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My wife and I are growing several vegetables in outside planters and all of them have one or two holes in the bottom for drainage. We've recently had very long periods of rain and most of the planters seem to drain fine, but there's 2 or 3 that aren't. I've checked the drain holes and they seem to be ok, but they still fill up almost to the top with rain water. I've tried making the drain holes slightly bigger (but I don't want to make them TOO big) and even put the planters up on blocks to make sure they aren't blocked by the ground, but this hasn't helped.

My question obviously is how should I fix the problem. I've thought about doing the following:

1) Drill additional small holes in the bottom.
2) Drill holes in the sides.
3) Drill a few large holes just above the soil line to quickly remove any excess water when they start to "drown".

Any thoughts on these or other suggestions?

You can put a layer of gravel or pieces of broken clay pots in the bottom of the container, before you fill it with planter mix. I've heard that some people even use styrofoam packing peanuts for this purpose. When I use gravel in the bottom of a pot, I lay a piece of landscape fabric over it, before I add the soil. Gravel can significantly increase the weight of the container, so if the container must be moved, you'll want to take that into consideration.

I have some containers that fill up to the brim with water. I think the more important issue is the length of time it stays full to the brim. If it's a good-sized container, and the water drains out within a minute or less, you're probably okay. JMO, though.

Thanks for that suggestion Kisal

Unfortunately it's too late for me to put materials in the bottom of the planters as they already have many vegetables growing out of them and I'd hate to damage them. I'll keep that in mind for next year though.

I'll check on the speed that they drain, but the problem is it's been raining here for days, so they stay full of water for long periods of time and I'm afraid it's going to hurt the roots. The one thing I want to be careful about is finding a way to have the proper drainage regardless of rainfall amount. That's why I thought about drilling holes just above the soil line as that would remove the excess water but not affect normal drainage when it's not a continuous downpour outside.

Well, I definitely understand the "rain" part, since I live where it rains non-stop for 8 months out of the year! Out here, we have to be vigilant, or the moss will grow behind our ears and between our toes!

Did you use a good planter mix in your containers? That's important because even the finest garden soil holds too much water to work properly in containers.

Maybe, during this rainy spell, you could just go out and tip the excess water out of your containers periodically? I do that sometimes. Another thing I've done is moved containers so that they're protected somewhat from the rain. On clear days, I just move them back out enough to get the sunlight. That, in fact, is why I garden in containers. My entire backyard will flood during our winter monsoon season. Really lousy drainage out there. I'd have to build raised beds, and that's beyond my ability. Hiring someone to do it for me is beyond my budget at the moment, so containers have solved the problem for me. I have friends who built various sizes of frames out of plastic plumbing. They roofed the frames with clear plastic and set them over their container-grown plants, to protect them from the rain. The plastic still allows light through.

Later in the year, when it's hot and dry, it might be a good thing that the soil doesn't drain too quickly.

Sorry Kisal -- I had a vision of a little umbrella over every pot....

Kupacmac -- It seems to me drilling holes from the side IS the best solution -- not just above the soil line but all over.

and maybe considering a mix with more big chunks for next year. to much fine stuff can get compressed by hard rain and then drain poorly.