$$$Air Pots and Smart Pots Club$$$

[ahhhavalanche!]

I'll be doing pure coco and 70/30 coco/perlite with Blumat drippers on my next run, with GH Flora series.

Is anyone currently running a smart pot or an air pot with a Blumat? This is what I would like to do for my next run as well, but I am concerned (i am a DWC guy, never used coco, blumat, or smart pots before) that the combo of the coco (especially with a perlite cut) and the airpot will dry out the blumat cone too quickly and over water the plant?

 

[ahhhavalanche!]

Here's a link to a study on auto-pruning/air-pruning pots conducted by the Oregon State University [...]
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they say in the results section that the "Smart Pot® containers were not reusable" ...i thought that I heard that they were, anyone reuse theirs???

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

Is anyone currently running a smart pot or an air pot with a Blumat? This is what I would like to do for my next run as well, but I am concerned (i am a DWC guy, never used coco, blumat, or smart pots before) that the combo of the coco (especially with a perlite cut) and the airpot will dry out the blumat cone too quickly and over water the plant?

Neither the Air Pot or the Tropf Blumat seem too common, I haven't come across anyone using a combination of the two. The cones for the Tropf Blumat are only the sensors that determine how often the line drips. Unless you set them wrong, they will keep themselves sufficiently moisturized. I don't think they would work in pure perlite, but they definitely work in a 70/30 mix.

I'm using Blumats right now, and they are working great with a 70/30 mix in 7 liter square containers. If the medium dries out faster in Air Pots, then the Blumats will provide more water to make up for it. I'm very confident that it will work, and the results should be quite good.

I'll also be using Air Pots with Tropf Blumats and pure coco.

 

[kannubis]

smart pots are reusable, just take em to the laundromat and wash em in the big machine and pick out any real tough roots.

 

[kannubis]

and coco/perlite works for me 60/40 or so, coconot/perlite too

 

[Pineydoobey]

My grandfather had my dad build him some grow tubs a while back. Made out of some big diameter PVC pipe. Basically you just cut one in half, long ways. Then cut a half moon shape to put on the end. I think this would work really well with the Air Pot if you built a similar system.

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

My grandfather had my dad build him some grow tubs a while back. Made out of some big diameter PVC pipe. Basically you just cut one in half, long ways. Then cut a half moon shape to put on the end. I think this would work really well with the Air Pot if you built a similar system.

I don't get what you're saying to do with the Air Pots.

 

[Pineydoobey]

I don't get what you're saying to do with the Air Pots.

Ok, the Air Pot sides come in two pieces right? So, instead of connecting them together to make the full circle, you would stack them on top of each other and lay them so the holes face downward.

Does that help at all?

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

So like... making a bed out of Air Pot shells?

 

[banjobrain]

10+ years experience in the green industry...newbie to cannabis cultivation.

Simply put, Air-Pots are a fantastic method for soil cultivation. Cannabis growing was my first experience with them and I am sold.

Everyone talks about them being hard to find...it took a little searching, but I bought mine at the Grower's Nursery Supply, Inc. online.

Good experience working with them - I'll certainly buy there again.

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

Another retailer added to the list, thanks! Maybe OP could put all these links in the first post so people don't have to hunt for them?

 

[TheRealDeal]

I could be seeing things, but why does that bludream "mom" have buds on it?

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

Maybe it retired to make way for a replacement? No sense in wasting a plant just because it was used as a mother... flower it out!

 

[Pineydoobey]

So like... making a bed out of Air Pot shells?

Precisely.

I could be seeing things, but why does that bludream "mom" have buds on it?

I think mom is part of the strain name.

 

[TheRealDeal]

yeah true, but than its not really a mom anymore...

 

[Clackamas Coot]

they say in the results section that the "Smart Pot® containers were not reusable" ...i thought that I heard that they were, anyone reuse theirs???

ahhhavalanche!

They are reusable if you're growing annuals. Keep in mind that the study I linked to was about growing saplings. Saplings will sit in an open field for 3-5 years depending on the variety (like many conifers) and given the root structure and density of a sapling, I'd have to agree that at the end of the run when the SmartPots are removed from the root-ball after which the roots are covered with burlap and tied, i.e. balled-root saplings vs. bare-root saplings which are literally pulled out of the wet soil with a machine and then are shipped naked to destination, the SmartPots are pretty much destroyed.

Bare-root saplings are usually low-dollar varieties which grow very rapidly and are used in reforesting projects.

HTH

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[TheRealDeal]

pineydooby- no i dont think so...


My local shop has A huge contraption of a bunch of the airpots put together to make a tall- long (about 3 feet tall and 10 feet wide) raised bed for outdoors. just something to ponder.

 

[Thundurkel]

The Air Pot composter looks interesting too since at the bottom it has a sideways Air Pot and then they even have really tall Air Pots too..

 

[Pineydoobey]

pineydooby- no i dont think so...


My local shop has A huge contraption of a bunch of the airpots put together to make a tall- long (about 3 feet tall and 10 feet wide) raised bed for outdoors. just something to ponder.

That's exactly the direction I was thinking. This seems like it would work perfect for a drip system in a long room.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Do you mean a product like Ben's Potato Tower II by any chance?

He sells the green clasps that you see on the Air Pot for assembly.

HTH

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