Air Pots for Cannabis plants(new craze)

[GanjaGardener]

Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes your the bug. Whatever. LOL

 

[green punk]

uhhh green punk. have u not heard of the ole smart pot in a milk crate method? milk crate makes it a lil easier to tie. also i've heard cap has gro pots now and like someone said they are taller with handles. y ppl making a deal about cleaning em i do the same to the reg ass ones too. mal may be on to something i'm gonna do a 3 gal 5 gal and 7 gal smart same veg and clone and position them in similar lighting intensity and c what's really good. thx for the idea mal.

Actually uhhh yeah. I played with panda plastic lined milk crates around 18 yrs ago to be exact. Under a 1000w halide from a demoed warehouse. they worked well. Not like they'd work lined with weed mat or cheese cloth. Heard about guys using dollarstore plastic, waste baskets they look just like big net pots, lined with cheese cloth. They claim similar results as air/smsrt. at a fraction of cost.

 

[Illmind]

uhhhh i meant for training plants. u said tieng em was a prob in smarts? milk crates make training easy. jus tryin to help dude. i'm gonna side by side smarts vs regs. while roots look better in smarts i dont think much diff.

 

[GanjaGardener]

I don't want to stir up the hornets next again, I'm still picking out a weeks worth of stingers. I usually navigate by thread topic- didn't notice that I was in design/set-up. That explains a lot. This would be a different discussion in the organic soil board because there are techniques that will benefit from the increased root surface, (don't remember, 150%-300% more?) provided by airpots. Sometimes I'm so locked into our own system, that I assume everyone else is on the same page or at least has some working knowledge of where I'm coming from. I'd love to expand upon what I'm talking about, technique-wise but I'm sure that most of you can understand why I feel uncomfortable here and unmotivated to share anything I've picked up from my growing days or, more importantly, what I've been schooled in by the experts at my collective who know a hell of a lot more than I do, grow weed better than I do and who run w/ some of the heavy weight breeders that you very well might be buying, or may have bought, your seeds from. (Check the breeder's board.) You can call me a boaster, a bullshitter, a poser- whatever- I'm ready for it and have heard a hell of a lot worse than anything that's ever been posted here at the Farm. Keep yer eyes on "Organic Soil". When I start my airpot run, I'll bust a thread. I haven't formed an opinion- still need to work a run w/ them- but if yer interested, might as well *see* them in action. Hopefully my posting here won't stir up anymore negativity than what I've already, unwittingly, stirred up.

GanjaGardener, AKA ^"The Clown"^ (OK. OK. If that's all yuh got left to hand out, I'll take it.) :free-character-smil Peace. We're all in this together folks.

 

[MTgrower]

Thanks for the input Green Punk. I'm going to go ahead and see how things turn out. I'm in no hurry. Glad to see you had improved results with the air pots.

The reason for the .8L pots is to replace seedling trays. I'm always experimenting and playing and tweaking my setup.

Thanks again.

Hey Green Punk,
I have been extremely happy with the .8L Air Pots as a replacement for seedling trays and the 5x5 inch square pots they used to go into from the seed tray.

This time I planted directly into the .8L Air Pot and the plants look beautiful. So, I've been able to eliminate any kind or risk of transplant problems. And when it is time to go into the 20L (5 gal) Air Pots, the transplantation process is so much less difficult. Just unscrew the Air Pot, unroll it, and place in the waiting hole in the larger pot. I used to have to gently squeeze the solid sided pots to get things to loosen up a bit. I always thought this is doing damage to tiny, delicate root hairs. I have changed from top watering to bottom watering (Flood chamber type setup), and I greatly prefer this method. I'm not sure how things will turn out when everything is in the big pots, but so far, these are the best pots I've used, and I've used all but those nice looking reinforced fabric pots that have velcro down the side for transplant ease.

Anyhow, I have had none of the problems with bugs, or anything else other than top watering. I don't have a drip system, but that would solve top watering too. But like I said, I am liking the bottom watering method better.

Just wanted to let you know how my experience was going so far. I might post a pic, but with the current climate, it makes me nervous.

 

[The Joker]

Been very happy with the geopots which are smart pots with stronger stitching. For me I am now up potting into 3 gallon geopots from 1 quart plastic and vegging and flowering in the 3 gallon. I have limited mobility for the short term with one arm and up potting is difficult. Saves me a lot of work and cuts down on veg time with accelerated growth. First crop of 12 in flower now. Doing perpetual , so it's now the third round using the geo pots.

 

[skywalkerOG]

Been very happy with the geopots which are smart pots with stronger stitching. For me I am now up potting into 3 gallon geopots from 1 quart plastic and vegging and flowering in the 3 gallon. I have limited mobility for the short term with one arm and up potting is difficult. Saves me a lot of work and cuts down on veg time with accelerated growth. First crop of 12 in flower now. Doing perpetual , so it's now the third round using the geo pots.

Doing a side by side of 2 gallon geo, 3 gallon geo, and regular 2 gallon plastic pots right now.

The 3 gallon plants in geo are noticeably larger. The 2 gallon geos dry up quicker with rockwool & coco so I can feed once a day. The plastic pots stay rather wet so they are every other.

Really liking the Geos.

 

[MTgrower]

Doing a side by side of 2 gallon geo, 3 gallon geo, and regular 2 gallon plastic pots right now.

The 3 gallon plants in geo are noticeably larger. The 2 gallon geos dry up quicker with rockwool & coco so I can feed once a day. The plastic pots stay rather wet so they are every other.

Really liking the Geos.

Glad to hear about your success so far!

Getting back to Air Post specifically, I'm 35 days from the day I put seeds into dirt. I partially unrolled one that I'm getting ready to transplant, and the root development was awesome. I will edit this post with photos of the roots as I plan to transplant today.

 

[MTgrower]

Glad to hear about your success so far!

Getting back to Air Post specifically, I'm 35 days from the day I put seeds into dirt. I partially unrolled one that I'm getting ready to transplant, and the root development was awesome. I will edit this post with photos of the roots as I plan to transplant today.

I'm sorry I haven't posted yet. I really hurt my lower back and can barely even piss it hurts so bad. I will get the pics up because it is worth seeing.

 

[Medusa]

How do you clean like 40 smart pots good? I was thinkin the same thing but was worried all the left over dirt would fuck the machine up

Soak in a big tub of water ( outside) flipped inside out then machine wash NO DRYER) some peeople take them to the laundry mat as long as you soak alot of the dirt falls off not to messy in washer if you do it this way.

 

[leadsled]

Airports OWN it. Transplants are very easy. With fabric pots you gotta rip the roots from the fabric. Air pots prune all the roots. Fabric pots do not air prune bottom roots. Gangagardener is on point. I used to use fabric. Did a side by side....
fabric is nice but not as nice as air pots. Dr. Whitcomb is a smart guy that has been studying roots for over 20 years. Check out his work good reading and info to be had. I love his 4 inch
rule!

 

[chos3n]

I recently made a large purchase of airpots, taking a bit of a gamble. I will start out with ten and see how the results are before adding in any more.

Has anyone that has used them noticed any effect on bud structure? I saw someone mentioned it made their nugs airy, I don't see how a pot could have this effect unless it was undersized and the plant was rootbound.

 

[KitsapGrapeApe]

I like the smart pots, except for that they're not rigid. I feel I'm damaging roots every time I even turn them. May grab some air pots and do a side by side test... I can't remember who posted pics of their homemade smart pots tucked in milk crates. Brilliant, in my humble opinion.

i've heard the air pots are better then the fabric pots, if you're gonna do fabric pots i'd check out the geo pots, these are one of very few products i would say shit on the competition. stronger, sturdier and hold water better then every fabric pot out there, they also come with a 3 season outdoor warranty, did i mention they are hand stitched in cali?

How do you clean like 40 smart pots good? I was thinkin the same thing but was worried all the left over dirt would fuck the machine up

take them to the laundromat and wash them in someone else's wash machine

 

[KitsapGrapeApe]

I use air pots to veg and then switch to smart pots on the final transplant.

I have been afraid of using the smart pots for veg. How do you get the plant out without some major root damage?

thats how you transplant with fabric pots, although of course you can with out the Velcro but this is way easier and no they hold water just as well as any other geo pots.

 

[KitsapGrapeApe]

I use these > http://geoplanter.com/

I tried them all, but Geoplanter is by far the best. I am using 45 gals right now, working great! No equal out there.....

you're the man dude, they are hands down the best.

 

[KitsapGrapeApe]

 

[THegrowshow]

i hate the damn cloth pots they aren't as strong as the hard plastic pots....but the hard plastic root pruning pots...i love those

 

[Burned Haze]

You can talk all the smack you want but root pots are amazing, I have used tons of diff kind of plastic pots, air pots. Diff brands with diff mediums and Constancies and it still nods out the root pots are still my favorite as long ad you are a 2 part up pot grow. I go from aeroponic rooted to final 5-10 gallon root pot .


Cost me 3 bucks a piece, I apply coarse co-co that's been double rinsed on top to keep the wetness even with main base PROMIX BX with mothers finest extra coarse perlite at a consistency of about 1/6th or so. Really helps!

 

[kushtrees]

Will a 45L (about 12 gal) air pot work for some indoor trees? They say they can grow trees for up to 2 Years, but id love to hear from someone who has grown large plants in these. I've seen these forever and been wanting to try them. I would love to go from 20 gal to 12 gal pots, but that just seems so small

 

[LBH]

Use felt bags, whichever brand. If anyone wants to buy some 5gallon air pots, pm me, I have 30 of them and 15 1 gallon ones. I did 4 runs with them and sure, nice, solid root mass in the end but this is what I found.

AIR POT

positives-
1. air pruning, creates back growth of capillary roots, nice rootmass in the end.

2. Keeps medium 3" off of floor, great for cement floored grows in cold winter areas

3. Lay flat storage

4. They look cool

negatives-
1. Have to pour in VERY slowly or you'll get over spill, including out the holes, especially up high,....so you lose feed , never truly knowing how much of the intended gallon the plant got.

2. With the base being 3" off the floor, that overspill is lost and sits, puddled, in the tray (yup, you BETTER have trays under 'em or you'll have a mess)

3. Above puddling is a magnet for fungus gnats and can hurt you if you have humidity issues already

4. Expensive


FELT BAGS

Negatives

1. They don't last forever like a plastic pot

positives-

1. Same growth as air pots

2. you can dump the feed/water right in and get going on to the next one

3. This is a biggee,....any seepage through the sides or overspill from an aggressive pour, gets soaked up by the roots at the bottom of the bag.

4. Cheap