Pot lights for the potting shed

I wanted some solar terracotta pot lights for the potting shed (the shed has no electricity). What potting shed should NOT have a plant pot light? Seemed simple enough. I went looking for something like this by Googling and searching on Pinterest, but came up empty.

So I went to my friendly local hardware store, bought the solar lights and pots. The hardware store folks were a great help in suggesting how best to drill terracotta, the exact “L” brackets that are bendy enough to adjust its angle, and suggested the neoprene (rubber) washers for the screws.

I think they came out pretty well. The lights are rather dim, but this was just the first night’s photos. I don’t think the lights got enough sun power before I put them up. Even if they are on the dim side, they still work well. Glad I painted the interior of the pot white.

At first I tried drilling the holes with wood drill bits. It worked, but it took about 45 minutes to drill two holes. I have a masonry drill bit now, and it was suggested that I add water as I drill and that may help things along. Then I just added the solar light on top with just a couple dabs of glue. Almost any glue would work. I had some glass/metal glue on hand and it works fine. UPDATE: The masonry drill bit worked wonders. Keeping the area wet, it drilled through with little effort. I drilled six holes in three pots in ten minutes.

I may see if some penetrating sealer I have left over from the slate tile base of the shed would drastically change the color of the terracotta. It’s moisture and freeze/thaw cycles that can crack, chip and cause mayhem with terracotta. Avoiding that may be wise. I just don’t want the color of the pots to go too dark.

The pot and solar lights came to about $6 (off season prices) and the “L” brackets and bolts to another $4. So, for $10 I got this nice night light.

I did go back and buy parts to make three more. I’m going to add them to the side of the shed with two windows, one between each window.

I had this in my head back when I planned out the design last year.

 

 

 

Color-wise the terracotta looks good with the slate base of the shed. I may get a quart of a terracotta-colored paint and paint a few details of the shed here and there.

Two “L” brackets bolted together. One half of the bracket fit snugly under the clapboard. I may paint the bracket green – just to have it blend in a bit better.

I’ll post again when I have the other three lights up.

The pot itself was only $2.

$4 this late in the season.

 

The finished pot lights.

 

 

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