When it’s 105° that wicking and evaporation is the only thing that keeps the root zone cool! It is my ally big time! And tan works fine!
when its 105 the wicking and evaporation is more then enough to keep it cool on its own. And a tan vs black bag can often buy you an entire extra day before you gotta water again. And when 75%+ 0f the infrared is reflected from the surface of the container, that wicking and evaporation isnt limited in its ability to do its job either, nor does it matter as much, and the plant can also more effectively transpire. Im not saying black containers are not going to work or have a fine result, im just saying tan or white are better options lol. Thats a fact.
You will, with absolute certainty, see a benefit not using black fabric in a hot region. Theres some old videos where a dude was using infrared thermometers on the leaves, container surfaces, weighing the water each big clone was getting, has large above ground containers made of black and white fabric both.
The bigger the plant, and the bigger the container (to a certain extent) the more having a dark surface becomes a hindrance because evaporative cooling is based on surface area, not volume, but volume increases exponentially relative surface area.
ill try and find the videos, theyre several years old now. The dude even figured out at what volume plants of certain sizes will stop behaving as if in a container and behave more like theyre in ground. Density of soil plays a big roll in that too.
(im just throwing out numbers here, i dont actually remember specifically what they were) For large plants, in hot dry, sunny climates, in black containers under like 100 gallons but over 10 or so, in low humidites, FAR more moisture transpires from the plant then evaporates from the soil. And all the dark container does is heat the moisture that does sit on the roots and increase transpiration of the plant even more. (If you feed soluble feeds it makes burning them and deficiencies both a little easier too because it ramps transpiration up more then is necessary to actually keep the leaves of the plant cool)
Which all just means carrying a bit more water then you need to, for a potentially slightly smaller plant by harvest thats a little more sensitive to feed levels and stuff. Thats not a big deal at all for most tbh. Youre not going to see major problems keeping large black containers where its hot, sunny and dry, you just usually wont quite see the result that plant would have had in a tan or white container in a lot of contexts, and
youll work a little harder for it. There's that old saying: "Work smarter not harder"
Anyhoo, i moved some plants when i was younger over to tan potato bags outside one season after watching that video series, and it was the last season i ever used a black grow bag outside, at least with a bunch of clones of like the same 3 females, the difference is definitely visually apparent side by side in that 10-20gal territory when a plant gets like 7+ hours direct a day. At least until it overhang the pot fully and shades it off. Eventually i wrote off containers completely, but thats just because last few places ive lived theyre pointless with the quality of the local soils. Although even in KC my plants put directly into the sandy crappy half clay midwest soil, or the red clay at my old place still out performed any container plants ive grown outside so long as i kept up with top dressing and amending or feedings. Even when they didnt look as pretty or happy. I chalk that up to how slowly the temperature of the soil under an inch or two below the surface changes temperature in the ground. Even large containers outdoors swing by 5-10 degrees every day sometimes, as deep as several inches. Same with small containers indoors. Thats like the swing between summer and the end of fall in most places below an inch or two down, happening every day. Go 3-4 inches down in the Mojave desert mid summer, and the ground is like 67f, middle of the day or middle of the night, doesnt matter.
If there plants that'll handle fine you'll prob find them in a Columbian, Afghan, or Thai lineage. Since those are all three I'd say good chances they'll be fine.
️
