Anyone useing the "Smart Pots"?

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Hushpuppy

Dr MadBud
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I am curious about the smart pots as they are supposed to be made of fiber that water and air flow through freely. Does anyone using these have roots come through the fabric? I want to use them in a hydro setup with coco coir inside so that I keep the coco out of my resevoirs. thanks :)
 
smart pots as they are supposed to be made of fiber that water and air flow through freely.

Yes.

Does anyone using these have roots come through the fabric?

Yes especially if in contact with each other or a moist bottom surface.
 
Smart pots are designed to "air prune" the roots, so yes, roots come out. I have no idea how they would do in hydro. I love um for dirt though.
 
Thanks much guys. I have been using coco for several years now and love it, but I have always had to do something to keep it in my pots as it will fall through even very small holes. And forget about using it in netpots unless ya have something that will keep it in as it will fall through and get in the pumps. I thought about getting the smart pot bags and use them to hold the coco in while allowing the roots to come through to hang into my enclosed totes. In the totes they stay wet and dark so they don't air prune. :)
 
That is interesting. If you look at the roots of a finished plant in a plastic pot, the roots can be very thick and circling. .With smart pots they are very tiny feeder roots. Let us know if you try it.
 
new user. love them. although mine are generic smart pots from htg.
 
Hushpuppy...... I bet burlap or some other fabric could be used to do what your trying to do. I want to get some smart pots to do SOG this fall...... not sure what kind or what size to get yet.
 
i dumped the smart pots cause it seemed my plants were drying quicker than i wanted---second reason for dumping was when soil compacts---water ran right out of them---never got a chance to penetrate---if i were to use again---i would use a dish for water to be drawn from bottom instead of from top to bottom
 
orangesunshine said:
i dumped the smart pots cause it seemed my plants were drying quicker than i wanted---second reason for dumping was when soil compacts---water ran right out of them---never got a chance to penetrate---if i were to use again---i would use a dish for water to be drawn from bottom instead of from top to bottom

think your soils may be too compact?? i have no problem like that. i need to water/feed every 3-4 days. this seems right. i have no bottoms on mine.jmo
 
that's cool newb---different stokes man---great concept---they just don't work well for me and my set up---exactly right---the soil got tooo compact and made it virtually impossible to keep a mother---they were a great idea---i also like a taller pot in lieu of the wider ones they make---they don't stack well either when empty jmo
 
Thanks for the responses guys. Grower13 that is a good idea with the burlap. I had not thought to use that. I may give that a try to see how well it works.

Rose I know what you are saying with the roots circling as I get that with mine because they are in hard plastic pots with holes in the bottom only, but some of the mediums that I have tried for holding my coco have been somewhat restrictive to more than just a few roots passing through to hang below. I think I am going to order some of the smart pots and then get some larger net pots to put them in and do a bit of experimenting.

Thanks Orange, I am going to try a few as experiment. The coco drains quite well when mixed with 20% pearlite. I just hope the bags drain as well as the coco. :)
 
I know this particular thread is about hydro, but myself for dirt, i don't like the knock off smart pots. They don't work as well in my opinion.
 
I was wondering about that Rose. Is the Smart Pot a cottony fabric that the roots could easily grow through in the hydro situation, or if someone decided that they wanted to just set the whole thing in the ground?
 
HushPuppy they are like a course heavy felt feeling to me.

And yes they will grow through the bottoms and the sides. Any place where no light gets to. I have 3 sitting on a piece of carpet outside and in a week I could not lift them up without lifting the carpet up also
 
I use smart pots for my outdoor plants. They do dry out quick, I have mine in plant trays so I just put water in the tray and let the plant wick it up. Also the tray stops the roots from growing thru the fabric and into the ground.
 
Hushpuppy said:
I was wondering about that Rose. Is the Smart Pot a cottony fabric that the roots could easily grow through in the hydro situation, or if someone decided that they wanted to just set the whole thing in the ground?

Mine feels very similar to a stop and shop grocery bag to me, except deeper, and green. :)
 
Cool :cool: I thought the Smart Pots would be like felt and the roots would come through them easily when in the dark. I am going to order som and then cut out the bottoms of my pots and hang the bags in the top ring of the pot so that it hangs down into my tote :D I will cut the pots in half so that I have enough strength of the pot to hold it suspended inside the tote like a DWC. I will also use a second pot and cut just the top ring off of it and use that to hold the top of the bag in place on the pot. Thanks guys, thats what I needed to know, sweet :D :cool2:
 
little hard for me to follow there hush---would you be so kind as to spot up some pics
 
My Smart Pots are definitely not like grocery bags. They are like felt.
 

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