed 🙂

[klmama]

Ok, this makes more sense now.  At least one person who said this was from Texas, and I believe another had first learned British English before coming here to the Midwest.  Thanks, everyone!

[Laura Corin]

In the UK a pot plant is a plant in a pot.

[Melissa in Australia]

13 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

In the UK a pot plant is a plant in a pot.

same here in Australia

[Spy Car]

3 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

 

And if you were wanting to grow pot, you'd want more than you could grow in a pot anyhow, no?

Totally 

 

[Rosie_0801]

1 hour ago, Spy Car said:

Totally 

 

That's a lot of potted pot!

[Ausmumof3]

Fun story.  People here that do grow pot in the pot often dump what’s left behind up here.  Like the soil and root base.  One of our neighbours used to pick it up and stick it in her wicking beds.  Apparently it was fabulous for growing non pot stuff in too.

[Kidlit]

Alabama here, and I’ve never heard the term pot plant in any other context except to mean marijuana.  Plants in pots are potted plants around these parts.

 

And now I’ve read the word pot so many times that a.) it is the most ridiculous word in the lexicon to me and b.) I’m no longer sure it IS a word or what it actually means. 😂

[Carrie12345]

Nope. Pot plants are not yet legal in PA without an expensive license for commercial growing. Potted plants are fair game.

[HS Mom in NC]

Dude!  In PHX pot plants are for....uh....treating  glaucoma.

[Shellydon]

Southwest-- pot plant= potted plant

[EKS]

Pot plant = marijuana plant

Potted plant = plant in a pot

 

I'm from the west coast, where we know about pot plants!

[Lizzie in Ma]

I have never  heard that expression before to mean anything other than a literal pot plant.  I'm in the Northeast.  Not regional here to my knowledge!

[Laura Corin]

I asked my Texan husband and he's sure his mother used to say pot plant for a plant in a pot.

[I talk to the trees]

Plants in a pot are potted, here in VA. One gets odd looks if one talks about one's pot plants. 😂

[Bootsie]

Ironically, DH and I needed a gift for a friend yesterday and were going to get a plant.  I asked him if we were getting  pot plant or a potted plant.  He claimed to have never heard a houseplant referred to as a pot plant (which shows he doesn't listen to me closely--because I used the term "pot plant" several times in the past week as we discussed what to get 🙂 )  I went to the nursery and they did not have any "potted plants".  They had some plants in plastic buckets (what I would call a pot plant because they would be grown in a pot) and they sold some pots separately.  

[Scarlett]

On 9/18/2020 at 9:45 PM, klmama said:

I've recently read and heard several people use the expression "pot plant" to mean "a plant in a pot."  It's startling and very confusing to me, because where I grew up "pot plant" always meant a marijuana plant, while a plant in a pot was a "potted plant."  Is the use of "pot plant" to mean "plant in a pot" a regional usage?  If so, where?   

 

 

 

 

Raised up in the south.  Moved a few hours away but now I am apparently in the Midwest.  I am with you.  Personally I think the people saying pot plant just don’t know the actual word is potted.  

[Zebra]

5 hours ago, Lizzie in Ma said:

I have never  heard that expression before to mean anything other than a literal pot plant.  I'm in the Northeast.  Not regional here to my knowledge!

Me either.   I'm in the Northeast too.

Also, I am grateful to Bill for posting the picture.   We think our neighbor is growing pot in his backyard, but were too scared to google it.🤣

(Totally legal to grow your own pot here, BTW.   I don't care if they grow it, we were just curious because we are nosy!)

[Laura Corin]

18 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Raised up in the south.  Moved a few hours away but now I am apparently in the Midwest.  I am with you.  Personally I think the people saying pot plant just don’t know the actual word is potted.  

Nope. Regional differences are not necessarily wrong. I'm quite well educated and yet I  say pot plant for a plant in a pot.

I say, 'I've got chilly in this breeze.' Others might say, 'I've gotten chilly in this breeze.' Neither version is wrong.

Edited September 20, 2020 by Laura Corin

[Bootsie]

18 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Raised up in the south.  Moved a few hours away but now I am apparently in the Midwest.  I am with you.  Personally I think the people saying pot plant just don’t know the actual word is potted.  

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pot plant

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pot-plant

According to several dictionaries, pot plant is British for a houseplant or a plant that is usually grown in a flower pot indoors and informal in the US for marijuana.  

[Lady Florida.]

I'm with you too. Raised partly in northern NJ and then Central Florida. A pot plant is a marijuana plant. A plant in a pot is a potted plant. I will pot a plant or repot a plant. I have many potted plants (also called container plants) in my front yard but I don't have any pot plants anywhere. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Tanaqui]

30 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Raised up in the south.  Moved a few hours away but now I am apparently in the Midwest.  I am with you.  Personally I think the people saying pot plant just don’t know the actual word is potted.  

That's not how language works, and you know it.

[gardenmom5]

I've not heart "pot plant" to mean a potted plant. 

I have noticed younger people purposely leaving off syllables of words . . .  

[gardenmom5]

3 hours ago, Zebra said:

Me either.   I'm in the Northeast too.

Also, I am grateful to Bill for posting the picture.   We think our neighbor is growing pot in his backyard, but were too scared to google it.🤣

(Totally legal to grow your own pot here, BTW.   I don't care if they grow it, we were just curious because we are nosy!)

There's a reason another colloquialism for it is "weed". . . . . .

[MEmama]

As a native of Northern California, to me a pot plant has only one meaning. 😂
 

 

[gardenmom5]

On 9/18/2020 at 10:04 PM, Rosie_0801 said:

 

And if you were wanting to grow pot, you'd want more than you could grow in a pot anyhow, no?

My brother had a grow operation in our basement when we were growing up. They were each in their own pots/planters/containers.

[MEmama]

3 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Nope. Regional differences are not necessarily wrong. I'm quite well educated and yet I  say pot plant for a plant in a pot.

I say, 'I've got chilly in this breeze.' Others might say, 'I've gotten chilly in this breeze.' Neither version is wrong.

Apparently here it is common for people to say “it’s hotting up” instead of “heating up”. I’d never heard the phrase anywhere else.

I love regional language. 🙂 

[MEmama]

7 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

There's a reason another colloquialism for it is "weed". . . . . .

This seems to be the more modern word, at least in our area. I’m having a hard time adjusting. 😂

[ktgrok]

On 9/19/2020 at 6:30 AM, Ausmumof3 said:

Fun story.  People here that do grow pot in the pot often dump what’s left behind up here.  Like the soil and root base.  One of our neighbours used to pick it up and stick it in her wicking beds.  Apparently it was fabulous for growing non pot stuff in too.

People growing that stuff take it VERY seriously. In my lawn, I often buy the stuff marketed for MJ growers, as it is the best stuff, similar to the stuff sold for agricultural use, but in smaller quantities for home use. I have an organic chitosan product that helps the plant immune system fight off bugs and fungi, and it is called "High Tide". I thought that was just because chitosan comes from sea creatures...then looked at their other products and saw the common theme was references to pot and getting high, lol. 

On 9/19/2020 at 10:44 AM, Shellydon said:

Southwest-- pot plant= potted plant

Well, there we go!

Southwest, including Texas where the OP heard it from, and UK/Australia/NZ. 

Everywhere else people will think you want to get high 🙂

[TravelingChris]

On 9/19/2020 at 12:04 AM, Rosie_0801 said:

 

And if you were wanting to grow pot, you'd want more than you could grow in a pot anyhow, no?

Well they to grow them hydroponically so that is kinda like a pot

[TravelingChris]

Pot plant means MJ.  potted plant is a plant that can be put in s pot or is in a pot

. I have never heard of pot plant before in any other usage.  I have lived in many areas but not TX/LA.  Also we use container plant and house plant more often

[Shellydon]

Did a little poll of friends with this-- all TX, LA, and some OK friends use the term "pot plant" and never potted plant. They all never consider pot as being a marijuana plant.  Other states all used potted plant.  Definitely regional. I love learning about regional sayings.

[LMD]

2 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

My brother had a grow operation in our basement when we were growing up. They were each in their own pots/planters/containers.

My parents used potted pot plants in a big cupboard in the laundry 😄