vp999
Masterpiece
Hello all ! Just a curious question...does any of you ever had a bonsai pot crack from the cold from being winterized outside ? Im not talking about high end pot but just normal Yixing Chinese pots and such. Thanks
Chinese pot cracking in the winter?
- Thread starter vp999
- Start date
Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
I've lost quite a few cheap Chinese pots over the past few years. Winter temps only get to a few deg below freezing but that's enough to blow off chunks of glaze, break off the rim or just entirely explode these pots. I've decided that cheap pots are not such a good deal when so many need to be replaced each year. Now spending a bit extra on better quality.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Yup. Have had this happen a few times with Chinese pots. "Normal" Yixing can be vulnerable to freeze/thaw particularly if it has an incurved lip/rim that frozen soil pushes up against...I've also had glazed Yixing pots lose big chunks of glaze off the surface. I've also had higher-end Chinese pots come through almost 20 years of overwintering with no issues.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Yixing Clay is traditionally used for teapots and is known to be porous and not vitrified.
The pores aid in seasoning the pot.
The simplest way to tell if your pot will survive freezing is licking it to see if it feels like glass or if your tongue sticks. Lick the non glazed part.
Sorce
The pores aid in seasoning the pot.
The simplest way to tell if your pot will survive freezing is licking it to see if it feels like glass or if your tongue sticks. Lick the non glazed part.
Sorce
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Um, er, how does that work? The surface of vitrified Japanese pots doesn't feel like glass...just sayin.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
I guess it depends on the pot.
A burnished pot will feel glassy, but a Bon-Sai pot like I got from @bleumeon seems to have had an organic matter pushed into the surface before firing, so texture happens when it burns out. A pot like that will feel rough, may be vitreous, but water can still get into these voids and change the pot.
This is why I SO stress the difference between vitreous, Frost proof, and unable to be affected by freezing.
None of the three are the same, all can be one, one can be all, etc...
Many layers. Not cut and dry.
Sorce
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
I guess too....
I should have said effects like glass, not necessarily feels.
Licking the jagged broken edge of glass will feel rough but still effect like glass.
Just see if your spittle gets absorbed or stays on the surface!
And....
Don't EVER lick the bottom of a Sorce Pot, or you will have essentially Frenched me!
Sorce
Cut the hell out of your tongue.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
vp999
Masterpiece
U guys are tooo muchhh lol. The licking part reminds me of Ralphie in " A Christmas Story" 
Anthony
Imperial Masterpiece
Not lick sorce, apply a little spittle.
See if it sinks in.
The idea is porous pots are better for plants.
So we use glazed, but porous pots for Serissa anf J.b.pines.
The bottoms are unglazed.
In the past, the plants were taken out of the pots and buried
in the ground with a covering of leaves or placed in low to the ground
green houses,
The early bonsai books have photos.
Chinese potters, started Tokoname.
You have to know what the clay bodies do and how to use them.
Good Day
Anthony
See if it sinks in.
The idea is porous pots are better for plants.
So we use glazed, but porous pots for Serissa anf J.b.pines.
The bottoms are unglazed.
In the past, the plants were taken out of the pots and buried
in the ground with a covering of leaves or placed in low to the ground
green houses,
The early bonsai books have photos.
Chinese potters, started Tokoname.
You have to know what the clay bodies do and how to use them.
Good Day
Anthony
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