What does gravel change in a plant pot?
A 2025 experiment revisited drainage layers. Its water-retention results help explain conflicting advice about plant pots.
FOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITY
A world of good questions.
A growing collection of practical guides, clear explanations, and things worth noticing.
ONE QUESTION. A FEW CONNECTIONS.
Follow a little further.
A small route through the journal, with something to notice or try at the end.
The practical routeWhy does my pot stay wet?
3 stories · About 5 min to read
Connect the growing medium, the container and the reading from a sensor before changing your watering routine.
- Begin with the materialGood soil has a structure you can feel.
Separate soil texture from the other conditions that affect water.
- Question the usual adviceWhat does gravel change in a plant pot?
Look at what a drainage-layer experiment measured and what it left open.
- Make sense of a numberA plant sensor measures a signal, not a feeling.
Understand why a sensor needs context and calibration.
TAKE IT INTO YOUR DAY
Sketch your container and record its inside dimensions, medium and drainage opening. Volume is useful for buying mix; it cannot diagnose plant health.
Estimate potting mixThe observation routeWhat lives in a small garden?
3 stories · About 6 min to read
Move from noticing your surroundings to understanding compost and starting a small growing project.
- Spend a moment lookingA small garden. A whole living world.
Use a small field notebook to notice plants, visitors and relationships.
- Follow what changesCompost is a living system.
Explore the materials, air and moisture involved in composting.
- Choose one thing to growYour first herb garden starts with a window.
Start with the light and container you actually have.
TAKE IT INTO YOUR DAY
Observe the same patch for ten minutes on two different days. Note the time, weather and what you notice without disturbing wildlife.
Open the field-notebook ideaThe people & place routeWhat does a garden remember?
2 stories · About 5 min to read
Read a garden as a place shaped by people, then follow the knowledge that travels with a packet of seeds.
- Look for human choicesA garden carries more than plants.
Ask who shaped the garden, how it is used and what it expresses.
- Follow a shared seedA seed library keeps growing knowledge in circulation.
See why labels, growing context and realistic expectations matter.
TAKE IT INTO YOUR DAY
Choose a plant with a story attached to it. Ask its grower what they know, what they are uncertain about and what they are comfortable sharing.
Use the growing-note template
A seed library keeps growing knowledge in circulation.
Seed sharing connects a packet of plants-to-be with local experience. The practical details of pollination and labelling help that exchange work.
A garden carries more than plants.
Food, memory, craft, and a sense of place. Gardening is also a way people express and pass on culture.
A small garden. A whole living world.
Look a little closer. Even a small patch of green can become a place to observe pollinators, plants, and the connections between them.
Your first herb garden starts with a window.
A practical starting point for choosing a container, finding the light, and learning when your herbs actually need water.
The blue sky is a lesson in light.
The familiar colour overhead begins with sunlight, tiny molecules, and a journey through the atmosphere.
A plant sensor measures a signal, not a feeling.
Before automating your watering, understand the difference between an electrical reading and useful information about a plant.
Good soil has a structure you can feel.
Sand, silt, and clay help explain how soil holds water—and why the same watering routine behaves differently in different gardens.
Sunlight in. Electricity out.
A clear introduction to photovoltaic cells, the parts around them, and the difference between generating energy and storing it.
A patch of sky. Thousands of galaxies.
Revisit Webb’s first deep field and learn to separate what a striking scientific image shows from the questions it opens.
Compost is a living system.
Follow the transformation from fallen leaves and suitable food scraps to a material you can return to the garden.
Before you water, read the pot.
Learn how to check a container's growing mix, recognize misleading signals, and adjust watering to the plant and conditions.
A small garden can offer more than flowers.
Plan a small pollinator-friendly space by considering seasonal flowers, nesting places and pesticide exposure in your own region.