Air Pots

[Hammerhead]

There has been allot of discussion about these in the past Here is the most recent thread.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=141157&highlight=AIRPOTS

 

[chef]

Been running SmartPots for over a year, shortfilling my #10's now by 4-5" with no negative effects & keeps my room spotless. They seem to love the wide footprint more than depth?

Fully wet #10's are a bitch to move lol but well worth the hassle IMO.

One should see overall improved health/vigor & an increase in yields. Maybe 10-14g's on a 4-5 zip plant? YMMV

 

[*mistress*]

Everyone's input is very helpful!! I think the thing we have all agreed on is more air to the root mass is a good thing especially if you have your airing out/watering schedule set to your needs. As for the watering more then a regular standard bucket of medium its not that much more, as the plants get bigger faster in the Airpots you have to water more of course. My ladies love their Airpots and they drink up the water at a steady pace. I'm using a 70/30 COCO/Perlite mix. I think next round Im going to be doing a 50/50 mix just because I see the benefit of watering more(with not that much runoff) a benefit because the perlite and the COCO are inert(no natural nutrients) and they love the feedings/water. Thanks for everyones input it is nice to see everyone is loving the topic.

coco is not inert... depending on source, it can contain potassium, calcium, & other salts, etc...

enjoy your garden!

 

[whazzup]

there is a difference between air pruning and having holes in your pot I'm affraid . These pots guide the roots growing to the holes, preventing coiling and stimulating new growth of roots. Especially with motherplants these are very handy systems and yes, they do work

 

[*mistress*]

there is a difference between air pruning and having holes in your pot I'm affraid .

please explain the actual physical difference...
size of holes?

# of holes?

also, what exactly is this 'air pruning' that only air pots succeed @?

These pots guide the roots growing to the holes, preventing coiling and stimulating new growth of roots.

how exactly is this done by the pot itself?

&

since roots shed & grow new roots on their own, how are holes in a container doing this?

Especially with motherplants these are very handy systems and yes, they do work

they work, as in they do what? what is the work they do, that a bucket drilled w/ holes cannot?

not attempting debate, just clear scientific/physical description of how an 'air pot' differs from a bucket drillled w/ x # of holes?

if, it is the air that is pruning the roots... & that is the effect sought...

enjoy your garden!

 

[whazzup]

It's easiest to understand if you watch the video footage and pictures on the website. I have experimented with rootrainers to guide roots from seedlings and cuttings. That doesn't work by air pruning but by guiding the roots downward.

The air pot inside shape guides the roots too, to the outside, so you have no pot bound roots anymore and a better rootsystem development. The removal of the apex initiates more roots to develop.

Just take a look at the shape of the inside of the air pot and it will become very clear. It's not new, they have been around for a few years, though I haven't seen them being used for cannabis a lot.

Anyways it's best to just read a few resources about it:

Interesting read by the University of Washington about the air pruning: http://depts.washington.edu/propplnt/Chapters/air-pruning.htm

Article (source)

Significant gains can be made in terms of quality and environmental impact through the study of plant stress dynamics. In the root environment, for example, containers with punctured side-walls promote ‘air-pruning’ of roots as a result of stress; a technique that is increasingly being accepted for woody, nursery-stock plants.

by Edward Bent

The first, registered Air-Pot introduced into the European and US markets is based on an Australian patent and is called Superoots from the Caledonian Tree Company Ltd. in Scotland. The profile of the plastic sidewalls consist of cones, which point both inwards and outwards; the cones on the inside are used to guide the roots towards the outwardly protruding cones that have their apex removed to create an air hole. Once the roots reach to within 2-3 mm of the air holes, the higher air density of the substrate (in the absence of high humidity) causes the root tips to dehydrate and the root-cap meristem dies. This process is referred to as air-pruning.
A secondary effect is the growth of new, lateral fibrous roots, all of which are potential white-tip feeder roots. The response can be so strong that from any one root that is air-pruned, up to 10 new fibrous roots can appear. The response does vary by plant species, but the general overall result is very positive, even in genera such as Eucalyptus that ordinarily produce very dominant tap roots. A better transplant response is noted by Jamie Single, CEO of the Caledonian Tree Company, to be one of the advantages from the faster development of a fibrous root system. At the same time, since 30% more fine compost by volume can be packed into Air-Pots, plants can actually be left to grow in the same container for much longer periods, saving time and expense. More trials are required to evaluate the effect on other tropical plants such as Ficus, Palms, Dracaena, Croton etc.

and of course there are probably a few more companies that develop something like this.

 

[chef]

I used to run Pyramid Pots back in the 80's.
They were similar to Airpots in guiding the roots, but without the holes, they would prevent circling & redirect the roots back into the main rootmass. They were cool for their time

 

[*mistress*]

@ member whazzup...

read & get the tech. though 'air pruning' may be effective method, general aeration of the media will permit healthy root growth as well...
still dont see how specific 'air pot' is any different than a bucket w/ holes drilled into it...
the only proprietary element that they seem to have come up w/ to patent the item were

The profile of the plastic sidewalls consist of cones, which point both inwards and outwards; the cones on the inside are used to guide the roots towards the outwardly protruding cones that have their apex removed to create an air hole.

other than the 'cone' feature, these can be replicated very easily. unless the gardener believes that only the air pot can achieve the goal, & not diy drilled buckets as psuedo air pots. that is indv gardeners' choice.
the fact remains the roots will grow towards & out of holes whether there is cone shape or 3/8" hole from common drill bit.

these key points would seem to point to any container being able to be diy'd into an 'air pot'.
*mistress* could be entirely incorrect about this & air pots may be a novel innovation. but free buckets & a few minutes drilling works well.

from the above links provided:

containers with punctured side-walls promote ‘air-pruning’

Many different designs would be effective. The basic needs are an open metal surface raised up off the ground, such as a mesh, that allows air to flow freely.

enjoy your garden!

 

[FreezerBoy]

please explain the actual physical difference...

The direction of the holes flare.

Holes are flared like a trumpet (though the hand made holes flare little) Air pots point the trumpet towards the pot, roots follow the flare outside. Hand made holes point the trumpet away from the pot, roots follow the flare back to the middle, never prune and never explode into bottle brushes.

You can file the handmade holes to remove the flare which will prevent bouncing roots back inside but, there's nothing to suck them out.

 

[mrred]

the reason they have stick out is because with that big of a hole roots might not use a few inches in the pot

 

[FreezerBoy]

The reason they flare out is to direct root growth. Roots hit the sides of the pot and grow down along the interior surface. They then follow the flared surface outside the pot.

A hand drilled hole flares in and raggedly so. Roots are then directed inside, rather than out. Clean up the flare and there's nothing to direct the roots.

 

[*mistress*]

The reason they flare out is to direct root growth. Roots hit the sides of the pot and grow down along the interior surface. They then follow the flared surface outside the pot.

A hand drilled hole flares in and raggedly so. Roots are then directed inside, rather than out. Clean up the flare and there's nothing to direct the roots.

Hand made holes point the trumpet away from the pot, roots follow the flare back to the middle, never prune and never explode into bottle brushes.

purchasing containers to garden in is not priority. too much free plastic in world...
prior to ever reading about air pots, have used old freedom/kbs buckets... from the kbs gardens, to aero-bucket gardens, to hempy gardens, to chow mix gardens, to 100% perlite to combos of all...

same buckets w/ same drilled holes.. from last decade...

never read or replied to air pot/smart pot thread due to simply considering it another 'new' container that used old techs...

so never read about 'cones' & 'flares' & such prior to recently.

that being posted - roots have consistently grown out of the very roughly drilled holes... whatever the medium... use many, many different mediums... coco, perlite, pumice, bark, hydroton, sand, etc, etc, & all mixed @ different combinations...

in ea medium, prior to ever reading about 'air pruning' etc (except in old bonsai mum threads...).
roots always have grown out of container &

1) pruned themselves if/when air less water dehydrates them; or

2) given water externally (bottom 2" of 5 gal bucket in larger basin) to allow roots to grow into basin of water+nutes...

didnt sand down drilled holes.

so, while patented features of 'cone' & 'flared' holes, or air channels may 'guide' the roots out of the container & thus lead to 'air pruning', the roots will grow out of the container whether the holes are rough, smooth, flared, or crudely hacked out w/ utility knife...

did same procedure on 32oz stadium cups w/ soldering iron, long moments ago... same outcome... that was flood & drain &/or aero/dwc-buckets w/ hydroton... roots did not seem to mind soldered out holes to grow out of...

gardeners choice/preference if they desire to prune these roots, or develop them into external area/media/res...

'air'/'smart' pots may in fact be tech advanced... but free buckets & drill has worked thru several, several different methods & gardens (all imaginary)...

seem to do exact same thing... could be incorrect though...

enjoy your garden!

 

[mrred]

you can get around the cone thing if you just use more smaller holes, the cone main purpose i would think is to allow the roots to use all the medium because if it was flat with big holes there could be a problem with roots not going near the pot

 

[chef]

If you ever have gnats? they will love those drilled holes.

 

[*mistress*]

no, dont ever have gnats. or any other bugs...
if any pests appear during grow, they are immediately eliminated via h202 @ ~5:1 ratio in 1l/32oz spray bottle...

these pests ususally appear due to
1) improperly cleansing media;
2) bringing in bugs from external environment; or
3) continuous unsanitary conditions.

garden is sealed. no bugs get in & if they do, they definitely wont get out...

gnats will get into media thru regular drainage holes & top of media too. holes/no holes on side of container wont prevent them, if conditions exist for their habitation. theyll find an avenue of access to the roots/root environment.

prevention of bugs should be constant & in every regime... spraying bottom & top of media & inner-sides of same h202 solution wkly should prevent accomodating living conditions - of most bugs.

bugs are largely preventable...

enjoy your garden!

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

I've looked at the airpots at my local hydrosupplystore, they look like well made durable product. They're designed for nursury trees, and for that I'm sure they work much better than straight sided 'perched water table' cans. My interest in them is for various friends who either don't have good repotting skills or don't want to be bothered. A multiple repotting schedule will give good rootballz in any container, but with airpots it might be possible to skip middle sizes and go right from small pot to huge.

 

[ThisBuds4You]

Hempy coco plant (1 gallon container) vs #1 Smart Pot in coco - strain is Apollo 11. Both clones are @ 21 days in the photo.



I think the smart pot is winning. I would love to get an Air Pot and test it out. I wish I could find a distributor in the US...

 

[chef]

Those little fkrs are like hornets, they LOVE HOLES compared to open topsoil, wet or not.

Nothing gets through the felt mesh of SmartPots, keep the top of your soil fairly dry via drip & you're golden in the real world without spray bottles.

 

[mg75]

Hempy coco plant (1 gallon container) vs #1 Smart Pot in coco - strain is Apollo 11. Both clones are @ 21 days in the photo.



I think the smart pot is winning. I would love to get an Air Pot and test it out. I wish I could find a distributor in the US...

They look about equal to me. I would like to know dry cured weight of both.

 

[ThisBuds4You]

They look about equal to me. I would like to know dry cured weight of both.

Um, I used the bottle for scale. How do they look equal again?

Anyway, can anyone point me in the right direction of a hydro shop I can call and get these air pots from? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

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TB4U