While there are any number of gorgeous cachepots available, it's sometimes more interesting and fun to come up with ideas for how to re-purpose unusual things into plant holders. It's also almost always cheaper.

Some of my favorite cachepots are tin food or cookie boxes. While they do rust, if you let water sit in them, I usually line them with plastic bags so the moisture doesn't come in direct contact with the metal.


If there is room, I will also sometimes put a plant saucer in the bottom of a metal cachepot.

Even with a cachepot that has no drainage, if I'm putting it on a wooden table or floor, I put pot feet under it as moisture can still collect under the pot and cause discoloring or rot.

I sometimes use baskets for cachepots. They are very inexpensive and can also be lined with with plastic to protect the basket as well as your floor or table. It can look lovely to put several pots into one large basket. I will often use Spanish moss to fill in the holes between the pots, so the basket looks like a cohesive planter, rather than just a group of pots.

For a really unusual cachepot, my mother converted a vintage cradle by having a copper liner custom made. This cradle, that I slept in as a baby, is now in my living room, filled with plants.

If you are looking for a "country casual" look, for your indoor plants, old buckets or watering cans can be used for plants as can coffee cans, wooden crates or wine boxes (again, lined with plastic).

You can also convert old suitcases, trunks or even rubber boots, depending on the look you are trying to achieve.

If you have a large ceramic teapot, soup tureen, or even a sleek colorful, modern garbage can, all can be easily converted into a cachepot.

If, when you place your plant inside the cachepot, it sits too low, you can easily raise it up. I often use clean plastic food or yogurt containers, inverted on the bottom of the cachepot, as risers. All you have to do is put your plant, in its pot on top. If it's a little tippy, try using a wider container. You can also use an inverted mug or teacup to raise a plant.

Overwintering Your Container Gardens