Smart Pots

[JWSR420]

Update

Update

Okay well I wanted to thank the folks who got back to me awhile back when I was tripping on the roots I had coming out from the bottom and the sides of the bottoms of my smart pots. This is my first smart pot coco grow as well as the first time I have used the drip to waste system and my first time using the house-garden nutes. I have to say I couldnt be happier so far. I am two weeks into flower. The pics of the plants at two weeks was when I started seeing roots through the pots. last pics are recent. I know the pics suck if anyone has any idea on how to take better ones let me know.

 

[JWSR420]

oh yea and...

oh yea and...

first three pics are at two weeks from clone last two 6 weeks, two weeks into flower they are number 7 pots two 600w HPS

 

[C21H30O2]

awesome to hear about the potential of air pruning for keeping low maintenance moms and possibly growing bushy plants for low vertical ceilings and sativas indoors. I have a couple concerns after my air pruning grow though; namely, does the stress of continual root pruning create a negative stress especially in flowering plants as this may affect yield. If this were the case, and i am not saying it is just considering the possibility a transfer into a regular pot 2 weeks before flower may boost the yield. but this is just a thought that i hope will become an experiment in the near future.

 

[onegreenday]

net pots work for air root pruning

net pots work for air root pruning

Pond baskets are an interesting idea. I also found pond planting bags that look very similar to Smart Pots. Hmmm

PHB

i used "net pots" / "pond baskets" before with common soil, peat, coir mixes and they air root prune your plant and do the same thing as "air pots"

The "smart pots" catches the root tip in the fabric and grabs it/kills it and then the root branches out further back.

The "net pot" "pond basket" "prunes" the root with air as it gets to the hole
the root tip dies and then the root branches out further back and grows more root

When I did it i used the small 6" net pots from Home Depot with a potting mix and got around 2 oz's per pot/plant, so you can still get a good size plant/yield in a small amount of soil/media.

When I pulled plant out of the net pot the root ball had filled the entire net pot without ANY root circling at all. Just one mass of roots.

So you can save a lot on media, which is good if you buy expensive bag media and you avoid dealing with the copper thing to kill the roots with chemicals and the possible root uptake of copper into the plant system and eventually end up in the bud to be smoked.

The net pots are also re-usable. I don't think the "smart pots" can be used over cause the fabric gets filled with root ends.

"Net pots" are worth a try side by side with any other root pruning method for sure.

Back in the OG day I posted this "net pot" info on the "copper root pruning" thread by (some user name) (uncle something I think) but he was pushing the copper method
and i'm not sure if people picked up on the "net pot" method.

give it a try. i've been off now for 5 years and i'll be back on with the net pots to see if it still works like i remember.

 

[onegreenday]

Oh yah it was the "spinout" thread on OG

Oh yah it was the "spinout" thread on OG

It was the "spinout" thread on OG where the big discussion was on copper uptake by the plants and if it was a health hazard.

if anybody remembers the threadstarter (he was a mainstay on OG) please chime in. i can't remember his handle.

one drawback to the net pot/pond basket is the close proximity of the holes on the side of the pot to the top rim of the pot.

in other words if you don't fill the net pot/pond basket right to the top the hand feed from the top will run right out the sides of the net pot; a slow drip line would work perfect.

that being said i found the best way to water the net pot/pond basket was to pick up the whole plant; basket & all and just dunk it in my nutrient.

the nutrient goes right in through all the wholes in the side of the net pot/pond liner and immediately saturates your media.

i'm talking only seconds to fully saturate that 6" net pot/pond basket.

then if you want to wash out the pot/basket a little you just add a little more nurient from the top and you get a nice flush.

you can also bottom feed the net pot/pond basket by filling the pot saucer with the amount of nutrient needed.

i think the net pot has those other pruning methods beat hands down,
as stated by that "tiger" (simba) earlier.

that's one sharp grower there. i love his posts.

 

[Lollypop Man]

Just wanted to follow up on something posted a few pages ago - you can buy these Air Pots from an online supplier in Oregon, and they're cheap. All this talk about how expensive they are at the start of the thread doesn't make sense to me, but maybe my perspective is skewed. I paid $2.70 each for the 0.8 gallon size. 2.5 gal size is $5.25 and the 5 gal is $10.40. Is that pricey?

The URL is growers-inc,com.

Anyways I'm really excited about getting ahold of these things to try them out!

 

[onegreenday]

that herb garden on smart pots site

that herb garden on smart pots site

one thing i noticed about that herb garden article on
the smart pots website is how

he cuts X"s in the sides and inserts herb seedlings
so he gets side growth out of the smart
pot plus the top part, as well.

would work great for cannabis with one large smart pot
you could have multiple plant sites all around
the sides of the smart pot and the top too

and just train them to grow lateral and fill the space like sea o green
lateral across a trellis.

so like a 5 gallon could easily support say 5-10 plants
and just fill your grow space.

since all roots within the smart pot are pruned
you would just fill that smart pot with roots
without any circling.

i'm talking one 5-10 gallon smart pot
full of root ball of roots
it would be amazing.

but you might not be able to reuse
the coir/soil media since it would be
consumed/almost eaten by all the root action.

sorry if this was mentioned before.
lots o thread pages here now.

 

[onegreenday]

put the smart pot/lateral trellis on potters wheel

put the smart pot/lateral trellis on potters wheel

yah, you could even put your 5-10 gallon smart pot
with lateral trellis up on a potters wheel arangement

and rotate your entire grow around in a circle
subjecting your entire grow to different light sources
from above
getting massive output from one large smart pot,
a potters wheel (or faxcimile) and a couple light sources.

the idea came to me in a flash and i have not smoked
in a month. don't trust commercial any more and
no homegrown around.

 

[onegreenday]

good point C21

good point C21

I made some air pruning pots out of some 5 gallon buckets with the bottom cut out and replaced by wire mesh. they work great and do air prune the roots but i had a couple heat waves here which could effect the final yield. but the pots do prune the roots. there are still a few questions up in the air about this technique . even if it does air prune i am concerned that the continual dying off of roots may represent a stress that will hamper growth... still undecided... I will be running some trees in them in a couple months indoor around a 1000 w HID. this should give a better understanding of the pots potential in a controlled setting. after than i hope to pick up the real deal air pots and give them a try. my feeling is that these do best in long veg applications. at the very least you wont see any benefit unless you downgrade your pot size ( you can get the same yield out of a smaller pot).

that's a good point C21 the "continual dying off of roots" could be a stress factor but then the root branches off above with multiple root branching (but a thinner root) and you get a massive rootball without any circling (in net pots/pond baskets)

that "stress factor" on the roots would be mighty hard to measure and how much is a plant stressed in a plastic pot when the roots just circle around the inside of the pot, without any contact with media.

of course in nature (the earth) the roots grow as far as they like till they hit an obstruction/medium they don't like.

we'll keep that "possible" stress factor in mind for continual root pruning.

 

[simba]

the continued dying off of roots by airpruning DOES NOT stress the plant as its groing into the air. not in soil and all of a sudden some one chops it..
its like a tree on a cliff.. the roots air prune on the bottom yet the top growing crazy..

ap 5 gall at 10 bucks ya that$$$$$$$$$$$$$ smart pots are 6 i think for the 5 gal..
from my experience.. smart pots are better than air pots..
the air pot doesnt breath as well. its bogus. IMPHO.
ask why..

 

[chef]

I sure haven't noticed any negative effects from SPs, really happy with them so far.

My 10gal tester put out over 4 zips bone dry, might have been a bit overkill though?
I'm running a batch in 7's now, which are really 10gals. I put a 10gal plastic pot inside a 10gal SP with a couple inches to spare all the way around, they are really oversized.

My twins for a sidebyside comparison ended up not being twins too lol Don't need big plant discrepancies skewing the results, so I have 4 others almost ready, will get a close pair from them for sure.

I'll post back when I have something.

cheers

 

[Lollypop Man]

ap 5 gall at 10 bucks ya that$$$$$$$$$$$$$ smart pots are 6 i think for the 5 gal..

OK, on a commercial scale you've got a point, but how many guys grow organic on a commercial scale? I'll have 6 of these going, tops, so the cost difference is neglible (for me, YMMV of course).

from my experience.. smart pots are better than air pots..
the air pot doesnt breath as well. its bogus. IMPHO.
ask why..

You bet I will - I guess we have 2 factors here, one is how effectively the roots are air-pruned and the other is how much oxygen the pot can move back into the soil. I have zero experience so my assumption was that on the first point they'd be equal, and on the second the smart pot has a slight edge.

But I don't want to deal with a soft-sided pot, so (for me) the win goes to Air Pot.

Anyways please do share - you've got way more experience than I do!

 

[chef]

Besides building a gnarly rootmass, my fav thing about SP's is that you can really push'em with huge amounts of water/nutes without the overwatering probs you'd have with reg pots.
I can't wait to get my new drip to waste system up & running, my Greenair cycle timer should be here tomorrow. Need some Myan Mycrozyme for my brewer & its ready to start floodin' these beeotches

 

[chef]

Oh yeah, this kinda has to do with the air pruning stress that was mentioned.

From what I've seen so far, stress isn't an issue, but...
Thinking along the lines of what problems air pruning might cause? I thought about how much dead tissue does air pruning cause & if I had the proper enzymes to break down the dead tissue & avoid any root rot/stem rot issues.
I know that Dutch Master Zone does something similar for root health, but is chem/hydro. I need to study Humics & Fulvics a bit more to come up with a organic solution.


Any Humic/Fulvic acid gurus out there?

cheers

 

[MHHSP]

would love to get some of these, maybe the 7 gallon size ; )

 

[chef]

Yeah, go for #7's.
I'm a big pot evangelist & I downsized from 10's for this run.
They're really oversized, the #7's are perfect IMO.

 

[MHHSP]

thanks chef, whats your set-up like accommodating those 7's?

 

[chef]

4 plants in #7's under a 600 would be perfect. 4 pushing a QP that is.

I have everything torn up this week, rebuilding & adding a room.

2 6-bulb T5 fixtures in a 2 story nursery closet. (2'x6')
Top is clone domes up to 4"ers & Bottom is 1gal stage.
2 600w lumateks for veg room. Vegging in 3 gal Smart pots.
4 1k's for flower room. (Have 2 CnC's, need 2 new Lumateks)
They get put in the #7's 1st day of 12/12.

Those 1K lumateks are spendy!

 

[Mr Celsius]

So I'm done with my little experiment.

Absolutely no difference in vigor or growth. Yes, the root mass looks different... all the plants look the same. It 100% 'air pruned' the plants, but did nothing else.

They actually did not turn out to be bushier. That was a small phase, in which those couple looked somewhat bushier. They are 2' tall now and all look the same. They all got transplanted last night, so I had a good look at the root mass.

Pros:
1) The pots collapse easily and therefor are very transportable.
2) You can directly transplant them outdoors or into a larger pot. (I will be using them outdoors for this reason)
3) They can be useful for preventing bugs from entering your soil (sand on the top layer).

Cons:
1) They are very expensive.
2) They are very difficult to transplant, as some of the roots are stuck to the pot itself.
3) (not really a con) They don't dryout any quicker they a normal net bottom pot.
4) When moving them, it is easy to damage the root mass because there is no rigidity.
5) They don't do what they say they do... no increase in growth. I think its only occurs outdoors when the roots grow into the ground.

My experiences, take them or leave them. Please, no flamming.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Smart Pots

I've been using 'Smart Pots' for several years.

The advantages far outweigh the small increase in cost. If for no other reason than keeping the 'root zone' cooler in high-temperatures is proof that these pots are well worth their price.

YMMV