# Pots & Planters - lean notes

Scope: containers that hold growing medium and plant roots - ground/patio pots, hanging baskets, rail/window boxes, fabric grow bags, self-watering (sub-irrigated) planters, and raised garden beds. Excludes plant supports (stakes, cages, trellises - sibling leaf `plant_supports`) and watering/irrigation equipment (hoses, drip systems, cans - sibling leaf `watering_irrigation`).

## Seed
1. The industrial-designer equivalent of olive oil's `harvest_date`: frost hardiness - a porous terracotta/concrete pot that isn't fired near vitrification will crack outdoors in winter, and glazing alone doesn't fix it. Almost no listing states this honestly; it has to be researched and defaulted conservatively by material.
2. First thing the designer notices: the pot's color and its height-to-diameter ratio - both change the root zone's temperature and wetness independent of material or price, and neither is a field any retailer collects.

## Sources
- [wikipedia_flowerpot] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowerpot - material porosity, color/heat, tall-vs-wide drainage, traditional cast sizing, nursery ANSI sizing - fetched excerpt
- [wikipedia_terracotta] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta - porosity, glazing does not seal water, vitrification needed for freeze-thaw survival - fetched excerpt
- [wikipedia_raised_bed_gardening] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raised-bed_gardening - bed materials incl. IBC totes, CCA-treated lumber restriction since 2004 - fetched excerpt
- [wikipedia_container_gardening] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_gardening - container type taxonomy (hanging basket, window box, wall planter, SIP) - fetched excerpt
- [ansi_nursery_stock_standard] https://web.archive.org/web/2014/http://americanhort.org/documents/nursery_stock_standards_AmericanHort_2004.pdf - container class volume table (#SP1-#100), trade-vs-retail distinction - fetched excerpt (via pdftotext)
- [earthbox_how_it_works] https://www.earthbox.com/how-it-works - SIP reservoir/aeration screen/wicking chamber/overflow mechanism, UV-stabilized food-safe plastic - fetched excerpt

Fetches that failed or returned no real content this run (blocked, 404, or JS-only shells): smartpots.com, rootpouch.com, lechuza.com, gardeners.com, hgic.clemson.edu, extension.umd.edu, extension.umn.edu, rhs.org.uk, almanac.com, archive.org snapshots of the above. Worked from the sources above instead, per LEAN.md fallback guidance.

## Branches
- `form_factor`: hanging_basket/rail_or_window_box leg supported by wikipedia_container_gardening's "suspended from ceilings, walls, or specially designed stands" line; routes to mounting_hardware_and_weight_capacity.
- `form_factor`: fabric_grow_bag leg - no fabric-specific brand source reachable; routed only to porosity_and_watering_frequency using the general permeability principle (wikipedia_flowerpot/terracotta), not a grow-bag-specific claim.
- `form_factor`: self_watering_planter leg supported by earthbox_how_it_works (reservoir/wicking/aeration) and wikipedia_container_gardening (names the SIP term); routes to self_watering_mechanism.
- `form_factor`: raised_garden_bed leg supported by wikipedia_raised_bed_gardening (materials, CCA); routes to wood_treatment_safety.
- `material`: unglazed_terracotta/concrete_or_hypertufa and glazed_ceramic legs both route to frost_hardiness because wikipedia_terracotta's "glazing does not seal... a non-porous clay body is necessary" shows glaze alone is not sufficient.
- `use_location`: indoor leg makes frost_hardiness/uv_stabilization irrelevant since neither sun nor freeze exposure applies indoors.

## Noise (spec-sheet rows left out)
- EarthBox "mulch cover" component - an accessory, not a container spec; not a facet.
- ANSI standard's wooden-box-size equivalents and B2B "unclassified container" clause - nursery-trade-only language, not retail-buyer-facing.
- Flowerpot wiki's historical UK "cast" names (Ones, Twos, Sixties...) - kept only the diameter/depth range and the "long tom" term; the full naming system is not something any modern listing uses.
- Raised-bed wiki's "sunken garden" and "waffle garden" sections - a different, non-raised structure, out of scope for this leaf.
- Container-gardening wiki's "wall planter" form - folded into rail_or_window_box rather than given its own value; too close to window box to need a separate branch at lean depth.

## Sources (added during fix pass)
- [uiuc_extension_container_gardening] https://extension.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/container_gardening.pdf - dark/metal pot heat absorption, heavy-container portability, plastic freeze protection - fetched via pdftotext
- [epa_cca] https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/chromated-arsenicals-cca - CCA-treated wood phased out for homeowner uses, Dec 2003 - fetched excerpt

## Corrections (2026-10-26)
1. `material` split: added `metal` branch -> color_and_heat_absorption, sourced to uiuc_extension_container_gardening's "dark colored or metal pots absorb heat which can damage roots" (was a zero-branch gap).
2. `material` split: added `biodegradable_paper_or_peat` branch -> porosity_and_watering_frequency, makes_irrelevant frost_hardiness/uv_stabilization, using the same general permeability principle as the fabric_breathable leg (not independently sourced for this value).
3. Added facet `weight_or_portability` and routed it into `form_factor` -> `ground_or_patio_pot`'s then_ask; sourced to uiuc_extension_container_gardening's "heavier containers...balconies or decks" and wikipedia_container_gardening's portable-object framing.
4. `material` -> `plastic_resin`/`fiberglass`: removed the blanket `makes_irrelevant: frost_hardiness` and added frost_hardiness to then_ask instead; uiuc_extension_container_gardening states "some types of plastic need to be protected from...freezing temperatures", contradicting the old blanket exclusion. Updated the `frost_hardiness` facet unaffected by this (its own backfill_note already covered ceramic/concrete; plastic is now asked rather than defaulted).
5. `use_location` split: added the missing `outdoor_covered_patio` branch (then_ask frost_hardiness, makes_irrelevant uv_stabilization) - still outdoors for temperature exposure but a roof blocks direct sun; a logical inference from the register's own mechanism text, not independently sourced.
6. `diameter_or_footprint`: widened range max from 51cm to 61cm and added ansi_nursery_stock_standard as a second source (fabric-bag diameters 10-24in); backfill_note now flags that raised beds/large patio planters can still exceed even this.
7. `height_to_diameter_ratio`: backfill_note now grounds the >1.3 tall_narrow cutoff in wikipedia_flowerpot's traditional long tom ratio (3in diameter by 3.75-4in depth = 1.25-1.33); the <0.7 low_wide cutoff is stated explicitly as a reasonable but unsourced symmetric choice.
8. Reclassified `drainage_type` source from `listing` to `researched`, and `height_to_diameter_ratio` source from `listing` to `derived`, matching how each value is actually obtained (per the facets' own backfill_notes).
9. Added vocabulary entry for "Grow bag" (facet: form_factor), matching the term already used in the split's own cold_start_question.
10. `wood_treatment_safety`: added epa_cca (US EPA's Chromated Arsenicals page) as a direct regulator citation alongside the existing Wikipedia summary for the CCA-restricted-since-2004 claim.