Drain Smart Disc Review

Ever see something brilliant and wonder “Why didn’t anyone think of that before?”.

That was my first reaction to the Drain Smart Discs.

My wife and I do a lot of container gardening on our patio.  Tomatoes, roses, herbs, gooseberries, rose hibiscus, sunflowers, the list is endless.  We started with a couple of pots a few years ago, and the pots just seemed to multiply every spring!

Sometimes I forget to drill holes in the pots and they flood making a hilarious mess.  But usually it’s a matter of finding enough large gravel or bark to fill the bottom of the container for drainage.  Then the first time you water the container it flushes the potting soil out through the gravel, through the drainage holes and you get a puddle of muck on your deck.  Ever see the “brown ring” on a friend’s hardwood deck?

Enter the geniuses at Drain Smart, stage right.

They have created discs that are a durable wire mesh that act like both a quick filter and a long term drainage system.  The polymer web of mesh acts like a brilliant filtration setup for keeping your valuable soil in your pot and not in a puddle on your deck.

Talk about simple to use.  Listen to this.

You simply put a disc in the bottom of your container, grey side up and wire side down.  You then fill your pot with your favorite vermiculite, potting soil and growing medium.  You’ll see the difference the first time you water, and every time you water.  The thing is a no-brainer, it just does its job like a champ.

When you’re done with the pot at the end of the season, you can take the Disc out of the container, hose it off and keep it for next spring.  It’s a whole lot easier to stack these filters in your garage, shed or basement for the winter than storing bags of gravel or bark.  Ever see how many earwigs seem to find your bag of bark and make a lovely nest?

And forget about heading to the garden centre next April to see if there’s any bark left.  The Discs will be there for you.  These things are steady and dependable.

They come in 2 sizes, the 6 inch discs for small pots and the big boys a whole foot in diameter for your giant hanging baskets, ceramic and terracotta patio pots, and your wall-mounted vertical planters.

I love how light they are.  They weigh just an ounce or two.  They ship them in boxes of 3 of the big 12” ones or 5 of the 6” discs.  They are thin, less than a half inch tall.

The grey membrane that mounts the wire mesh is durable and will last years and years.  You can form fit them with scissors for rectangular planters or big resin containers.  They are made in the USA.  Some people call them “potliners”, some container gardeners call them “Drainsmarts”, I just call them “awesome”.

If you grow tomato plants in pots, you know how vitally important watering them consistently is.  Tomatoes hate to have “wet feet” from over-watering, but if you neglect them and let calcium run low and are inconsistent in watering your toms, you run the risk of blossom end rot.  The Drain Smart Discs are brilliant for the tomato grower, helping to keep some moisture at the roots promoting a healthy plant, and helping you to grow better tomatoes. Even the government agrees.

If you are a vertical gardener, with planters mounted to walls or fence exteriors, then you will love these.  You know what kind of mess a hanging basket or a mounted planter can make after you water them and the brown bark muck drains out the drainage holes.  You can now line your boxes and planters and never have that happen again.

Watch the Drain Smart Review Video:

Speaking of brown muck…how do we know where that bark we use is really from?  Any chemicals in the bark will get absorbed into the soil and could affect your plants.  The discs eliminate any pesticide or herbicide spray residue from traditional bark liner.

Would they make a good gift for a gardener at the holidays?  If you know a passionate container gardener, this is a phenomenal Christmas gift, birthday present or surprise.  If they grow roses, strawberries, tomatoes, indoor trees like lemon or lime trees, cilantro or basil gardeners, basically anyone who puts dirt and seeds in a pot would love these Discs!  You know your gardening friends…some of them can be very particular about the gardening tools they purchase.  But believe me, if you gift them the Drain Smarts, you will get a big smile from them.

I know some gardeners buy landscape fabric, or use paper towel to line the bottom of their pots.  Both break down, get soggy and lose their integrity quickly.  But when you think that these filters will last for years and years, never lose their qualities,  never have to be repurchased, and are always reusable and on hand then the small investment will keep paying dividends for the gardener for a decade or more.

Bottom line:  these filters are the bees knees, absolutely cool and dummy proof.  Love them!

 

Where can you buy them?  The largest online retailer in the world will ship them to your door.  They often have deals on discounted shipping.  You might even qualify for free shipping or a pricing discount.

 

To check the price on the Drain Smart Discs, CLICK HERE.

 

 

 

 

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