"Smart" Pots.

[FoothillFarming]

edit: wasted advice

 

[PoweredByLove]

Here is what your plants should like this time of year......

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maybe if i'm in California and growing in 1000 gallon smart pots...

but i'm in florida growing in a 1 gallon "root pot" and instead it looks like this.

also i didn't say this was my best grow or anything like that. you need to take your expert growing advice and shove the fuck off, cuz i never asked for it and i don't want it. i asked a simple question and got like 2 responses that were anywhere near what i asked about. as usual it turned into unsolicited "growing advice"

stick to the sbuject at hand and the end result wont be where we are right now.

did i ask you to teach me how to grow a tree in a 1000 gallon smart pot? no, because i don't need help with that. did i ask you to show me what a plant in a 1000 gallon smart pot looks like? no i fucking didn't. you feeling some kinda way and now you trying to shame me i guess because i don't live in a place where i can grow a weed plant as big as my house?

anyway i thought you were cool at first, but clearly you're just another one of these egomaniacs running around these forums masquerading as a serious grower.


feel free to post some more pictures of large plants in a legal state.

i'll continue to post pics of small plants in the most illegal state of all.

#hardmode #getonmylevel

these are leaning against my fence and my neighbors dog loves to come running right for the corner of the fence everytime they take him out to walk. there's copper choppers flying, neighbors with drones with they nosey asses, snitchey ass snitches, white collars with their stiff necks.

all the dangers... but plz tell me more about your giant trees...

 

[FoothillFarming]

edit

 

[FoothillFarming]

Never mind. On ignore list

 

[MrBungle]

they do die off and send "insert quote you don't really seem to understand here" because as you can see those roots sticking out of the side of the pot in the pic i posted are exposed to air and will die shortly.

i'm just trying to retain my moisture dawg. clearly the plant is moist. why you got prolems?

Honestly I don't have a problem with what works for you.. Its just not the way I learned to be correct... If it were me, I would save my money on the smart pots, and buy plastic grow bags instead...

 

[Hemphrey Bogart]

I got no dog in this race, but if it works for you, PBL...then go for it. Your plants look much better than they did before, that's for sure.

I use 20 gallon black smart pots wrapped in burlap "socks" to keep the heat down for my rootzone and prevent evaporation, but that's what works for me and my environment. I was even toying with the idea of filling the burlap with rice straw, folding it over to keep the straw in, and then wrapping the pots. It would still keep the heat down, wouldn't inhibit airflow much, and it would insulate the pots at night when it gets colder... but that's just an idea based on the type of weather conditions I'm dealing with in my area .

From the looks of your last pics, you might be able to ditch the plastic bags since the roots look to be nicely established...but that's your call, of course. Having the roots growing out of the pot into a humid environment with little air flow would concern me over time, but if it's working for you, there's not much I can say. Someone already mentioned this, but a mulch layer is a must either in pots or in the ground. Some clover or maybe some native ground cover would work, I would imagine.

Anyway, best of luck on the rest of the season!

HB.

 

[mtbazz]

Wrapping plastic around a smart pot.........ironic, fluff the soil up next time. Many have experience in all sorts of fake smart pots. I never buy the name brand smart pots and have never had the issue you are speaking of, in and outdoor in small containers to large.
Mtbazz, watering from the bottom via mass flow and root pressure;
If you have microbial active soil it will generate carbon dioxide. Gravitational water serves as a way to not only push out large amounts of carbon dioxide, it will pull in new fresh oxygen, which is essential to keeping aerobic conditions in soil for the beneficial microbes.
I know this concept won't damage the plant. I just don't agree that it is better from just watering from the top every time, mainly because you wouldn't achieve this oxygen exchange when watering from the ground.

Learn something new every time I visit this site.. thanks for the tip..

I don't water from the bottom everytime though.

I'd say out of the plants entire growth cycle, I probably do this 4-6 times, and thats out of dozens of waterings and feedings.

I started doing this when I realized how much soil I was using that did not contain any roots.

The difference is noticeable to me in any case. Once I started watering occasionally from the bottom of the pot my plants started looking both bigger and healthier.

 

[Loc Dog]

They look a lot like plants that I had, that were infested with spider mites and thrips. If it is them, they can only be seen with good microscope. They would be on underside of mangy leaves.

 

[meowmeowmeow]

Meow......

Zones 8-10 do not stay dry.....rarely.
Let's just say if Meow'a outside humidity was like 80% everyday.
Mushroom's in the lawn quit often.....not the beneficial kind.
2016 season ... Meow 1 - Spider mites 0 ......Meow Torches competition!!!
Not easy going for sure.

I get it.

 

[KingSkillz]

Been using fabric pots for years. I get better yields using them.

 

[Superhase]

Wrapping plastic around a smart pot.........ironic, fluff the soil up next time. Many have experience in all sorts of fake smart pots. I never buy the name brand smart pots and have never had the issue you are speaking of, in and outdoor in small containers to large.
Mtbazz, watering from the bottom via mass flow and root pressure;
If you have microbial active soil it will generate carbon dioxide. Gravitational water serves as a way to not only push out large amounts of carbon dioxide, it will pull in new fresh oxygen, which is essential to keeping aerobic conditions in soil for the beneficial microbes.
I know this concept won't damage the plant. I just don't agree that it is better from just watering from the top every time, mainly because you wouldn't achieve this oxygen exchange when watering from the ground.

The good old sponge effect. In Smartpots you have a optimized rootsystem thanks to air pruning. BUT.

I can't imagine that u became so much more benefits in comparison to watering from above.

Why?
When you will do it right you need a good waterflow. Friends of CFL lamps and lower wattages could have problems with uniform humidity of the soil when they don't drink fast enough.

Pushing water from above has the physically block effect for oxygen, but 1. effect who brings even the same positive airflow is gravity flow downside of the water and the soil will definitely more regular watered.
After Watering the soil is wet and theres a minimum level of oxygen no matter if watered the buttom or above.

Another argument for the regular methode is prevention of salination by the downflow if you water with drain.



The plastic bags...so i would be careful. It doesnt optimise the Airflow, higher humidity is the only thing and in combination of the sun blocking effect with the tropical sphere on the sm the roots growing wild. Perhaps positive when a short period only...

 

[Phenome]

The good old sponge effect. In Smartpots you have a optimized rootsystem thanks to air pruning. BUT.

I can't imagine that u became so much more benefits in comparison to watering from above.

Why?
When you will do it right you need a good waterflow. Friends of CFL lamps and lower wattages could have problems with uniform humidity of the soil when they don't drink fast enough.

Pushing water from above has the physically block effect for oxygen, but 1. effect who brings even the same positive airflow is gravity flow downside of the water and the soil will definitely more regular watered.
After Watering the soil is wet and theres a minimum level of oxygen no matter if watered the buttom or above.

Another argument for the regular methode is prevention of salination by the downflow if you water with drain.



The plastic bags...so i would be careful. It doesnt optimise the Airflow, higher humidity is the only thing and in combination of the sun blocking effect with the tropical sphere on the sm the roots growing wild. Perhaps positive when a short period only...

Water will find the path of least resistance, when it does, it will vacuum down fresh air with it.
Think of a straw filled with water, but plugged on the top.
When you unplug the top, and the water flows out the bottom, the straw will then be filled with fresh air because of a vacuum effect achieved when the water is pulled down by gravity.
This vacuum effect wouldn't be achieved when watering from the bottom.

 

[PoweredByLove]

i guess you never watered from the bottom before? cuz that happens when you water from the bottom too, except the water comes up from the bottom first. imagine sucking water into a straw...then letting it fall back out.

 

[morningdewd]

been using smart pots for years just like the big boys outdoors use. they work fantastic.only drawback we have found is there a bitch to reuse. not the pot.

 

[The Revolution]

I'm using almost nothing but smarties this season. .I'm impressed w the growth N convinced these r what I'll always use outdoors. I planted crimson clover in many of my pots,to mulch and BC clover fixes nitrogen into my soil. One issue I've had is in some of the smaller pots the plants seem to have root bound and are now a solid hard blockof roots. Is this a combination of roots getting too dry at some point, and just not enuffroot space? The other larger smarties don't seem to have this issue. I wouldn't say it's a huge issue s the plants seem incredibly healthy. They're massive and taking over. Possibly just take slightly longer to water and ensure an even watering.

 

[Phenome]

i guess you never watered from the bottom before? cuz that happens when you water from the bottom too, except the water comes up from the bottom first. imagine sucking water into a straw...then letting it fall back out.

It will work like I said earlier.....
But you won't have as optimal of an air exchange... Diffusion isn't enough energy to exile nearly as much carbon dioxide. Not looking to argue or make jabs at anyone just trying to help.

And your theory wouldn't make sense unless the medium got over saturated to the point of draining after soak.
You're saying that you would achieve the same vacum effect but I disagree.
If you filled a straw with sponge, let the bottem sit in water, it would achieve soaking the medium and it would also exile most of the air from the straw,... But at what point does it suck in new air besides small amounts through tiny pathways??
The only way, is if the straw filled with sponge was left in water long enough to become over saturated. Then, when you lift the over saturated straw out of water, it will drain and pull new air in.

If you put this theory into reality, say you have a 5 gallon smart pot.
I normally would water less than a half gallon to the top of the soil.
It would have a proper air exchange because the vacuum effect.

Say we looked at the sponge effect,
With 1/2 gallon, there is no way 5gallons of dry soil would adsorb a half gallon through the bottom and then drain, it wouldn't be enough water (the only reason why you will see the same half gallon drain out of the bottem when watering from the top, is because the water is finding the path of least resistance and doesn't have time to fully embibe into the soil)
You would probably need to soak several gallons through the bottom, then remove from the resivour and let drain to achieve the same draining (vacuum) effect ......I don't feel I need to point out the risk of overwatering you would run into when trying to achieve as optimal of an air exchange as watering from the top.

Not saying watering from the bottom doesn't work...or is bad.
I understand wick style systems work, from blue mats to soma beds.
Just saying that watering from the bottom is more likely to lead to anaerobic conditions

 

[PoweredByLove]

look... i water my plants in my veg cabinet the small ones anyway by floating them in a bucket of water i keep bubbling nearby. i let em float till they just about sink, then i pull em out and let em drain. it's just like watering from the top, cept the water comes up from the bottom of the pot first before going back down. i don't think it's a very hard concept to grasp. just take a potted plant and dunk it in water till almost submerged, then take it out and let it drain. try it for yourself. i'm not really understanding all this extra confusion you're adding in. you just soak the pot in water and then let it drain. the end.

 

[Phenome]

look... i water my plants in my veg cabinet the small ones anyway by floating them in a bucket of water i keep bubbling nearby. i let em float till they just about sink, then i pull em out and let em drain. it's just like watering from the top, cept the water comes up from the bottom of the pot first before going back down. i don't think it's a very hard concept to grasp. just take a potted plant and dunk it in water till almost submerged, then take it out and let it drain. try it for yourself. i'm not really understanding all this extra confusion you're adding in. you just soak the pot in water and then let it drain. the end.

To each his own.
Wasn't trying to confuse you.

 

[Vanilla Phoenix]

i guess you never watered from the bottom before? cuz that happens when you water from the bottom too, except the water comes up from the bottom first. imagine sucking water into a straw...then letting it fall back out.

You said "sucking!"

Seriously though....I use smarties and water from top. But if watering from the bottom is working for you, and I wouldn't see why it wouldn't, then do it to it! It's gonna push out air regardless, and when it dries, suck in air.

I'm gonna start watering from the sides! Hahahaha

 

[PoweredByLove]

oh shit lol i'm too high i didn't remember this was about smart pots. you can water smart pots by dunking them too same principle cept even faster. i was thinking plastic pots this whole time...but i can see why you or me or someone was confused about how the water would work from the bottom in a smart pot.