Ive come to the conclusion. How do u deal with?

[Tylerm1712]

That if you have more then a couple plants these fabric pots suck ass. How do you guys deal with them. Every time I water they just leak out the sides everywhere and get water all over the floor in my tent.

 

[TSD]

That if you have more then a couple plants these fabric pots suck ass. How do you guys deal with them. Every time I water they just leak out the sides everywhere and get water all over the floor in my tent.

Yeah I hate them. I do outdoor, but still, they suck imo. I cut the pots right off my ladies and shoved them in a hole... so much easier. Regular nursery pots are what I use to start them inside in the spring. As far as catching the water, get some big clay or plastic saucers to put under them.

 

[Schwer]

I suppose it depends on your grow medium, but I just did a grow with fabric pots and used pot risers from these guys along saucers from the same place.

Grow 1 Pot Elevator

Grow1 Plant Elevators lift your fabric or plastic pot out of the saucer, preventing excess water buildup and improving drainage for healthier plants.

hydropros.com

I had a living soil grow in a bunch of 3 gal pots and tried to water with little to no run-off. The soil could get pretty hydrophobic when dry, and if I watered too quickly it would eventually run down the sides like you described. I found it helpful to do a careful 1/3 liter pre-watering for each pot covering the top and edges, and then the rest of watering went quickly with just a little bit of run-off.

 

[Aqua Man]

Yeah thats a watering, proper pot size, etc. issue if your have it run down the sides.

Slow the watering and use adequate pot sizes if in soil to prevent uneven soil moisture and hydrophobic areas. Honestly the same thing happens in nursery pots so I'm not sure what you see is different?

 

[biggerbud420]

i am using 5 gallons fabric pots this time and aqua man is right your watering to fast . i only water 1 gallon per pot and get no runoff , i notice it takes 1.25 to 1.5 gallons for run off

 

[Madmax]

Sit them in a pot to direct your runoff

 

[Frankster]

Yeah thats a watering, proper pot size, etc. issue if your have it run down the sides.

Slow the watering and use adequate pot sizes if in soil to prevent uneven soil moisture and hydrophobic areas. Honestly the same thing happens in nursery pots so I'm not sure what you see is different?

I would add using surfactant, such as Yukka plant extract is also good, but I agree slowly watering is the ticket. Generally speaking I use 1 and 2 gallon pots for indoor grows, I have 3's also, but they generally contain two plants, usually.

I get my gallon jug, and have a 1 liter measure cup, which I pour up full, then slowly pour my fluids down into the substrate, taking care to get my edges first, then center, feel around in there, get the entire top layer wet. Then I get it wet lower and lower, taking my time. Always with the pot on a drip pad. Allowing time for the liquid to soak further in, and not leak out the sides.

I think humics/fluvics also greatly increase saturation timing, and allow for overall better fluid penetration and overall fluid dynamics. But saponin (Mohave Gold Yukka extract) is my go to in this regard.

Bottom line, nothing is better than a cloth pot. But size, and technique is key here.

 

[Frankster]

The key here people is that cloth pots are a great solution to a multifaceted issue. Fluid and Gas transfer and that flux between those dynamic states...


Here's a little background on this concept;
Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, or dispersants. The word "surfactant" is a blend of surface-active agent,[1] coined c.  1950.[2]

Agents that increase surface tension are "surface active" in the literal sense but are not called surfactants as their effect is opposite to the common meaning. A common example of surface tension increase is salting out: by adding an inorganic salt to an aqueous solution of a weakly polar substance, the substance will precipitate. The substance may itself be a surfactant - this is one of the reasons why many surfactants are ineffective in sea water.

Surfactant - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Frankster]

Ok, so now that were armed with a little more information, were able to inspect this issue a little more closely, and search for the origins of the issues at hand.

With newly transplanted plants into bigger pots, I notice we have drainage issues, such as Aquaman describes, whereas the root ball is front and center, and substrate is loose, and not rooted well, (still relatively new and expanding) so the water simply slides though, and sometimes out the sides....


Other times, we have a deeper problem. The root ball is highly developed. and were simply not getting very good penetration whatsoever. Scaling, precipitation, Salt buildup my even be present. Either way, surfactants are going to help the situation greatly, but in this second case, it become highly critical, and paramount that great care, time and effort is put into ensuring total saturation, and penetration occurs to the substrate.

 

[MilkyTrichomes]

That if you have more then a couple plants these fabric pots suck ass. How do you guys deal with them. Every time I water they just leak out the sides everywhere and get water all over the floor in my tent.

I got a 1 gallon sprayer from HD, it takes a little longer but it saturates the bag. Slower is better

 

[weedshoes]

It's been said, but just to reiterate: pot elevators with saucers plus slower watering.

 

[biggerbud420]

i used old pepsi crates for pot elevators and best of all you can stack to keep your canopy level

 

[Ponky]

I dealt with them buy using them to throw away broken concrete. And then I bought plastic pots. Fabric pots are stupid.

 

[biggerbud420]

I dealt with them buy using them to throw away broken concrete. And then I bought plastic pots. Fabric pots are stupid.

why are fabric pots stupid ?

 

[Ponky]

why are fabric pots stupid ?

They get dirty, have no advantages and are harder to clean. Plastic pot comes clean in seconds. Is dry in minutes. A fabric pot is a hassle. And a fabric pot can get moldy. It's the same reason a plate is a hard smooth object. And not a piece of cloth. Fabric is only good if you plan on throwing them out when you're done and it saves a few bucks. Even then.

 

[Moshmen]

i am using 5 gallons fabric pots this time and aqua man is right your watering to fast . i only water 1 gallon per pot and get no runoff , i notice it takes 1.25 to 1.5 gallons for run off

I’ll add that if they dry back too much - water will run right off the soil - proper container size and proper watering habits will solve the OP’s issue IMO

 

[growsince79]

They get dirty, have no advantages and are harder to clean. Plastic pot comes clean in seconds. Is dry in minutes. A fabric pot is a hassle. And a fabric pot can get moldy. It's the same reason a plate is a hard smooth object. And not a piece of cloth. Fabric is only good if you plan on throwing them out when you're done and it saves a few bucks. Even then.

I just put em in the washer. I'm gonna start using them again. Got gnats getting in bottom holes.

 

[Moshmen]

They get dirty, have no advantages and are harder to clean. Plastic pot comes clean in seconds. Is dry in minutes. A fabric pot is a hassle. And a fabric pot can get moldy. It's the same reason a plate is a hard smooth object. And not a piece of cloth. Fabric is only good if you plan on throwing them out when you're done and it saves a few bucks. Even then.

I don’t use them any more either , mayb a marketing thing as why they are used so much - when I did use them I washed em in the washer ! New again

 

[Ponky]

When I was washing them I'd fill a garbage bag or barrel with them and bleached em. Stirred them up. Rinse with a hose. But it's just so much faster to blast the plastic pots. Spray them with bleach and they're ready to use in minutes. If you're using like 2. Screw it spend the 5 bucks on use 2 more. I used to buy them in stacks of 12 and use 50 or more at a time. They were cheap.
But it's easier to do soil dumps with plastic if you're doing truckloads.

 

[Aqua Man]

They get dirty, have no advantages and are harder to clean. Plastic pot comes clean in seconds. Is dry in minutes. A fabric pot is a hassle. And a fabric pot can get moldy. It's the same reason a plate is a hard smooth object. And not a piece of cloth. Fabric is only good if you plan on throwing them out when you're done and it saves a few bucks. Even then.

They have a huge advantage to air exchange... the more suface area exposure to to air the better the gas exchange.

Plastic pots can heat up, don't breath near as well... where fabric breathe well and stay cool from evaporation.

Moldy? I mean if your pots are moldy you have an issue.... now if your seeing what you think is mild and is actually beneficial myco then I can understand the confusion.

Fabric are more costly and I don't feel they should be reused. That just part of the item. But that doesn't make them stupid by any means.