daybreamer
New member
over here in the uk we use pots but all you guys seem to big fans of smart pots? what are they exactly and wha advantages do they bring over regular shop bought plastic pots, thanks!
containers?
- Thread starter daybreamer
- Start date
Smart pots are made with fabric. It is a felt like fabric much like what is used for controlling silt run off on construction sites. The advantage is root pruning. The roots grow to the edge then gets air pruned, so they branch better in the pot. At harvest the complete soil will be filled with fine roots....scrappy
Smart pots are usually made from 6 or 8 oz non-woven geotextile.
Silt fence is not the same. It's a woven polypropylene.
Silt fence is not the same. It's a woven polypropylene.
One thing root pots do is increase your root ball size which allows you to grow much bigger plants with less soil. They do dry out a little faster however. Also, indoors I don't see much use for them unless you are growing in 15g or larger.
I am a big fan of the Soma style beds.
However big the pot size you choose the plants roots will find the size of the container very quickly and limit the full potential of the plant being grown in it.
For this simple reason mounds of dirt work much better.
The plant hormones Cytokinins and Auxin's don't signal each other when growing in a mound to say slow down were running out of space here.
This makes massive plants.
However big the pot size you choose the plants roots will find the size of the container very quickly and limit the full potential of the plant being grown in it.
For this simple reason mounds of dirt work much better.
The plant hormones Cytokinins and Auxin's don't signal each other when growing in a mound to say slow down were running out of space here.
This makes massive plants.
and those 15g smart pots are wonderful! 4 of them totally fill out a 4x4 tent. You can slice that up any way you want with single or multiple plants per pot.
It must vary by area, the stuff I stole was the same. Seriously I've seen both types, and somewhere on the web I've even seen homemade pots made from woven poly, with the claims they worked great.....scrappy
growclean
Grow Clean.... Go Fast!
I did not dig on smart pots indoors. They do not hold up well in a grow that you need to move them in. You can only easily use them for the final transplant. They create alot of watering run off issues also. They may be good for a root ball, but weren't good for logistics.
growclean
Grow Clean.... Go Fast!
rrog,
Sorry, I have been absent for some time trying to straighten up our new grow area. I have not seen the thread you are speaking of. Can you link it real quick? It sounds interesting. For awhile we tried modifying some pots, and even though our technique worked (nothing to do with smart pots btw), it was not worth continuing. There are many parts of our grow that can use that extra 10% still, and I feel that messing with pots has not been cost or time effective. But.... unfortunately I am always willing to try, so lets see these Hobbes pots!
BTW, everything I am saying right now comes from the standpoint of a commercial grow, not a personal grow. That makes a big difference...
Sorry, I have been absent for some time trying to straighten up our new grow area. I have not seen the thread you are speaking of. Can you link it real quick? It sounds interesting. For awhile we tried modifying some pots, and even though our technique worked (nothing to do with smart pots btw), it was not worth continuing. There are many parts of our grow that can use that extra 10% still, and I feel that messing with pots has not been cost or time effective. But.... unfortunately I am always willing to try, so lets see these Hobbes pots!
BTW, everything I am saying right now comes from the standpoint of a commercial grow, not a personal grow. That makes a big difference...
I love them indoors, but then I flower in a scrog and I don't move my plants much. The roots are just insane in these pots....scrappy
Big smart pots need to be on a dolly to move well. If you are set up for it no prob. If you are trying to move #15 smarts without help you are just compacting your soil for no reason.
Also, a thick living mulch helps the container retain its shape.
Also, a thick living mulch helps the container retain its shape.
http://www.hobbes-l.tc/uploads/equipment_-_pdf.pdf
Didn't find the actual thread here, but Hobbe's work is detailed here
isn't that more expensive and certainly much more time consuming than just buying a few smart pots?
if you're committed to DIY you should check out the milk crate smart pots that self made. there's a couple pics in his perpetual grow thread in this forum.
makes sense. yea the 3gal smart pots fit in my space on paper, but then when they were full of soil and roots they kinda expanded a bit and i had to shove them in there lol 
