Smart Pots

[nekoloving]

air pot, smart pot, cool ring.........they all have the same function

by design smart pot is better, no assembly, they are sturdy for it being a fabric, light weight, easier to have a large quantity shipped, and the least expensive.

OK i know I'm new around here, and I'm with ya that sounds to be the case from what I've been reading in this thread here, no personal experience true. however lets revisit a thought or two for a moment if we may?

one downside to air-pot and the fabric one's etc, is that they leak. that last bit there addresses that. and as for how to keep the fabric together, i would think that staples should be fine. no worries on moving/rotating the plant as its in the pot. pot in picture was white... but i would think that any ubercheap pot that holds water would serve. so if I've a bunch of normal pots i would just grab some fabric, a stapler, and go for it. I'm actually curious as to how this would/could be adapted to one of those feed to waste with no waste auto valve dealios. coco+perlite+drip to waste?


now! as to the air-pots. i think one might be able to fashion something very like that quite easily out of metal, tho coating it might be a bit tough. another option might be deforming a plastic bucket.


for this one i would not recommend that most consider my latest harebrained idea as good enough to try. I'm sure this is where the usual warnings go that if you don't do it carefully, and in the right area, you could ... well it might be bad and don't blame me

ok so get a 5gal bucket and grab a metal rod [iron might be good? like they use for branding, try not to burn yourself ;D] that has a cone shaped tip. take that and heat in flame or a hotplate or whatnot. it doesn't have to get white hot, a dull red should be enough. proceed to poke bucket from inside out, melting tip outwards, no need to poke through unless its easy [again not tried this one to date hehe]. when your happy that say every 2" there's an outward going cone shaped impression, do the same from the outside in in the area's between the one's going outwards. grab whatever is handy to open any cone tips you might need [file, sandpaper, dremmel, hand sander, or whatnot], do the same to the bottom of the bucket, and set that bucket inside another [so that there's air underneath] or just set it on two boards at the edges.

to visualize:


OK OK so! we now have a bucket that i would imagine that should serve us long time

 

[CanaDan420]

Im wondering how could I LST my plants using a SMART POT? I have the #3's....Im not too sure If I should use the #2's cause its indoor, but they veg about 8 weeks from cutting to flower so the #3's might be perfect hopefully. Anyways I want to start LST and I have never done LST with a smart pot and am wondering how I can do it. I saw in some other forums someone reccomended those paperclips that you squeeze and to use those to tie the plant down, but Im wondering if someone has a more bullet proof way? Thanks!

 

[nag-champa]

Im wondering how could I LST my plants using a SMART POT? I have the #3's....Im not too sure If I should use the #2's cause its indoor, but they veg about 8 weeks from cutting to flower so the #3's might be perfect hopefully. Anyways I want to start LST and I have never done LST with a smart pot and am wondering how I can do it. I saw in some other forums someone reccomended those paperclips that you squeeze and to use those to tie the plant down, but Im wondering if someone has a more bullet proof way? Thanks!

i was thinking about this also. My idea is to clip metal rings around the edges, as you would find on a shower curtain. i did not look for them yet, most likely at an arts and craft store.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

canadan i would poke a hole in using green wire and tie it down that way i havent tried it yet so im not sure if it will ruin it but they seem strong enough to tie down using the fabric as the tie down support and poking green wire through it wont hurt the pot at all just like a root going through it...

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Im wondering how could I LST my plants using a SMART POT? I have the #3's....Im not too sure If I should use the #2's cause its indoor, but they veg about 8 weeks from cutting to flower so the #3's might be perfect hopefully. Anyways I want to start LST and I have never done LST with a smart pot and am wondering how I can do it. I saw in some other forums someone reccomended those paperclips that you squeeze and to use those to tie the plant down, but Im wondering if someone has a more bullet proof way? Thanks!

CanaDan

A fellow Oregon medical grower that I help out with, does a 'micro grow' method which is basically her tying down the 2 different strains that she grows in #3 & #5 SmartPots.

What she does is go to the craft store and buys the tool which you use for placing rivets, i.e. makes a small hole, puts in the "reverse rivet" piece and than clamps it down.

It always amazes me at much she gets from a 2' T-5 fixture (8 bulbs). The 'rivets' hold very well as I tried one of her plants under a 600-watt HPS.

HTH

CC

 

[nag-champa]

CanaDan

A fellow Oregon medical grower that I help out with, does a 'micro grow' method which is basically her tying down the 2 different strains that she grows in #3 & #5 SmartPots.

What she does is go to the craft store and buys the tool which you use for placing rivets, i.e. makes a small hole, puts in the "reverse rivet" piece and than clamps it down.

It always amazes me at much she gets from a 2' T-5 fixture (8 bulbs). The 'rivets' hold very well as I tried one of her plants under a 600-watt HPS.

HTH

CC

yeah, thats what im talking about

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

Air Pots are awesome....even the dirt that falls out them awesome, because it came out of an Air Pot, hehe... I really think they make a difference. Flowering the first run in them and the ladies look amazing....

(Miss Blunted)

 

[ambr0sia]

I'm looking to snag a few air-pots to give a whirl this go around under 400W CMH in a Darkroom 80 (2'8" x 2'8" x 5'3"), but as I've heard that you can get away with a bit less soil when using airpots, I'm having a hard time deciding on what size to get - Any suggestions?

 

[nag-champa]

just use the size you normally use, that way you will get at least what you should get normally

 

[CanaDan420]

When you say Green Wire are u talkin about that wire thats about as thick as half a pencil.....and is very soft and easy to bend for gardening, or do they make another kinda green wire thats like as thick as a hanger? I really wanna do LST with my Smart Pots so Im hoping this works! Thanks for the input! Im a little confused on the rivets too.....but the wire sounds like it would work because the material is quite strong.

canadan i would poke a hole in using green wire and tie it down that way i havent tried it yet so im not sure if it will ruin it but they seem strong enough to tie down using the fabric as the tie down support and poking green wire through it wont hurt the pot at all just like a root going through it...

 

[EvilMooseOfDoom]

Hi,

I have not had any luck finding these smart pots in Canada. Does anyone know where I can get some? Neither local gardening place carries them.

Thank you!

 

[ambr0sia]

just use the size you normally use, that way you will get at least what you should get normally

Funny thing is, this is my first grow using this set up, and first time using a 400W at all, so I've no clue what a good "normal" pot size would be.. 3 gallon maybe?

 

[nag-champa]

sog, you can fit up to 16 one gallons in a 2x2 area

or four 3-5 gallons

or one 7-10 gallons for a scrog

 

[duddits]

When you say Green Wire are u talkin about that wire thats about as thick as half a pencil.....and is very soft and easy to bend for gardening, or do they make another kinda green wire thats like as thick as a hanger? I really wanna do LST with my Smart Pots so Im hoping this works! Thanks for the input! Im a little confused on the rivets too.....but the wire sounds like it would work because the material is quite strong.

You'd be suprised how much a non problem it is. Get the hole made by poking through fabric or slitting with edge of a razor. I have washed smart pots twice now and the hole does not grow and is just as usable after wash as before. I am coming off grow bags (plastic) and these do much better for LST'ing

 

[GrowMe]

so if i hole punch it, it wont stretch or tear?

 

[duddits]

so if i hole punch it, it wont stretch or tear?

Correcto. They're tough as hell. When you are done doing a run with them, put them in the washing machine and include white vinegar, I would guess several cups worth. Use the vinegar along with mild soap detergent (preferably one without perfume, hypoallergenic choices would be best), then run on the hottest cycle you got. Make it a long cycle and let it sit when full for a while to allow the vinegar a chance to breakdown the salt from our nutes. Good rule of thumb would be to pause it when the water is hottest during the wash cycle for an hour.
The vinegar will chemically breakdown the salt in the walls of the bags. The hot water makes the vinegar more aggressive.
Of course, don't forget to first clean them completely of the media residue before putting in the washer.

 

[dabbler]

Will my DIY Airpot work?

Will my DIY Airpot work?

Hi,
Do you think this DIY model will work?
I thought it would be worth a try, shes been in her new "Cage" for less than a week but the new growth is looking good to me.

 

[hayze]

Does anyone know the height of the #1 & #2 SP?

 

[judas cohen]

Dabbler: Cool Idea. I've thought of using a plastic milk crater double lined with a piece of old cotton bed sheet.....

Will be following your results with much interest.

What material did you uyse to line wire screen?

 

[dabbler]

Hey Judas, Great minds think alike!!! lol
I used a sack, but you could use the weed membrane or something like it. I removed quite a few plastic threads creating more air holes to help the roots reach the air. The plastic membrane would not allow roots to penetrate without a lot of the threads removed.
I'm not sure about using a bedsheet because the roots would not be able to penetrate through cloth.
I'll post results on this thread if you are intrested - Good luck m8!