Garden of freestyle delights - A cracked pot repair

The Find

A while ago I found this pot that was not just cracked, but also had a hole near the top.  

I took it anyway. 

Because free. Because planter. 

Broken unglazed pot

The Fix

In the same way that I fixed this large round pot with large cracks and this glazed green pot with multi-directional cracks, I decided to trust the fix to some 2-part epoxy.  I don't have a special applicator, I just used some small pieces of cardboard to mix the epoxy and then smear it on both sides of the crack.

Broken pot with epoxy applied

After I had applied the epoxy I let it dry and then got ambitious and wanted to scrap off some of the excess.  This caused the disturbed parts to turn white, normally the epoxy will dry clear, so I learned something new there.  Don't disturb the epoxy after it has started to dry!

Broken pot with disturbed epoxy, dried 

Although the cracks wind around quite a bit of the pot, they can still be hidden by turning the cracked side to the back.

Conclusion

I got some lovely hot pink snapdragons and decided they were the right scale of plant to use in this pot.  In order to prevent dirt from spilling out the hole I partially filled the pot with dirt, then placed a broken piece of pottery (found some months ago) on the inside of the pot, then added some more potting soil and the plant.

Snapdragons!

In order to prevent dirt from spilling out the hole I partially filled the pot with dirt, then placed a broken piece of pottery (found some months ago) on the inside of the pot, then added some more potting soil and the plant.

Potting soil and hole-blocking ceramic shard

From the side it looks like the broken pottery insert, although not a perfectly flush fit against the inside of the pot, it is blocking the dirt as intended.

Ceramic shard blocking hole, outside view

After I finished potting up the snapdragons everything looked great!  I didn't mind a bit of the epoxy showing, none of us are perfect.

Snapdragons in a newly repaired pot

Happy freestyling, don't be afraid to scavenge something and make it beautiful.