Like terracotta pots they are made by firing clay in kilns but are then painted or glazed in decorative colors and designs.
Clay vs ceramic pots.
The debate regarding plastic versus ceramic pots is long standing.
Clay is created by the by the chemical weathering and geothermal alteration of igneous rocks into hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates.
The material of pre fired ceramics.
Most often the precursor rock is a type of granite.
Clay is a natural material that comes from the ground and ceramics are various materials that harden when heated including clay.
The word terra cotta itself means baked earth in italian.
The commercially popular clay pot cooking sets are nowhere close to this one.
As nouns the difference between ceramic and clay is that ceramic is uncountable a hard brittle material that is produced through burning of nonmetallic minerals at high temperatures while clay is a mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina that is ductile when moist.
Clay can be thought of in terms of geological raw material which is the foundation product for the firing in the kiln which produces terra cotta and ceramics.
Glazed clay pots are somewhat of an intermediate between plastic and unglazed clay pots.
That should give us a clue.
Clay pots are very useful for plants that like dry soil.
Clay planter pots have small holes and allow easier water flow and air flow to the roots of the plants.
The later is mostly made from ceramic clay a composition of stoneware porcelain or terracotta.
Clay is a type of ceramic but not all ceramics are made of clay.
Clay is the natural raw natural material actually used in making terra cotta and ceramic pots.
Ceramic planter pots are one of the most common and durable pots if you compare clay pots vs plastic pots.
Some gardeners love plastic pots others will only use ceramic or clay.
The other two words are an matter of subculture and semantics.
Clay and ceramic are often used to describe different materials for making pottery.
This is the environment that cactus type plants love so much.
Why choose between plastic vs clay pots when you can have the best of both worlds.