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Smart Pots

C

CanaDan420

Member
Cool, thanks I really appreciate your help Clack!! I think that the nursery 5 gals only actually hold about 3 1/2 gals Im told. So is the Smart Pot about the same size in diameter, only reason Im wondering is because since its holding more soil it might be a bit bigger which is actually good for me right since it holds actual 5 gals! I am hoping for a oz a gal! LoL....I should be able to comfortably fit 12 or so it seems in a 4x4 flood tray right? Or should I do more? I just dont want anything to be too crowded. I want them to be penetrated deeply! I hope that 12 is not too much, but I could do 10 per light at least Im sure. Those Smart Pots sure are a bit cotly, the one place that sells them cheap that I posted above is only for 100 or more!!!! I only want to pick up enough for 2 4x4 flood table. Anyone know where I could get those cheap!?
 
Clackamas Coot

Clackamas Coot

Active member
Veteran
CanaDan420

This company charges about what the local grow stores charge. There are 6 grow stores in Portland that are carrying them so sometimes you catch a break on the price. Not often but it does happen. I don't know if that is expensive compared to other companies but at least there is not a minimum that I know of.

You might also want to contact Smart Pots directly to find another retailer option. They're very helpful back there in Oklahoma.

CC
 
K.J

K.J

Kief Junkie's inhaling the knowledge!
Veteran
Clackamas Coot said:
They're a nice little product for what it is - a product in search of filling a need. Perhaps with the grow store industry they'll find a reason to continue. Not much use in the real world however. Their lack of distributors is proof positive of that.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I guess I misunderstood the context of your original post. But I still don't see how it's a "product in search of filling a niche"; it's obviously found one in cannabis growers. Now the company just needs to properly exploit that.

2 weeks to get your order? That's not how things work in this industry. With these growers, 2 days is usually a stretch because you have to cut hay when the sun shines as the expression goes.
Click to expand...

It would have arrived quicker, but I told them to hold the order until they could ship it out complete (one of the sizes I ordered wasn't coming in until about 5 days after I placed it).
 
C

CanaDan420

Member
Yeah their the same price as on SmartPots.com;.......and that sucks! I mean I might as well go for it and grab it, but I dont really wanna. I now really need to figure out how many plants I should put in a 4x4 tray now, because with these their 6 bucks per 5 gal and like 3 for the 2. I like the fact that the Smart Pot holds 5 gallons not 3.5 like the nursery ones. Thats why I also wanna go with them, but the fact that the roots dont get root bound and just grow thicker and more.....seems like it would realllllly help with growth and quality. How could it not?
 
simba

simba

Sleeping Dragon
Clackamas Coot said:
Hammerhead
- the soil from the plastics containers always had a slight 'off odor' - it's hard to explain.

The soils from the SmartPots smelled like a good organic soil should smell. Like a forest in the early morning. I attribute that to the aeration that the soil gets from top to bottom with any of the auto-pruning pot growing systems. And there are a bunch with most made from plastic if that's your preference.

HTH

CC
Click to expand...

i totaly agree.the solid container ones are almost nasty IMPHO the SP has the ability to dry out completely (dont let it but you can give your plant a True Wet dry'ish to dry Cycle like in nature)

when done with SP in soil just stack them for a few weeks with air moving on them and walla dump and you pull the main stalk out and shake and nice reusable soil (with whatever prep needed)

I personally am behind SP for many reasons.

1. even though its spun plastic it allows the roots to hit straight on and air prune.
2.full aeration (i wonder what the open area of AP vs SP is)
3. SP wont tear while moving around nor break if you step on them.
4. wash 10+ in the wash machine and they come out steril vs hand washing the plastic ones after harvest.
5. SP can handle any media without worring about it getting threw the sides like net pots or AP
6.MADE IN USA

the plastic ones imph are really more for trees. (for trees i dont know what is best)
but in the Consumer to some commercial greenhouses we use finer soil and medias while the AP holes may allow fine media to pass threw or clog up the holes SP does not suffer this.

also during flood and drain operations SP can be used to hold the Rock wool or higromite (clay pebbles suck IMPHO especially for FD)

just recently i had to do a E-Flush and was able to just put the SP in a big container and let it rest there overnight with a pump stirring the container water and bringing my chances of keeping alive high..
ap or plastic container (IMPHO) wouldn't have been so easy and plastic container probably would have drowned plant.. its ALIVE>>

i like the 1-3Gal units.. a 5 gal is a bit big especially for FD you want it to go threw cycles..the bigger the container the longer it holds its content.. remember air pruning basically simulates a larger container / natural earth
 
C

CanaDan420

Member
When you say the 5 gals are a bit big, wouldnt that be good for being indoors? I think the 5 gsl plastics are quite small they seem. It seems like being able to use an actual 5 gal of soil instead of 3.5 seems a lot nicer, as to I really kinda believe the 1 oz a gal rule but also how long you veg for. I was thinking with these I would veg them in the 5 gals till their about 16'' or so them flip to 12/12.....hoping for a good few oz's of prime medicine. I have not run soil inside yet, but I have noticed with soil it doesnt seem like as much of a stretch as you get with hydro so thats why I was thinking 16'' would be best for the 5 gallon smart pots. I planned on using 2 of the sizes the 2 gallon to get me through veg, then transplant and flower in 5 gals.

simba said:
i totaly agree.the solid container ones are almost nasty IMPHO the SP has the ability to dry out completely (dont let it but you can give your plant a True Wet dry'ish to dry Cycle like in nature)

when done with SP in soil just stack them for a few weeks with air moving on them and walla dump and you pull the main stalk out and shake and nice reusable soil (with whatever prep needed)

I personally am behind SP for many reasons.

1. even though its spun plastic it allows the roots to hit straight on and air prune.
2.full aeration (i wonder what the open area of AP vs SP is)
3. SP wont tear while moving around nor break if you step on them.
4. wash 10+ in the wash machine and they come out steril vs hand washing the plastic ones after harvest.
5. SP can handle any media without worring about it getting threw the sides like net pots or AP
6.MADE IN USA

the plastic ones imph are really more for trees. (for trees i dont know what is best)
but in the Consumer to some commercial greenhouses we use finer soil and medias while the AP holes may allow fine media to pass threw or clog up the holes SP does not suffer this.

also during flood and drain operations SP can be used to hold the Rock wool or higromite (clay pebbles suck IMPHO especially for FD)

just recently i had to do a E-Flush and was able to just put the SP in a big container and let it rest there overnight with a pump stirring the container water and bringing my chances of keeping alive high..
ap or plastic container (IMPHO) wouldn't have been so easy and plastic container probably would have drowned plant.. its ALIVE>>

i like the 1-3Gal units.. a 5 gal is a bit big especially for FD you want it to go threw cycles..the bigger the container the longer it holds its content.. remember air pruning basically simulates a larger container / natural earth
Click to expand...
 
simba

simba

Sleeping Dragon
Cana,
speaking just in general.

one of the benifits of the SP is that u can use a Smaller Amount of media while still getting better results (overall health and possible yield)
the reasons come back to the reasons i prefer SP over AP (more natural cycling wet to dry, AP i dont think do the same job)


also the fact of Air Pruning that alone allows for a allot smaller container than previous needed

in plastic containers once the roots starts spiraling against the wall its not going to branch out that much.. and thus not being a great importer of goods to the plants
also some say once the roots Spiral the plant can not achieve full potential, or die. (says one of the plastic SP competitors and Tree nursery peeps)

with Air pruning as soon as it hits that wall it stops forward growth and branch's out..

that's why i say you could use a smaller container and still achieve larger root mass.

another option cana try bcuzz bounce coco. if your after quality and yield..
mix 70% BBC and 30% higromite with a Drip system (well a adjustable up to 10gph drip head it sprays 4 not strong but allot of water streams)
 
G

Gobwats

I had some extra seedlings that I did not want to toss out on my current grow, so decided to pot them in soil. Our hydro store had just started carrying Smart Pots, and at the time they were cheaper than the plastic equivalent. I bought the only #5 they had, as well as the 3 #3's, and planted the rest in #3 plastic pots. Grown side by side receiving very little care, within 2 weeks time the plants in the Smart pots were at least twice the size of those growing in plastic! The one in the #5 pot was almost 3 times the size of her plastic potted sisters.

I finally found someone to take the plants (well 4 of them anyhow) and he says they are budding like crazy now. The fabric definitely allows for more O2 to reach the roots, and it makes for an excellent wick system. My bud also told me that some of the roots had penetrated the fabric and formed little nubs on the outside, so that should give the roots even more O2. I have some pictures here somewhere to show the size difference between the pots, I'll see if I can get them uploaded.

I picked up another #5 for the old lady to grow a tomato in, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the roots do when they penetrate.
 
GET MO

GET MO

Registered Med User
Veteran
Im switching my whole grow to these.
picture.php
 
C

CanaDan420

Member
Ride on bro, that sounds awesome! I am probably deffinatly going to go with these. Why go with plastic when these are just a few bucks more!!!! LoL....anyways I am having a hard time figuring out how many of these in 5 gals would be proper under a 1k.......5, 8, 10 plants? Im gonna be in a 4x4 floodtable to catch water. Any suggestions cause I dont wanna get too many cause the SP is a little pricey now. For the 5 gallons their like 5 bucks. Anyways any suggestions are great. I know you can do 4-6 under a 600 but does having a 1k change much?

Gobwats said:
I had some extra seedlings that I did not want to toss out on my current grow, so decided to pot them in soil. Our hydro store had just started carrying Smart Pots, and at the time they were cheaper than the plastic equivalent. I bought the only #5 they had, as well as the 3 #3's, and planted the rest in #3 plastic pots. Grown side by side receiving very little care, within 2 weeks time the plants in the Smart pots were at least twice the size of those growing in plastic! The one in the #5 pot was almost 3 times the size of her plastic potted sisters.

I finally found someone to take the plants (well 4 of them anyhow) and he says they are budding like crazy now. The fabric definitely allows for more O2 to reach the roots, and it makes for an excellent wick system. My bud also told me that some of the roots had penetrated the fabric and formed little nubs on the outside, so that should give the roots even more O2. I have some pictures here somewhere to show the size difference between the pots, I'll see if I can get them uploaded.

I picked up another #5 for the old lady to grow a tomato in, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the roots do when they penetrate.
Click to expand...
 
Hammerhead

Hammerhead

Disabled Farmer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
OK I got my
airpots​
today 4 of them(8gallon). I loaded them up with my Organic compost(FFOF+FFLW+Sunshine mix#2) This soil has been used for about 2 years now:yoinks: I have very good results will never buy soil again(unless something drastic happens) here are a few pics. Im very eager to get these running.


picture.php



picture.php
 
Clackamas Coot

Clackamas Coot

Active member
Veteran
Hammer

Did you get those from the distributor in Salem? They had quite a bit of inventory back in December when I was up there.
 
C21H30O2

C21H30O2

I have ridden the mighty sandworm.
Veteran
my hydro store just got the air pots in so I may run half my crop in them to see how they produce.
 
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