Fabric pots

Mr.Juice · Apr 16, 2019

For those that have fabric pots, I’ve upgraded to 5 gal ones from vivosun. Simple question, do you raise them? I have a good handle on my basic growing conditions now (21-27C ,50-60% RH) but what I’m finding is that the top few inches of my medium (promix HP) gets bone dry while deep down there is still a good amount of moisture. 4x4 tent and my air circulation come from a 90cfm fan blowing in.

I think that if the pots were raised a bit it would help them dry a bit more evenly. Is this a problem others have had. Right now I’m giving about 1L every two days. Three days is too much and will will get a bit of wilt to underwatering. When I water after two days, they seem to droop shortly due to over watering and then bounce back. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

UncleRomulus · Apr 16, 2019

Mr.Juice said:
For those that have fabric pots, I’ve upgraded to 5 gal ones from vivosun. Simple question, do you raise them? I have a good handle on my basic growing conditions now (21-27C ,50-60% RH) but what I’m finding is that the top few inches of my medium (promix HP) gets bone dry while deep down there is still a good amount of moisture. 4x4 tent and my air circulation come from a 90cfm fan blowing in.

I think that if the pots were raised a bit it would help them dry a bit more evenly. Is this a problem others have had. Right now I’m giving about 1L every two days. Three days is too much and will will get a bit of wilt to underwatering. When I water after two days, they seem to droop shortly due to over watering and then bounce back. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

Ya the edges and top dry up faster usually. Just let em really dry out once or twice and the roots will even out a bit in the medium. I usually don’t let fabrics get bone dry anyways after veg. I just wait for them to be dry on top and light. I figure there’s no use making them work (training the roots) in flower. It’s hard to overwater small fabric pots once the roots are established. 5 gal is pretty big tho so it might take a while to train those roots.

MIMedGrower · Apr 16, 2019

UncleRomulus said:
Ya the edges and top dry up faster usually. Just let em really dry out once or twice and the roots will even out a bit in the medium. I usually don’t let fabrics get bone dry anyways after veg. I just wait for them to be dry on top and light. I figure there’s no use making them work (training the roots) in flower. It’s hard to overwater small fabric pots once the roots are established. 5 gal is pretty big tho so it might take a while to train those roots.

I dont use fabric pots so I cant be any help there but reading your comment made me remember my breeder telling me to let my flowering plants dry out more.

I did. I let them go another day past my panic time and suffice to say that is when my quality and yield started to go up.

I immedietely noticed the extra dry day was the plants happiest day too.

Of course i grow in potting soil so i cant speak for coco only mixes.

Sorry for the thread sidebar.

Buzzer777 · Apr 16, 2019

Mr.Juice said:
For those that have fabric pots, I’ve upgraded to 5 gal ones from vivosun. Simple question, do you raise them? I have a good handle on my basic growing conditions now (21-27C ,50-60% RH) but what I’m finding is that the top few inches of my medium (promix HP) gets bone dry while deep down there is still a good amount of moisture. 4x4 tent and my air circulation come from a 90cfm fan blowing in.

I think that if the pots were raised a bit it would help them dry a bit more evenly. Is this a problem others have had. Right now I’m giving about 1L every two days. Three days is too much and will will get a bit of wilt to underwatering. When I water after two days, they seem to droop shortly due to over watering and then bounce back. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

You want to keep them slightly raised to allow airflow underneath. I use those catch pans with small ribs to keep mine up a little.

Ikkt · Apr 17, 2019

You could cover your medium with panda film or this needled anti algae film.
Root mats like polyester or polyethylene fabric or coco mats is another way to reduce evaporation at the top layer and to get the irrigation to spread more evenly.
I did both with regular containers if I felt the need, a layer fabric and on that a layer needle film and the roots grow right up to the surface.

Yet another way would be to layer the substrate with a layer with more water holding capacity on top. If there is no space left for that you could mix in some clay, leonardite powder, diatomaceous earth or ...
I always start with an airy medium in small pots and every bigger pot gets substrate with more water capacity, except an airy layer on the bottom.
There's no need to worry about inhomogeneous substrate, layering works well.

UncleRomulus · Apr 17, 2019

Ikkt said:
You could cover your medium with panda film or this needled anti algae film.
Root mats like polyester or polyethylene fabric or coco mats is another way to reduce evaporation at the top layer and to get the irrigation to spread more evenly.
I did both with regular containers if I felt the need, a layer fabric and on that a layer needle film and the roots grow right up to the surface.

Yet another way would be to layer the substrate with a layer with more water holding capacity on top. If there is no space left for that you could mix in some clay, leonardite powder, diatomaceous earth or ...
I always start with an airy medium in small pots and every bigger pot gets substrate with more water capacity, except an airy layer on the bottom.
There's no need to worry about inhomogeneous substrate, layering works well.

If your wrapping with panda film should one not just use non fabric pots?

Ikkt · Apr 17, 2019

Not wrapping the whole pot!
Just cut a piece of to cover the top of the substrate to lessen evaporation there. Just a whatever you use" disk" with a slit.

But wrapping worked too for me.
I had problems with high humidity during my one and only flower in fabric pots. Just wrapped them in plastic bags with holes and took em off once in a while to get the roots pruned.
But I don't like them at all cause they are
1 throw away products
2 problematic humidity wise
3 hard to transplant
4 a bitch/impossible to clean
5 Cost way too much for what they are and how long they last.
At least the two kinds I had.

Airpots have all the benefits but none of the downsides, reusable for decades and easy to clean and even desinfect if you had some nasty shit.

As you may have guessed by now, I hate fabric pots!
The last two I got mothers in are finally starting to fall apart after only three-four years. Can't wait to trash them.
The moms will get Airpots then, those you buy only once in your life.
I love buying things just once!

But to each its own, if it works for you it can't be wrong.

Buzzer777 · Apr 17, 2019

Ikkt said:
Not wrapping the whole pot!
Just cut a piece of to cover the top of the substrate to lessen evaporation there. Just a whatever you use" disk" with a slit.

But wrapping worked too for me.
I had problems with high humidity during my one and only flower in fabric pots. Just wrapped them in plastic bags with holes and took em off once in a while to get the roots pruned.
But I don't like them at all cause they are
1 throw away products
2 problematic humidity wise
3 hard to transplant
4 a bitch/impossible to clean
5 Cost way too much for what they are and how long they last.
At least the two kinds I had.

Airpots have all the benefits but none of the downsides, reusable for decades and easy to clean and even desinfect if you had some nasty shit.

As you may have guessed by now, I hate fabric pots!
The last two I got mothers in are finally starting to fall apart after only three-four years. Can't wait to trash them.
The moms will get Airpots then, those you buy only once in your life.
I love buying things just once!

But to each its own, if it works for you it can't be wrong.

Seriously? I wash them in a laundromat and reuse them for at least 4-6 grows. Mine don't really wear out, but they look like crap.
I pay about $2.50 for a 3 gallon tan with handles and a few $$ more for 5's..I have 5 of the 15's for outdoors this year and those I will toss.
As far as cost goes..take $2.50/5 = fifty cents per grow per plant..I can afford that..LOL

If you want to "move" a plant to larger quarters..just take the existing pot and put the whole shebang into a new larger pot..the roots can't air prune, so they grow thru the bag into the new medium.
Look at these plastic pots..you can see the fabric pot handles sticking up..no problem for the plants!

I find air pots too expensive but simple to make DIY. Unfortunately even with the real thing..roots will be left sitting in water since the excess water is not sucked back up like a fabric pot..

EACH TO OUR OWN AND WHATEVER WORKS! Like this simple thing to extend veg (mini knockoff air pot)

Ikkt · Apr 17, 2019

Buzzer777 said:
Seriously? I wash them in a laundromat and reuse them for at least 4-6 grows. Mine don't really wear out, but they look like crap.
I pay about $2.50 for a 3 gallon tan with handles and a few $$ more for 5's..I have 5 of the 15's for outdoors this year and those I will toss.
As far as cost goes..take $2.50/5 = fifty cents per grow per plant..I can afford that..LOL

If you want to "move" a plant to larger quarters..just take the existing pot and put the whole shebang into a new larger pot..the roots can't air prune, so they grow thru the bag into the new medium.
Look at these plastic pots..you can see the fabric pot handles sticking up..no problem for the plants!
View attachment 866525

I find air pots too expensive but simple to make DIY. Unfortunately even with the real thing..roots will be left sitting in water since the excess water is not sucked back up like a fabric pot..

EACH TO OUR OWN AND WHATEVER WORKS! Like this simple thing to extend veg (mini knockoff air pot)

It's just personal preference I guess, but I see some definitive benefits in Airpots.
Might be the other way round for other people. One should try both and see what fits the situation and style better I'd say.
When I bought those fabric pots they were new in Europe and at least as much as Airpots are now. Don't know, absolutely possible that they are cheaper nowadays and perhaps in general USA/Europe. And fabric pots last a couple years maybe even a decade, but Airpots are a one time buy. Indoors they'll last till I die and then some!
I really like products that last a lifetime.
But the real deal killer for me is that I can't use fabric pots as good for NFT/topfeed hybrid + the raised humidity I get with them but not with Airpots. And at least some models aren't just air pruning, they also work cause the roots entangle in the fabric like in a tight lawn. Said the advertising...

Btw. Airpots don't sit in water, the bottom is raised a bit for exactly that reason!

I got a tip regarding the diy airpots:
If you use such self made Airpots you can cut the bottom off too and put them in another pot the same size till the roots hold the substrate. It's great for NFT, topfeed or EnF with root mat. Better than RW cubes and no waste!

Dan789 · Apr 17, 2019

Mr.Juice said:
For those that have fabric pots, I’ve upgraded to 5 gal ones from vivosun. Simple question, do you raise them? I have a good handle on my basic growing conditions now (21-27C ,50-60% RH) but what I’m finding is that the top few inches of my medium (promix HP) gets bone dry while deep down there is still a good amount of moisture. 4x4 tent and my air circulation come from a 90cfm fan blowing in.

I think that if the pots were raised a bit it would help them dry a bit more evenly. Is this a problem others have had. Right now I’m giving about 1L every two days. Three days is too much and will will get a bit of wilt to underwatering. When I water after two days, they seem to droop shortly due to over watering and then bounce back. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

I’ve always spaced any pots, especially fabric pots up on furring strips 3/4” or so...

UncleRomulus · Apr 17, 2019

Ikkt said:
It's just personal preference I guess, but I see some definitive benefits in Airpots.
Might be the other way round for other people. One should try both and see what fits the situation and style better I'd say.
When I bought those fabric pots they were new in Europe and at least as much as Airpots are now. Don't know, absolutely possible that they are cheaper nowadays and perhaps in general USA/Europe. And fabric pots last a couple years maybe even a decade, but Airpots are a one time buy. Indoors they'll last till I die and then some!
I really like products that last a lifetime.
But the real deal killer for me is that I can't use fabric pots as good for NFT/topfeed hybrid + the raised humidity I get with them but not with Airpots. And at least some models aren't just air pruning, they also work cause the roots entangle in the fabric like in a tight lawn. Said the advertising...

Btw. Airpots don't sit in water, the bottom is raised a bit for exactly that reason!

I got a tip regarding the diy airpots:
If you use such self made Airpots you can cut the bottom off too and put them in another pot the same size till the roots hold the substrate. It's great for NFT, topfeed or EnF with root mat. Better than RW cubes and no waste!

I agree. I’m on My second round with fabrics and I am preferring the 3 gal cheap plastic nursery pots and drilled out 5 gal buckets. Those airpots seem wicked but I’m kind of getting away from air pruning a bit as I’m using coco more and more and I kind of like just having a few holes at and around the bottom. Gotta water every other day as is and I got enough medium capacity with 3 gals to exceed what I even yield per plant anyways.

Buzzer777 · Apr 18, 2019

Ikkt said:
It's just personal preference I guess, but I see some definitive benefits in Airpots.
Might be the other way round for other people. One should try both and see what fits the situation and style better I'd say.
When I bought those fabric pots they were new in Europe and at least as much as Airpots are now. Don't know, absolutely possible that they are cheaper nowadays and perhaps in general USA/Europe. And fabric pots last a couple years maybe even a decade, but Airpots are a one time buy. Indoors they'll last till I die and then some!
I really like products that last a lifetime.
But the real deal killer for me is that I can't use fabric pots as good for NFT/topfeed hybrid + the raised humidity I get with them but not with Airpots. And at least some models aren't just air pruning, they also work cause the roots entangle in the fabric like in a tight lawn. Said the advertising...

Btw. Airpots don't sit in water, the bottom is raised a bit for exactly that reason!

I got a tip regarding the diy airpots:
If you use such self made Airpots you can cut the bottom off too and put them in another pot the same size till the roots hold the substrate. It's great for NFT, topfeed or EnF with root mat. Better than RW cubes and no waste!

But the roots will extend beyond that gap and be sitting in the still water....I tried it and went back to the cloth pots ..BTW: they even make cloth pots with Velcro closures to make transplanting easier (never tried them). The Air Pots also get unstable as the plant grows taller.
I used to buy Vivosuns, but switched to Hydrocrunch (ebay) which are almost as good and about 1/3rd cheaper. (with handles)

Dan789 · Apr 18, 2019

What I’ve done is hot glue some fabric pot scraps over the holes in the pots, also giving some fabric to wick water and air...seems to work.

bigdaddyg8 · Apr 18, 2019

Buzzer777 said:
But the roots will extend beyond that gap and be sitting in the still water....I tried it and went back to the cloth pots ..BTW: they even make cloth pots with Velcro closures to make transplanting easier (never tried them). The Air Pots also get unstable as the plant grows taller.
I used to buy Vivosuns, but switched to Hydrocrunch (ebay) which are almost as good and about 1/3rd cheaper. (with handles)

they sell trays with holes in them that you sit the cloth pot on. they are called Clean roots platforms!

PlumberSoCal · Apr 18, 2019

Mr.Juice said:
For those that have fabric pots, I’ve upgraded to 5 gal ones from vivosun. Simple question, do you raise them? I have a good handle on my basic growing conditions now (21-27C ,50-60% RH) but what I’m finding is that the top few inches of my medium (promix HP) gets bone dry while deep down there is still a good amount of moisture. 4x4 tent and my air circulation come from a 90cfm fan blowing in.

I think that if the pots were raised a bit it would help them dry a bit more evenly. Is this a problem others have had. Right now I’m giving about 1L every two days. Three days is too much and will will get a bit of wilt to underwatering. When I water after two days, they seem to droop shortly due to over watering and then bounce back. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

You can also grow potatoes in 'em. Just saying.

I really like the idea of putting seedlings in a 3 gal fabric in the greenhouse and moving them into pots or earth as needed. Now I have to spend more $. Thanks... :D

Ikkt · Apr 23, 2019

Buzzer777 said:
But the roots will extend beyond that gap and be sitting in the still water....I tried it and went back to the cloth pots ..BTW: they even make cloth pots with Velcro closures to make transplanting easier (never tried them). The Air Pots also get unstable as the plant grows taller.
I used to buy Vivosuns, but switched to Hydrocrunch (ebay) which are almost as good and about 1/3rd cheaper. (with handles)

I never had that happen, I got sufficient airflow that no root would survive dangling out somewhere even a millimeter. I used to put aquarium filter foam in the gap to use the 1L Airpots for NFT instead of rw cubes, but without it it wouldn't work.

And I never had out of ordinary stability issues, they aren't that unconventional in size so the same problem would apply to conventional round or square containers. Of course it's always a problem with the small pots and the little, often light media you need in hydro when the buds get fatter. You always have to watch out if they stand secure.

As I said before, it comes down to your style of growing if one is preferable to the other. I just realized that the severe humidity problems I had are most probably a problem specific to growing in sub gallon pots with as much as a watering per hour. Otherwise problems with high humidity were well known to fabric pot users.
Just as the outermost layer of substrate that isn't fully utilized by roots is a problem specific to small pot sizes and probably substrates with low water holding capacity. In a 2L pot the outermost 1-1.5 centimeters are a relevant part of the pots volume. But in a xgallon pot who cares, it's completely irrelevant.

I can only encourage to try out as much as possible and see what fits best. For me it's Airpots first and fabric last by far.
But it's not just to find the best equipment, it's also fun and there is always something to learn. I for sure did learn a thing or two trying every kind of pot I could get my hands on!

Buzzer777 · Apr 23, 2019

Here's an ole boy that made himself at home in a #1 DIY airpot.He seems happy enough..to the right is a 1 gallon fabric pot and we shall see how that guy fares. (my breeding tent .

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