Air- Pot Club
- Thread starter WeSmkDro
- Start date
has anyone done a comparison or have any experience with air-pots versus smart-pots. smart pots work with the same idea. the roots grow outward towards the side of the pot, which is made of felt (supposedly very breathable for plants).
my local hydro shop sells the smart pots, but not the air-pots.
my local hydro shop sells the smart pots, but not the air-pots.
Sorry about posting a link to another forum, but I don't know how else to do this.
Here is a specific page of a thread about these pots with some good comparison pics, where a guy bought some and stuck some clones in the air pots and others in regular pots, and the difference is there!
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/grow-supply-product-reviews/114216-superoots-air-pots-evolution-containers-4.html
I got my other order of these pots today
Now I have four .3 gallons, four .8 gallons, four 2 gallons, and four 5.2 gallons
I only have a tent that is about 2.5 x 2.5 x 6/7 ft, so some of these I will use for things like tomatoes and put them outside
I am finishing up my first grow now, and I won't be getting into mother plants and clones probably until there is full legalization, so I probably won't ever be able to do any side by sides for you guys (only have a few bagseeds left anyway)
PS: There are also pictures of what the root mass looks like too, although I think they are during transplanting and not after a full harvest. *The man doing most of the work in that thread hasn't tried starting from seed in these pots, and he mentions this and wonders how that might affect the root mass and ball/whatever. I think he believes that clones would do better because they have more tap roots, he feels his are sucking up such a greater amount of nutes because of this.
PS: In the later pages there are people claiming improved results with these pots from start to finish compared to past grows, I'm pretty sure these things are worth it!
Several people mention having a harder time with LST because the plants grow so much (one guy says 25% faster) they liken it to 'wrestling a bear'
PSS: Ok I'm tired of editing this! Haha everyone if it is ok, just flock over there and read that thread (its only like 6 or 7 pages) very good stuff, one person did a side by side and claimed the air pot plant doubled its sister in a few weeks, and the air pot plant was even 4x bigger some time into flowering
PSSS: HOLY CRAP THESE POTS ARE AMAZING!!!!
you guys have to read that thread, and I hope I don't get in a lot of trouble for saying this. Would it be better forum rules wise if I just copy and pasted all the good parts from them to over here?
Here is a specific page of a thread about these pots with some good comparison pics, where a guy bought some and stuck some clones in the air pots and others in regular pots, and the difference is there!
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/grow-supply-product-reviews/114216-superoots-air-pots-evolution-containers-4.html
I got my other order of these pots today
Now I have four .3 gallons, four .8 gallons, four 2 gallons, and four 5.2 gallons
I only have a tent that is about 2.5 x 2.5 x 6/7 ft, so some of these I will use for things like tomatoes and put them outside
I am finishing up my first grow now, and I won't be getting into mother plants and clones probably until there is full legalization, so I probably won't ever be able to do any side by sides for you guys (only have a few bagseeds left anyway)
PS: There are also pictures of what the root mass looks like too, although I think they are during transplanting and not after a full harvest. *The man doing most of the work in that thread hasn't tried starting from seed in these pots, and he mentions this and wonders how that might affect the root mass and ball/whatever. I think he believes that clones would do better because they have more tap roots, he feels his are sucking up such a greater amount of nutes because of this.
PS: In the later pages there are people claiming improved results with these pots from start to finish compared to past grows, I'm pretty sure these things are worth it!
Several people mention having a harder time with LST because the plants grow so much (one guy says 25% faster) they liken it to 'wrestling a bear'PSS: Ok I'm tired of editing this! Haha everyone if it is ok, just flock over there and read that thread (its only like 6 or 7 pages) very good stuff, one person did a side by side and claimed the air pot plant doubled its sister in a few weeks, and the air pot plant was even 4x bigger some time into flowering
PSSS: HOLY CRAP THESE POTS ARE AMAZING!!!!
you guys have to read that thread, and I hope I don't get in a lot of trouble for saying this. Would it be better forum rules wise if I just copy and pasted all the good parts from them to over here?
oh whoops, I didn't read closely enough. I would imagine it would be a close raise vs a smart pot, but I would put my money on the air pot because I think it could get more air in the dirt. And the air pots are more universal, the same company that makes these discontinued their smart pots bag things because the material and the size of the holes was too plants specific (didn't work amazingly for a wide enough variety).
WeSmkDro
Well-Known Member
yeah ... the smart pots are kinda strange. I havent used them yet , havent even bought the pots for the comparison that ill be doing. but they look like they would be messy to water and create weird problems. We will see i guess. Im looking forward to seeing the victor. I wonder if my comparison will be different than one in soil. Ill be using coco and canna nutes for what i wanna do.
if you do do a comparison, please use clones from the same mother, as to rule out phenotypes/genetics for differing growth rates. remember to keep everything else constant, and hopefully you can do 3-4 (9-12 total pots) comparisons of each different pot, to rule out any outliers
also, thanks for doing this. it helps out all the other growers
Hobbes
Well-Known Member
.
Hey guys
I've been running a DIY air pruning and root trapping/constriction thread since February, things are going well. I've been running tests with DIY Air Pots and landscaping fabric liners, both seem to work equally well with the lined buckets being easiest and the air pruning bucket with a cover bucket being the most fun - lots of visual immediate gratification.
.
.
I need a rigid bucket for low stress training, and I have a couple dozen 5 gallon buckets that I'd like to convert.
.
1. Drill a 1/2" hole every 1" center. Drill a 1/4" hole between the 1/2" holes. I put pro mix in the bucket to make it more rigid and the drilling was much easier.
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2. I lined the bucket with fiberglass screen to keep the Pro Mix from falling out of the holes.
.
The plant goes into veg for 2 weeks under a 150W HPS, I'll train the plant a bit each day and in two or three days the two stems will be bent in semi circles. Then I'll train the branches to grow up and it's a nice scrog style grow.
.
I'll follow this plant through flower to see if it performs better than usual, after I harvest I'll check the root system. And post pictures of both.
.
.
I transplanted and repotted a half dozen plants tonight, using 3 different techniques to promote root branching.
1. Air Pruning
I drilled 1 1/2" and 1/4" holes in this 5 gallon bucket then lined it with 5 layers of fiberglass screen. I'm hoping the 5 layers of screen keep more moisture in and work for both constriction and trapping.
Thanks to OneEyedWilly I just put my air pruning bucket inside another bucket when I want to keep more moisture in. This plant is a Strawberry Cough.
.
2. Root Trapping
I picked up two types of landscaping fabric, one that is a thin sheet with tiny holes (constriction) and the second a thicker woven mat (trapping). This first one is the thicker woven fabric, much easier to work with because it hold it's shape. This one has my best hopes for a liner for our existing buckets. The fabric is tightly woven on one side and loser on the other - loose side on the pro mix / roots side to give the roots a path in, tight side toward the bucket to stop circling the bucket behind the fabric.
I repotted a Bubblegum clone in this picture. I roughed up the root ball a bit, tearing out the circling roots.
.
3. Root Constriction
This fabric is very thin and slick with tiny holes. I'm hoping that the roots go through the holes and the constriction forces branching behind the constriction. I have concerns about this fabric because the holes might be too small for the root tips to go through. And it's pushed up against the bucket wall, the roots will have to go in the hole to circle the bucket - if there were pro mix behind the fabric it would make the roots going through easier.
This is my only Jack The Ripper pheno, I don't think I'll keep it so I don't mind beating it up a bit. I had a runt from a double shoot seed that made the whole grow room smell of lemons, this one just has a mild lemon smell. I'll have to see how the high is in another 2-3 weeks when it's cured properly.
.
I'll give the plants 2 or 3 weeks then pull the root balls and take a look.
.
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/303229-diy-air-pruning-pot-experiment.html
.
Hey guys
I've been running a DIY air pruning and root trapping/constriction thread since February, things are going well. I've been running tests with DIY Air Pots and landscaping fabric liners, both seem to work equally well with the lined buckets being easiest and the air pruning bucket with a cover bucket being the most fun - lots of visual immediate gratification.
.
.
I need a rigid bucket for low stress training, and I have a couple dozen 5 gallon buckets that I'd like to convert.
.
1. Drill a 1/2" hole every 1" center. Drill a 1/4" hole between the 1/2" holes. I put pro mix in the bucket to make it more rigid and the drilling was much easier.
.
2. I lined the bucket with fiberglass screen to keep the Pro Mix from falling out of the holes.
.
The plant goes into veg for 2 weeks under a 150W HPS, I'll train the plant a bit each day and in two or three days the two stems will be bent in semi circles. Then I'll train the branches to grow up and it's a nice scrog style grow.
.
I'll follow this plant through flower to see if it performs better than usual, after I harvest I'll check the root system. And post pictures of both.
.
.
I transplanted and repotted a half dozen plants tonight, using 3 different techniques to promote root branching.
1. Air Pruning
I drilled 1 1/2" and 1/4" holes in this 5 gallon bucket then lined it with 5 layers of fiberglass screen. I'm hoping the 5 layers of screen keep more moisture in and work for both constriction and trapping.
Thanks to OneEyedWilly I just put my air pruning bucket inside another bucket when I want to keep more moisture in. This plant is a Strawberry Cough.
.
2. Root Trapping
I picked up two types of landscaping fabric, one that is a thin sheet with tiny holes (constriction) and the second a thicker woven mat (trapping). This first one is the thicker woven fabric, much easier to work with because it hold it's shape. This one has my best hopes for a liner for our existing buckets. The fabric is tightly woven on one side and loser on the other - loose side on the pro mix / roots side to give the roots a path in, tight side toward the bucket to stop circling the bucket behind the fabric.
I repotted a Bubblegum clone in this picture. I roughed up the root ball a bit, tearing out the circling roots.
.
3. Root Constriction
This fabric is very thin and slick with tiny holes. I'm hoping that the roots go through the holes and the constriction forces branching behind the constriction. I have concerns about this fabric because the holes might be too small for the root tips to go through. And it's pushed up against the bucket wall, the roots will have to go in the hole to circle the bucket - if there were pro mix behind the fabric it would make the roots going through easier.
This is my only Jack The Ripper pheno, I don't think I'll keep it so I don't mind beating it up a bit. I had a runt from a double shoot seed that made the whole grow room smell of lemons, this one just has a mild lemon smell. I'll have to see how the high is in another 2-3 weeks when it's cured properly.
.
I'll give the plants 2 or 3 weeks then pull the root balls and take a look.
.
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/303229-diy-air-pruning-pot-experiment.html
.
WeSmkDro
Well-Known Member
fo sho , thats how im doin it. Same mother , 3 clones , 3 pots . Coming soon. lol.
ultimate buds
Well-Known Member
iv got a friend whos used these an was really disapointed with them saying theres no difference to a normal pot other than its really messy to feed
also how do you transplant into bigger pots as they wont slide out of the airpot like a normal plant pot when you turn it upside down ???
also how do you transplant into bigger pots as they wont slide out of the airpot like a normal plant pot when you turn it upside down ???
WeSmkDro
Well-Known Member
hmmmm , well im doing a comparison soon so we will see about that. The pot unrwraps from the soil. Its actually way easier to transplant than a normal pot.
StaySmokin206
Active Member
I thought light was bad for roots? Hmm
genuity
Well-Known Member
i have never seen no change at all,i do the same to my tomatos,i always take off the suckers..
light is bad for roots....thats why i use it as an automatic root pruner...lol
CLOSETGROWTH
Well-Known Member
The Air pots are doing my girls Justice 
Although, The bubblers are slightly bigger, except for one stubborn biotch.
Ive noticed a difference over regular containers.
Although, The bubblers are slightly bigger, except for one stubborn biotch.
Ive noticed a difference over regular containers.
