Smart Pots

[Dave Coulier]

Ah, I see. Thanks So keep the plants off the ground using some sort of caging? I have some old metal grid shelves that might work.

Ive included a link that will show some metal grid benches designed for greenhouses. Its probably cheaper just to build your own though. Some good old fashioned wood, some 1/4th inch hardware cloth and Im sure you could whip something up, or try out the metal grid shelves. Either way, 12-24 inches off the ground with a fan below should provide plenty of circulation to prune those root tips.

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/Benches-for-Commercial-Greenhouses/products/1083/

 

[Spok]

do they sell the air pots online? i couldnt find any sites sellin em

 

[Zendo]

do they sell the air pots online? i couldnt find any sites sellin em

this is one link I found after google searching for 30 seconds..

http://perfectroots.com/

 

[SecretGardener]

Ive included a link that will show some metal grid benches designed for greenhouses. Its probably cheaper just to build your own though. Some good old fashioned wood, some 1/4th inch hardware cloth and Im sure you could whip something up, or try out the metal grid shelves. Either way, 12-24 inches off the ground with a fan below should provide plenty of circulation to prune those root tips.

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/Benches-for-Commercial-Greenhouses/products/1083/

Here is a rough sketch of what I want to do with my flowering chamber. I was not going to elevate the plants off the ground originally but just blow fresh air across the smart pots with an oscillating fan at the root zone. I guess this design isn't sufficient? I have 22" of room to play with, if I elevated the plants 12" off the ground I'd have around 10" of space left.

 

[Dave Coulier]

Here is a rough sketch of what I want to do with my flowering chamber. I was not going to elevate the plants off the ground originally but just blow fresh air across the smart pots with an oscillating fan at the root zone. I guess this design isn't sufficient? I have 22" of room to play with, if I elevated the plants 12" off the ground I'd have around 10" of space left.

Blowing the fan directly at the smart pots might take care of the roots that come out of the bottom of the sides, but I dont know how well it'd get behind the pots to those roots that are on the backside away from the fan, or the roots directly under the pot.

I imagine a fan below the table pointed upward at a little angle should get the air into many of the spots between pots you might not be able to get from the other way. Id also put a fan on both sides just for better circulation and to help ensure no root tips can survive.

You dont have much room to work with though, so I probably wouldn't bother with all of this work. In the future when you can upgrade to a larger space, I think it'd be worth doing. Even if the root gains are modest, its always fun to tinker with our grow op and try to get as close as to perfection as possible.

 

[SecretGardener]

Even if the root gains are modest, its always fun to tinker with our grow op and try to get as close as to perfection as possible.

Exactly! I've been pretty happy with my harvests so far but i've noticed that the roots still circle in a regular 3 gallon container and are brownish - so in the pursuit of perfection this needs to be fixed

 

[Dave Coulier]

Exactly! I've been pretty happy with my harvests so far but i've noticed that the roots still circle in a regular 3 gallon container and are brownish - so in the pursuit of perfection this needs to be fixed

You get root circling with Smart pots right? I can direct you to another brand of air pruning pots if you like that dont have any circling. They're much cheaper than Smart Pots, and just as effective. Plus they are bio-degradable, so you wont feel bad about polluting our landfills if you ever wanted to get rid of them.

 

[MrFlyinHigh]

Is there any downside to airpots?

 

[SecretGardener]

You get root circling with Smart pots right? I can direct you to another brand of air pruning pots if you like that dont have any circling. They're much cheaper than Smart Pots, and just as effective. Plus they are bio-degradable, so you wont feel bad about polluting our landfills if you ever wanted to get rid of them.

Really? I thought that the entire point of air pruning was to stop root circling? *sigh* lol.

 

[Dave Coulier]

Really? I thought that the entire point of air pruning was to stop root circling? *sigh* lol.

No dummy. I thought your earlier post was implying you had a bit of root circling still with smart pots, and I was asking if that what was correct.

 

[SecretGardener]

No dummy. I thought your earlier post was implying you had a bit of root circling still with smart pots, and I was asking if that what was correct.

hahah man im sorry, this is why you don't post while medicated children!

But no I haven't used smart pots yet, the circling I was referring to was with a normal plastic 3 gal. container. I made something up this weekend I hope will work. I tested it out and was very happy with the results, great even air flow no dead spots or concentrated breezes. I think the small screen I used helps to diffuse the fan's breeze and creates a nice flow of air!

 

[Dave Coulier]

hahah man im sorry, this is why you don't post while medicated children!

But no I haven't used smart pots yet, the circling I was referring to was with a normal plastic 3 gal. container. I made something up this weekend I hope will work. I tested it out and was very happy with the results, great even air flow no dead spots or concentrated breezes. I think the small screen I used helps to diffuse the fan's breeze and creates a nice flow of air!

That looks real nice there. You've done a bang up job. Have you ever tested those hygrometers before? I had a cheap one from home depot that looked like that, and I recently found out it was about 20% off when measuring R.H. I now use a caliber III and its dead on perfect.

 

[SecretGardener]

That looks real nice there. You've done a bang up job. Have you ever tested those hygrometers before? I had a cheap one from home depot that looked like that, and I recently found out it was about 20% off when measuring R.H. I now use a caliber III and its dead on perfect.

I wondered the accuracy of the hygrometers, I bought them cheap from Lowes so it is probably time to invest in a good quality one! I'll check out that caliber III one, thanks!

 

[Dave Coulier]

I wondered the accuracy of the hygrometers, I bought them cheap from Lowes so it is probably time to invest in a good quality one! I'll check out that caliber III one, thanks!

I was just thinking about your tent, and two fans may be overkill for that space. It looks like you only have 5 square feet there, so one fan will probably do it.

You'll probably have to irrigate more often with the increased circulation down there.

Also, check out Simon's Curing thread. Its where I learned about Caliber III. Its a great thread if you have never read it. Its a must read thread, imo.

 

[Norkali]

I wondered the accuracy of the hygrometers, I bought them cheap from Lowes so it is probably time to invest in a good quality one! I'll check out that caliber III one, thanks!

I LOVE my Caliber III's!

 

[SecretGardener]

I was just thinking about your tent, and two fans may be overkill for that space. It looks like you only have 5 square feet there, so one fan will probably do it.

You'll probably have to irrigate more often with the increased circulation down there.

Also, check out Simon's Curing thread. Its where I learned about Caliber III. Its a great thread if you have never read it. Its a must read thread, imo.

You think I should put the 1 fan directly under the pots blowing straight up or keep it angled? I'll check out Simon's Curing thread as well, could definitely use some improvement on my cures anyway. Thanks for your help bro. If you think of anything else lemme know!

 

[Dave Coulier]

You think I should put the 1 fan directly under the pots blowing straight up or keep it angled? I'll check out Simon's Curing thread as well, could definitely use some improvement on my cures anyway. Thanks for your help bro. If you think of anything else lemme know!

Id probably just stick to one and have a slight angle. I dont think you need to blow directly on the pots. That might dry em out a bit quicker than you like. As long as there is good air circulation down there, it should improve your root pruning, without needing to blow directly on the pots.

How many plants are you putting into your tent?

 

[cosmiccowboy]

if 3 gallon smartpots were the final destination when would you put plants into said container?

 

[Dave Coulier]

if 3 gallon smartpots were the final destination when would you put plants into said container?

I like transplant into my final container two-three weeks before flowering. The more time for them to fill up the soil with roots the better.

 

[SecretGardener]

Id probably just stick to one and have a slight angle. I dont think you need to blow directly on the pots. That might dry em out a bit quicker than you like. As long as there is good air circulation down there, it should improve your root pruning, without needing to blow directly on the pots.

How many plants are you putting into your tent?

I just planted two seeds today into standard 1 quart round garden containers and placed them in the tent. I put them directly on the floor of the tent though, they need warmth not air right now. I'll transplant before they get root bound, how long that will take I'm not sure but when I see roots popping out the bottom (I have 4 square holes in the bottom sides of my containers) I'll transplant them into 3 gal smart pots. Should I flower in bigger smart pots or is 3 gal good?