A product that has become very popular with medical growers in Oregon are an item called Smart Pots and you can read about them at their web site.
Basically they auto-prune the roots. The pots are made out of a fabric which allows the transfer of air between the soil in the pot and the room.
When the roots hit the edge rather than turn down and hit the bottom of the pot and begin swirling around and around, these pots force the roots to stop at the wall of the container and not turn down but rather the roots begin to grow out from the sides.
When you harvest the plant and remove the plant from its container, it is almost impossible to break the root ball apart. The amount of roots contained within the root ball is nothing like you've ever seen.
Many commercial nurseries in Oregon have shifted to these pots. The main reason is that when a plant has grown to a specific size it is loaded onto a truck for shipment. You pay for the amount of space that an item uses in interstate transportation unless the weight rate is higher, i.e. hauling 40,000 cf. of steel pays much more than the same volume of cotton balls.
Combined with solid organic growing methods like the addition of compost teas, humic and fulvic acids, etc. the plant growth and development is pretty spectacular.
Hope this is of use to someone else............
Basically they auto-prune the roots. The pots are made out of a fabric which allows the transfer of air between the soil in the pot and the room.
When the roots hit the edge rather than turn down and hit the bottom of the pot and begin swirling around and around, these pots force the roots to stop at the wall of the container and not turn down but rather the roots begin to grow out from the sides.
When you harvest the plant and remove the plant from its container, it is almost impossible to break the root ball apart. The amount of roots contained within the root ball is nothing like you've ever seen.
Many commercial nurseries in Oregon have shifted to these pots. The main reason is that when a plant has grown to a specific size it is loaded onto a truck for shipment. You pay for the amount of space that an item uses in interstate transportation unless the weight rate is higher, i.e. hauling 40,000 cf. of steel pays much more than the same volume of cotton balls.
Combined with solid organic growing methods like the addition of compost teas, humic and fulvic acids, etc. the plant growth and development is pretty spectacular.
Hope this is of use to someone else............
