Plug drain holes in wood planter

[Higgs Boson]

My oversize planter that I made in wood shop 1,000 years ago is ageing.

I made too many drain holes initially, and would like to plug some of them, because the handyman who refinished my concrete porch blocked where water used to drain out of the porch; now it pools where the planter needs to be.

I emptied the planter and storing soil in buckets while I figure out situation.

I cut a strip of roll roofing to line the inside. I want to leave only the minimum holes needed for drainage on L and R side.

What should I use to plug the holes that is not too expensive or time-consuming? It's been suggested that I use pieces of roll roofing to Gorilla glue the unwanted holes shut. Was also told that wood ? filling? would also be expensive, so hoping for a low or medium-cost solution.

TIA

HB

[Dan Espen]

It's not a boat. Just put some of the roll roofing in the bottom of the planter and refill it.

[Dean Hoffman]

Golf tees and silicone? Bottle caps and silicone? Rubber stoppers? Wooden dowel and silicone? Silicone by itself if the holes aren't too big.

[dadiOH]

How about...

a) glued in dowels

b) rubber corks

[bob haller]

if the planters plants dont have enough drainage they will flood in rainstorms and die...

you could install a fitting or two, say one inch and above, with a cheap piece of plastic hose to redirect the water away from your home.

you should realize that plugging most of the holes wouldnt change the amount of water that drains from the planter.

[trader4]

I'm not sure I see the point to plugging some of the holes. Even if you have just a couple of holes, about the same amount of water is still going to come out. Why not just water the plants less?

[Julie Bove]

Corks will work but you'd have to empty it out to insert them. And they will likely need replaced eventually.

[harryagain]

Use a strong plastic bag.

[nestork]

Higgs:

Why not just cover the bottom of your planter with stones, and then cover the stones with landscaping fabric or several layers of fiberglass window screen mesh (or brass or stainless steel window screen mesh).

Landscaping fabric is a cloth that won't rot if it stays wet for a long time. It's a tight enough weave so that water will seep through landscaping fabric but soil won't.

The whole idea behind doing that is so that after the excess water drains out of the soil, the soil will be exposed to air. That's important to ensure you have a healthy population of [u]aerobic[/] bacteria living in your soil. Aerobic bacteria break down any dead vegetable matter in the soil and basically turn it into compost (or fertilizer). I'm not a horticulturist, but my understanding is that aerobic bacteria play an important role in the soil to promote healthy plant growth, and so having rocks at the bottom of the planter and landscaping fabric (best) or window screen mesh over the rocks to stop the soil from getting into the rocks allows the aeration of all the soil in the planter from both above and below.