Why Are People Using Pool Noodles in Their Planter Pots?

Drinking too little water will make your skin chapped and flaky. Drinking too much of it will repeatedly cause you to stand up from your desk and pay visits to the bathroom. The same is the case with plants. Plants need just the perfect amount of water to thrive. Appropriate water helps them extract nutrients from the soil as well as sugars that may be required by fruits or flowers. When there’s coarse, sandy soil in the planter, the water may drain quickly, leading the plant to become dry and wilted. On the other hand, if the soil is based on heavy clay, it may prevent the water from seeping down, leading to waterlogging.

When a plant gets overwatered or waterlogged, its roots rot and it slowly loses its fresh vigor. That’s why a good drainage system is important. People use everything from chipped crockery to pottery fragments, coffee filters, wood, rocks, and gravel to drain the water. In a TikTok video that has amassed over 1.2 million views, gardening enthusiast, Penny (@pennyjo8) shares a cheaper “Dollar Tree pool noodles planter hack” to keep the plants well hydrated during summer. The video opens with a bucket filled with a pretzel of pool noodles, their turquoise-colored foam shimmering in the light. 

The noodles appear to be cut in three-fourths of their actual size. Over the bottom spread made by these foamed 3D donuts, Penny sprinkles and lays out a layer of fresh brown soil from a packet. She pats the layer of soil for uniform consistency. In the following frame of the video, she displays a lush plant sprouting from the planter pot while the pool noodles are doing their draining job secretly in the dark underground. “No one would know. How would they know,” said the song playing in the video background. In the caption, Penny describes that she uses this hack every year for her big-sized planters. “This allows for drainage and use of half the amount of soul you normally would use.”

“The pool noodles keep water flowing through the soil, reducing the risk of root rot,” Alice Knisley Matthias from FamilyHandyman.com, explained in Reader’s Digest. She added that using pool noodles, also called “water woggles,” to seep out excess water comes with a wealth of other benefits. “Not only will you save a bundle of soil at the garden center, but you’ll also find it’s much easier to move the pot around your porch, patio, or balcony than if it was completely filled with water-logged potting mix,” added Matthias.

In the comments section, however, many people seemed skeptical about this “pool noodles hack” for planting. @iamnot4everyone, @michelerb2, @kimberlyjo81, and many others said that the noodles would float to the top if it rained. Penny said she had been using pool noodles for years and her plant patio is just as good as always. “Don’t the roots need more room to grow?” asked @user04232928. Penny replied that she had been using this hack every year and her flowers seemed to be thriving from spring to fall.

Several people shared other household staples that can be used for planter’s drainage. @mychinacat2 suggested pine cones, @staceylegg9 recommended using rocks and stones and @genxgirl said they like to use branches, sticks, and leaves. Other shared things like wood chunks, empty water bottles, Styrofoam from television boxes, empty soda bottles, peat moss, lava rocks, a ball of hay, and pop cans.

You can follow Penny (@pennyjo8) on TikTok for more gardening and dog videos.