Smart Pots
- Thread starter Clackamas Coot
- Start date
Ok so maybe they're not being air pruned.
First time I moved them in 3 weeks, I couldn't see any roots but I guess that's because they were all right underneath. Makes sense that getting watered twice a day would keep the roots from drying out enough to kill the tips.
On the same topic though, I saw one thread where after several clones were taken, the roots were all trimmed to the same length. This included cutting the taproot, which is just plain root pruning, would this have the same effect?
good work guys seems like you've figured a way to air prune without smart pots or air pots. perhaps a mesh or fine chicken wire fencing made into the shape of a pot. making pots this way could actually turn out to be cheaper than buying typical plastic ones.
JungleBoi
New member
NL in Air-Pot with Coco
NL in Air-Pot with Coco
Just transplanted this unsexed NL young'n from soil to straight coco. Will be feeding it with teas made from EWC, Espoma Bio-tone, and EJ Grow, Bloom, and Catalyst. The container is a 2.5 gallon Air-Pot. The pots are very well made, and very sturdy. The plastic is very thick, and would not break. Lets see how air-pots perform.
NL in Air-Pot with Coco
Just transplanted this unsexed NL young'n from soil to straight coco. Will be feeding it with teas made from EWC, Espoma Bio-tone, and EJ Grow, Bloom, and Catalyst. The container is a 2.5 gallon Air-Pot. The pots are very well made, and very sturdy. The plastic is very thick, and would not break. Lets see how air-pots perform.
Jungleboi that's great, mind if I ask where you got yours? How often do you plan on watering, and how will you be doing it? Thanks for the pics!
I think the first time I run clones in my setup I'll trim the roots of one as they come out, and see if there's a noticeable difference between it and the untrimmed plants.
I think the first time I run clones in my setup I'll trim the roots of one as they come out, and see if there's a noticeable difference between it and the untrimmed plants.
JungleBoi
New member
I know someone who uses them, and I bought two off him for $5 each. I plan on hand watering at most twice a week using teas.
I am also trying chemical root pruning. I will be painting the interior of pots with outdoor paint that has approximately 100g of copper hydroxide per liter of paint. This will prune the roots the instant they come in contact with the container. It's safe to do, for the plants and for me, since copper is not water soluble, and would not be leeched into the soil. I just ordered the copper hydroxide, but once I have the containers painted I'll post pics.
I am also trying chemical root pruning. I will be painting the interior of pots with outdoor paint that has approximately 100g of copper hydroxide per liter of paint. This will prune the roots the instant they come in contact with the container. It's safe to do, for the plants and for me, since copper is not water soluble, and would not be leeched into the soil. I just ordered the copper hydroxide, but once I have the containers painted I'll post pics.
V
vonforne
All these 5 gallon buckets used on my last grow had 3\8 inch holes drilled in the sides about 4 inches apart. Worked great. I was thinking of adding PVC pipes through the root zone in each bucket leaving about an inch sticking out.
Good thread. I have missed it before.
V
tmpILL
New member
everyone this is a great thread! very thought provoking.
a friend and i have been having dialog lately about a new, low price, alternative to our current method (the plastic grow bag with more holes punched--using a hole punch, the cheap office supply). ideally, i would love to find something recycled or sustainable in some way but keeping the air pruning qualities (wood fiber pots??).
my friend is using some recycled pots that are rigid, locally made, and recycled...but they cost about $2-$3 a pot for three gallon pots. these don't seem to have the air exchange quality as the airpots or smartpots and they look as though they may biodegrade.
i like the look of the smartpot mostly because my plants stay stationary, so rigid isn't a big deal. i'm going to grab a few of these from americanag.com and grow them alongside my current grow bags. i'm about to transplant in a week to this setup. i'll make sure to post results as they come.
in this setup you are suggesting that you would attempt to set the PVC pipe perpendicular to the pot wall? and it would protrude not only into your pot but stick out the side a bit? that seems like an evolution of the method soma uses in his beds. he has the pipes at the corners to promote air exchange in the root zone...
i wonder if angling them down would work better or worse? it seems like you might get better air exchange if the pipes were angled up because of cool air being heavier than warm air...blah blah blah.
i'm going to suggest this to my homie whos got the recycled rigid pots as a means to aerate is roots a little more--those pots seem really air tight. he's on here from time to time, perhaps i can get him to post some of his results.
happy monday my friends.
ras!
a friend and i have been having dialog lately about a new, low price, alternative to our current method (the plastic grow bag with more holes punched--using a hole punch, the cheap office supply). ideally, i would love to find something recycled or sustainable in some way but keeping the air pruning qualities (wood fiber pots??).
my friend is using some recycled pots that are rigid, locally made, and recycled...but they cost about $2-$3 a pot for three gallon pots. these don't seem to have the air exchange quality as the airpots or smartpots and they look as though they may biodegrade.
i like the look of the smartpot mostly because my plants stay stationary, so rigid isn't a big deal. i'm going to grab a few of these from americanag.com and grow them alongside my current grow bags. i'm about to transplant in a week to this setup. i'll make sure to post results as they come.
vonforne said:
in this setup you are suggesting that you would attempt to set the PVC pipe perpendicular to the pot wall? and it would protrude not only into your pot but stick out the side a bit? that seems like an evolution of the method soma uses in his beds. he has the pipes at the corners to promote air exchange in the root zone...
i wonder if angling them down would work better or worse? it seems like you might get better air exchange if the pipes were angled up because of cool air being heavier than warm air...blah blah blah.
i'm going to suggest this to my homie whos got the recycled rigid pots as a means to aerate is roots a little more--those pots seem really air tight. he's on here from time to time, perhaps i can get him to post some of his results.
happy monday my friends.
ras!
Someone should try what strawberry growers do in pots... you basically create a cylinder of perlite running vertically down the center of the pot.
- Take your container of choice, stand a paper towel tube in the center.
- Fill the tube with perlite.
- Fill the container all around the perlite with your soil mix.
- Remove the tube, leaving a column of 100% perlite down the center.
You could even create 3-4 of these perlite columns in the same pot, if you wanted to get really funky with the Cheez Whiz.
Dig
- Take your container of choice, stand a paper towel tube in the center.
- Fill the tube with perlite.
- Fill the container all around the perlite with your soil mix.
- Remove the tube, leaving a column of 100% perlite down the center.
You could even create 3-4 of these perlite columns in the same pot, if you wanted to get really funky with the Cheez Whiz.
Dig
this thread has changed from being about a product to being about creating the best growing container.... great guys job. i would like to see air pots run in a drip feed organic setup. i think it would be an interesting experiment to see someone inject air into the container using a pump and perhaps even a O2 condenser. Im thinking with CO2 and the right about of light youve got yourself a monster plant.
I feel like with a drip system, unless it only drips once a day or less than that, the roots will never be allowed to dry out enough to have the air pruning really take effect. I water twice a day, once 1 hour after lights on and once 3 hours before lights off, and I've got roots that get very dry between waterings, but just lay there, white and dry, until the next watering. I posted the roots of my plants earlier, those roots don't sit in water.
G
Guest
It's the humidity around the pots that will keep the root tips from dying back - just like the pic posted by bounty29 - those were in a table and probably had enough relative humidity to keep on going.C21H30O2 said:
If you are in a flood table, let it dry out, not too much though, and spin the plants around every once in a while - this will break up any chance roots will have to keep on keeping on......
Lt. Dan
Member
C21H30O2 said:
I have 3 bog lsd and 2 bog medley females two weeks into flower in some air pots. I'll be gone 6 days next month so I need to setup a drip system to water while I'm gone. I'm having trouble finding a good tray size to fit in my grow tent. My plan is to water a little bit every couple of days using a 10 gallon res with timer and pump. I'll post some pics when I get it setup.
