A cachepot is the decorative container you drop a plant into while it stays in the plain plastic pot it came home in. It is the oldest trick in plant styling and it is usually explained as a way to make cheap pots look expensive.
That is true and it is the least interesting thing about it. The real advantage is that the plant stays portable, and in a small apartment, portability is worth more than appearance.
Why portability is the point
The University of Illinois Extension sets out how sharply light changes with position: Bright is an east or west window directly in front or a south window up to 5 feet away, Medium is a north window directly in front, an east or west window a few feet away, or a south window 3 to 10 feet away, and Low is further out than that.
A few feet is a whole band. Which means the difference between a plant doing well and a plant declining is frequently a distance you could cross carrying it.
Now consider what a permanent arrangement costs you. A plant settled into a heavy decorative container, standing in one spot, is a plant you will not move casually. You will move it when it is visibly unhappy, which is late.
A plant sitting in a light grower's pot inside an outer container is a plant you can lift out and try somewhere else in ten seconds, then put back. That single fact makes experimenting with position free, and position is the thing this whole site is about.
What the arrangement is good for, concretely
Trying a position before committing to it. You think the shelf might work. Find out for two weeks without changing anything permanent.
Seasonal moves. The bright spot in one season is not the bright spot in another, and a plant that moves easily gets moved.
Rooms that change. In a small apartment furniture shifts more than in a large one, and a plant that is part of a heavy arrangement is the thing that stays put while everything else moves around it.
Renting. Nothing is fixed to anything, and the whole arrangement leaves with you.
Matching the room rather than the plant. The outer container is chosen for the room, and it can change when the room does, without the plant being involved at all.
What this page is not going to tell you
I want to be direct about this, because the subject invites it.
Everything about what happens inside the pot is not this site's ground. Whether an outer container should have a hole in it, what to do about water that collects, what the plant is potted in, when it needs a bigger pot, and every question that ends at the roots is covered properly by people who specialize in it.
This page is about the container as a visual object and as a way of keeping a plant mobile between positions. Where those two subjects meet, the honest thing is to say so and stop, which is what I am doing.
Choosing the outer container, on styling grounds only
Size it to the grower's pot, not to the plant. The inner pot has to drop in and lift out. An outer container that grips is one you will not use twice.
Height is what you are actually buying. An outer container that stands the plant higher changes what the plant does in the room, and standing a plant up is the cheapest way to add height to a group.
Pick for the room, not for the plant. The plant already has a color. The container is the part that has to live with your walls and floor.
One finish, repeated, beats several. In a small room, three plants in three different decorative containers read as three objects. The same three in matching containers read as one arrangement.
Weight matters more than people expect. In a small apartment you will move these. A container that is beautiful and immovable defeats the purpose.
Where they earn their keep in a small home
On a windowsill, where the shape and depth of the ledge decide everything and a slim outer container can make an unpromising sill usable. What actually lasts on a kitchen windowsill covers that position.
In a studio, where every object does more than one job and the plant may need to be moved off a surface entirely at short notice. What works in a studio goes through that constraint.
In a group, where matching outer containers are what turn several plants into one visual object.
The one habit that makes this work
Use the mobility. That is the whole return on the arrangement.
If a plant is not doing well, move it before you do anything else. Per the light table, a few feet toward or away from the window is a real change, and with a cachepot arrangement it costs you nothing to try.
Most people set the arrangement up for the looks and then never move anything, which gets them the styling benefit and none of the placement benefit. The placement benefit is the larger of the two.
If you have pets
An outer container changes the height and the stability of a plant, and both matter in a home with animals. Check any plant, by botanical name, against the ASPCA's toxic and non-toxic plants database before it goes into a room a pet uses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cachepot?
It is the decorative container you drop a plant into while the plant stays in the plain plastic pot it came home in. It is the oldest trick in plant styling, and it is usually sold as a way of making a cheap pot look expensive, which is true and is the least interesting thing about it.
Why keep the plant in its nursery pot instead of potting it up?
Because it keeps the plant portable, and in a small apartment portability is worth more than appearance. A plant in a light grower's pot inside an outer container can be lifted out, tried somewhere else and put back in about ten seconds. A plant settled into a heavy decorative container gets moved only when it looks visibly unhappy, which is late.
How much difference does moving a plant a few feet actually make?
A whole band, in the University of Illinois Extension's terms. Bright is an east or west window directly in front or a south window up to 5 feet away, Medium is a north window directly in front, an east or west window a few feet away, or a south window 3 to 10 feet away, and Low is further out than that. The gap between a plant doing well and a plant declining is frequently a distance you could cross carrying it.
How do I choose an outer container?
On styling grounds, and there are five. Size it to the grower's pot rather than the plant, because one that grips is one you will not use twice. Treat height as the thing you are buying, since standing a plant up is the cheapest way to add height to a group. Pick for the room rather than the plant, because the plant already has a color. Repeat one finish, since matching containers turn several plants into one arrangement. And watch the weight, because a container that is beautiful and immovable defeats the purpose.
Does this page cover drainage and repotting?
No, deliberately. Everything that happens inside the pot, including whether an outer container needs a hole, what to do about water that collects, what the plant is potted in and when it needs a bigger pot, is covered properly by people who specialize in it. This page treats the container as a visual object and as a way of keeping a plant mobile between light positions.
The part worth remembering
A cachepot makes a cheap pot look better. It also makes the plant portable, and portability is what lets you find the right position by trying rather than by guessing.
If you have not yet worked out which positions your apartment has, the room-by-room survey is the thing to do first. The container makes acting on it easy.