Re-potting a houseplant

[Amethyst]

I have some plants that sit on my desk in my office. It is time (prob past time) for them to be re-potted. One of the plants is in a beautiful pot that I would like to now put the smaller plant into. The thing is, the original plant was not really planted in the pot - it was in an ugly plastic container which just sat in the beautiful pot. The beautiful pot has no drain holes. 
 

What would you do?

Keep in mind, this pot sits on my desk which frequently is covered with papers. I can’t risk leaks. 
 

I can drill holes in the bottom of the beautiful plant, but that means I would need a catch basin of some type. I don’t have any old plate that I sometimes use for this purpose. (Prob used them all up on my at-home houseplants.) I’m afraid of the ugliness factor of an old plate. The plastic catch basins are fine for my big plants that are on the floor, but these plants will be at eye level when someone is sitting in my office. Again with the ugliness factor  

I can put gravel underneath the soil before adding potting soil. Does this really work? It seems the water is still going to stay there and I risk overwatering. 
 

What would you do?

[happi duck]

I think often the plant is in plastic pot with holes and just sits in a decorative pot.  I think it makes things more flexible for taking care of the plant and the pretty pot acts as the drip catcher

[Amy in NH]

Gravel usually works for me - allows for drainage and a little reservoir to encourage root growth 

[Kidlit]

If you're worried about water on your desk, if I were you I'd use another plastic pot for the new plant and just use the pretty pot as a cover pot.   

[Alte Veste Academy]

Most of my pots have nothing underneath, because I can't be bothered with planter saucers. I take them to the sink (if they're small enough) or patio table (for the big guys) to water them. I give them a good soaking, and after they've finished dripping/draining and are dry on bottom, I take them back to their homes. 

[Pawz4me]

I'd repot the smaller plant into another plastic container and then set it into the decorative planter. That's how it's supposed to be done.

If you want to drill holes in the attractive pot (which is absolutely a viable alternative; you do have to be careful to use an appropriate drill bit so the pot won't crack), then you could set it on a plate that is a little larger than the pot and put some decorative stones around it so there is no ugliness factor.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Pawz4me

[Amethyst]

10 minutes ago, Alte Veste Academy said:

Most of my pots have nothing underneath, because I can't be bothered with planter saucers. I take them to the sink (if they're small enough) or patio table (for the big guys) to water them. I give them a good soaking, and after they've finished dripping/draining and are dry on bottom, I take them back to their homes. 

This is what I do at home too. I think it would be harder to pull off in my workplace though. And even when I do it at home, I still place a plate underneath because I’m worried about slow leakage (or maybe I’m just impatient with the plants clogging up the sink). 

[Amy in NH]

11 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I'd repot the smaller plant into another plastic container and then set it into the decorative planter. That's how it's supposed to be done.

If you want to drill holes in the attractive pot (which is absolutely a viable alternative; you do have to be careful to use an appropriate drill bit so the pot won't crack), then you could set it on a plate that is a little larger than the pot and put some decorative stones around it so there is no ugliness factor.

I tried the plate with decorative stones.  When the stones got wet by water pooling on the plate, they grew algae and looked crusty and messy.

[Pawz4me]

3 minutes ago, Amy in NH said:

I tried the plate with decorative stones.  When the stones got wet by water pooling on the plate, they grew algae and looked crusty and messy.

What about a bag of the fake mossy looking stuff? I don’t know what it’s called. It would be fairly easy to put around a pot and replace as needed. I don’t think a bag is more than a few dollars. 

[Amy in NH]

1 minute ago, Pawz4me said:

What about a bag of the fake mossy looking stuff? I don’t know what it’s called. It would be fairly easy to put around a pot and replace as needed. I don’t think a bag is more than a few dollars. 

That might work!

[momto3innc]

All of my pots at work do not have holes in the bottom due to the water issue (unlike the ones I have at home). I’ve never had an issue and they’re all very healthy. I’m just very careful with watering so they’re not sitting in soggy soil. I do repot as they get too big.

[Tree Frog]

I prefer pots without holes because of the leaking potential. I use nursery pots in them. 

Can you move your bigger plant into another plastic pot, then use the old plastic pot that fits the pot without holes for the smaller plant? Nurseries frequently sell plastic nursery pots. Usually they're inexpensive. 

[Bambam]

I prefer pots with drainage holes and a matching holder underneath. But those are often hard to find.
So, for my pretty pots with no drainage holes, I put semi-large (depending up on the size of the pot) gravel/rocks in and then put the dirt/plant on top of that. I water carefully so shouldn't be too much water to drip through to the gravel, but if it happens, it happens. I have no idea what it looks like later, but I'm not sure I care until I take that plant out and put a new plant in. 

[KungFuPanda]

I repot in the spring. Plants like to sleep a bit in the winter. 

[Amethyst]

8 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I repot in the spring. Plants like to sleep a bit in the winter. 

Oh. This is interesting. And probably good advice. But these two particular plants are severely root-bound. I worry they won’t make it to April if I don’t do something now