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+--- Thread: Square pots or round? (/showthread.php?tid=397)
RE: Square pots or round? - Veggie - 28-07-2020
(28-07-2020, 10:35 AM)Bren Wrote: I like whatever pots are from the charity shop or better still free.All of mine were free - that's why I can't bear to part with any.
RE: Square pots or round? - Mikey - 03-08-2020
I prefer round as they are generally more robust. Square pots are used by supermarkets and horticulture these days as when filled with soil they are relatively strong however they often break when you try to get the plant out.
In life and in nature the round is used more than the square as this shape is stronger and more flexible. Take the famous iron bridge for example the decorative circle shapes below are about strength as the circle will hold more weight than a square and give while still holding onto it’s shape.
A square is a weak shape unless it is combined with many other squares for support. I would imagine the round vessel originated from man using nature, gouging out logs to create bowls etc. Then the first pottery used clay over moulds so again a round or a cylinder shape was created as that is what nature gave us to work with. The square these days is about cost, you can get more square pots into a square crate for transportation. Simple logistics not design.
Round for me.
RE: Square pots or round? - Veggie - 03-08-2020
^^^^ The Analysis of an architect.
Thanks!The hexagonal shape used by bees to make their comb has the most strength, 'tis said, so why aren't pots made that shape too?
(I think I can guess the answer - too fiddly to mass produce).
Why are bottles round, not square? Wouldn't that make them safer to stack and transport?
RE: Square pots or round? - Mikey - 04-08-2020
Bottles would be safer if they were hexagonal for transportation but, not as strong. The circle is the strongest Individual shape especially when it comes to holding contents, and the sphere is the strongest shape for dealing with compression. Think grain silos, gas bottles, diving helmets.
Bees are marvellous they appreciate that it takes less wax to cover a big area without any gaps when storing honey, if they use a hexagon and not a circle though a triangle would be equally as strong but, the edges would have more fragility, and it doesn’t give as much room for a growing bee.
A circle would be stronger but uses far more wax and leaves gaps while a square or rectangle is 4 times weaker when under compression than a hexagon.
Bottles were round I’d have thought as they were blown originally and like a balloon it’s really difficult to blow a square, triangular or hexagonal balloon but a lot easier to roll a ball into a cylinder.
It still round pots for me.
RE: Square pots or round? - Curly - 06-08-2020
Not really relevant to the question first asked but a milk bottle crate is made up of squares so it's like a round peg into a square hole
RE: Square pots or round? - Mikey - 06-08-2020
A circle fits tightly inside a square though.
RE: Square pots or round? - Vinny - 06-08-2020
How about triangular pots?
All major constructions are based on triangles for strength. 
RE: Square pots or round? - Veggie - 06-08-2020
(06-08-2020, 06:43 PM)Mikey Wrote: A circle fits tightly inside a square though.A square fits tightly inside a circle too.
RE: Square pots or round? - Mikey - 06-08-2020
Thailand’s Mahanakhon (square Jenga)
London’s new Planned Foster building called The Tulip. (Shapes in the name)
The Interlace Singapore (a three year old stacking Lego)
Galaxy Soho Beijing, (from above looks like the wood beasts home from Flash Gordon)
There’s lots of funky buildings out the
RE: Square pots or round? - Veggie - 06-08-2020
(06-08-2020, 07:26 PM)Mikey Wrote: Thailand’s Mahanakhon (square Jenga)..................but are they any good for sowing seeds in?
London’s new Planned Foster building called The Tulip. (Shapes in the name)
The Interlace Singapore (a three year old stacking Lego)
Galaxy Soho Beijing, (from above looks like the wood beasts home from Flash Gordon)
There’s lots of funky buildings out the