Smart Pot vs Regular Pot....Larry OG

[Roddy]

I completely saturate my plants as well.

Roots shouldn't grow out the bottom if these do as they're supposed to...prune the root ends...I could be mistaken on this.

 

[Roddy]

Hmmm, from what I've read, the pots prune the plants for me?

 

[WeedHopper]

Yeah,,yur right on the roots coming out the side. They Air Prune. But they do come out the bottom.

Why does the Smart Pot have a fabric bottom?

To help you grow a better plant. The Smart Pot is made with a heavy porous fabric bottom that gives a plant intimate ground contact. This ground contact helps the plant maintain a ground temperature, as opposed to a plastic container temperature. Also, small roots may penetrate the bottom of the Smart Pot. These roots will help intake moisture and nutrients.

My plants were growing well until I moved them. What happened?

Water the plant! Because of the fabric bottom, if the plant is moved to a dry ground area, the dry ground can move water out of the Smart Pot by capillarity. Water when you move plants.

What other advantages are there to growing in the Smart Pot over traditional, plastic containers?

The fabric will not crack or break from frost or when dropped. Heat release gives you better control of slow release fertilizer. A fibrous root structure has fewer problems in cold or warm weather.

How does the Smart Pot work?

Smart Pots are manufactured out of a custom, non-woven, polypropylene material that research discovered has important and unique horticultural applications. As roots grow they soon reach the container walls. In hard sided, plastic containers, these roots immediately start circling and continue to circle. Examine a circling root structure and you find a few large roots growing in circles with very little side branching. These roots often bind or girdled upon themselves. Circling roots can never give optimum growth.

Smart Pots are manufactured out of a tough, porous fabric. When roots reach the side of the Smart Pot, they Air Prune!

What is air pruning?

Air pruning is a natural process occurring when a root comes in contact with the air on the side of the porous Smart Pot wall. The root tip stops growing (pruned) and causes the remaining root to extensively branch. Now, instead of fewer circling roots, the plant develops new lateral roots. New, fibrous roots fill the Smart Pot allowing the plant to maximize uptake of both moisture and nutrients. And when the roots grow well, the plant grows well. Upon comparison, root systems that developed in a Smart Pot have a much greater mass or volume then those found in hard-sided plastic containers. Plants grown in Smart Pots have greater root mass in less soil.



Read more: FAQ's about Smart Pots, Container Growing, Container Gardening, Hydroponic Gardening

 

[Roddy]

THANKS Weedhopper, gotcha! Will watch and see what this means to inside grows.

 

[Locked]

For the record I have grown multiple times in these one gallon smart pots and nothing has ever grown out the bottom or sides...won't happen in my opinion....by air prune I believe they mean the roots are constantly pruned on the inside....when I pull the root ball out after harvest you can't see any roots around the outside of the soil.

 

[Roddy]

That was my understanding too, Hammy, why I was taken aback by Weedhopper's post.

 

[lordhighlama]

never seen the roots on the outside or bottom of gro pot either.

 

[WeedHopper]

Im just going by what I read. I posted that info above from a site that sales them.

 

[Locked]

Yeah all the air pruning happens on the inside of the pot....where the soil touches the fabric.....and you water slowly and from the inside outwards....I love them...even with the mess they make.

 

[dman1234]

So HL, is there a secret to your one gallon success?
or is it that i have been misinformmed about needing 3-5 gallon pots?

i would definetly save alot of room with 1 gallon as i am currently using 12
3 gallon pots.

 

[blancolighter]

Two things to address about the smart pots. Everyone says they're messy... Not for me! I use coco, and it absorbs the water almost immediately, so as long as you pour into the container at a moderate speed with coco, there will be no mess of water pouring out the sides. Also, If you have your smart pots touching side by side, the roots will start to grow into each other, so if you pull them apart, you can see the roots growing out, its pretty cool. The roots air prune when they hit air consistently, whether that is inside your smartpot or outside of it depends on your environment...

 

[Dr. Manny Bowles]

Nice buds Hammy

I've been using a similar container, the 5 gallon 'AirPot', and have had great results also! They produce a root-ball so thick with roots, it was hard for me to recover the soil after the grow.

Here's a link to a video on how air-pruning works for those that have questions- hXXp://www.airpotgarden.com/store/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=display&ref=airpotworks
It's demonstrated in an AirPot but the theory is the same. Once the root tips reach the edge of the container and are exposed to air, the tip dies and the rest of the root creates new branches, filling the container rather than just a few roots endlessly circling it.

 

[Locked]

So HL, is there a secret to your one gallon success?
or is it that i have been misinformmed about needing 3-5 gallon pots?

i would definetly save alot of room with 1 gallon as i am currently using 12
3 gallon pots.

I don't think there is a secret but I do think large pots is preached a bit much...nothing wrong with bigger pots but I have grown some huge asss lolipops (single cola) in nothing more then 20 ounce cups all the way through harvest. I think strain and plenty of light help....I like to prune the lower 1/4 to third of the plant to help focus energy to the top colas.
As is I usually yield 2-3 ounces per one gallon pot and I am able to get 9 one gallon pots in my 4x4 tent easily under a 1000 watts of hps.

I think the key is to not veg too long....I veg till they show sex then flip them.

 

[BBFan]

Thanks Hamster and all contributors. Great thread.

Has anyone used these air pots "condo" style on a dirt pot, or would the roots not grow through the bottom of the pot, even if submerged an inch into the soil? Just thinking out loud.

 

[Dr. Manny Bowles]

Thanks Hamster and all contributors. Great thread.

Has anyone used these air pots "condo" style on a dirt pot, or would the roots not grow through the bottom of the pot, even if submerged an inch into the soil? Just thinking out loud.

What's up BBFan!
If you could sink the bottom of the AirPot into another pot of soil, it would probably work. The bottom piece has very big gaps for roots to fit through. If you look at the bottom of the container during a growth cycle, there will be thousands of little root tips that have penetrated the surface and then died off. If they had more dirt to dig into, I bet they would dig in.
I can only speak for the AirPot, I haven't used the SmartPots Hammy is using.

That might offset the whole purpose of the AirPot tho. If the roots always had more room to dig, they might not fill the original pot.

Hope that made sense. C99 and some kick-a coffee rockin my noggin this morning

 

[cubby]

Air Pots and Smart Pots are not the same thing, Smart pots are made of fabric, sorta like felt, and are solid. Air pots are plastic with holes, sorta' like punchered egg cartons. Either way if you set them on soil, roots will grow through the bottom and into the soil.

 

[WeedHopper]

Yeah That.

 

[Locked]

I have only used them in my tents...and the tents have a waterproof spill liner. I guess that is why I have not had any roots grow through. I have seen enough to know that they do indeed provide a better yield...at least in my case they did. They are hanging in my attic now drying...will try and report back with some numbers on yield comparisons between the two.

 

[trillions of atoms]

Looks great! Love the side by side pics.....great comparison! Smoke reporttttt!!!!

 

[BBFan]

What's up BBFan!
If you could sink the bottom of the AirPot into another pot of soil, it would probably work. The bottom piece has very big gaps for roots to fit through. If you look at the bottom of the container during a growth cycle, there will be thousands of little root tips that have penetrated the surface and then died off. If they had more dirt to dig into, I bet they would dig in.
I can only speak for the AirPot, I haven't used the SmartPots Hammy is using.

That might offset the whole purpose of the AirPot tho. If the roots always had more room to dig, they might not fill the original pot.

Hope that made sense. C99 and some kick-a coffee rockin my noggin this morning

Hey Doc! How you been? Good way to start the day!

I'd like to give these a try- just was concerned about all the run-off. Getting ready for another run and thought I might change things up. Thought using these on top of a 5 gallon bucket might help with the run-off- but I get where it would largely defeat the purpose.

Take good care.