Air-pot vs Fabric pot.... Is there a difference. Ever wonder?

gk skunky

Well-Known Member
Well something interesting. So I just got around to breaking down the coco from some rootballs. These are rootballs of two Jamican D. One from the 2.2 gal air-pot. the other from a 1gal fabric pot. The air-pot was actually vegged for two weeks prior. The 1 gal was just thrown directly in from rooting and transplant.

So question, which root system belongs to which pot? Which is the better? Left/right, air-pot/fabric pot. IMG_0877.JPG
 

Rrog

Well-Known Member
Every Geopot grow I ever did had solid root mass That was under HID with natural soil
 

Tazbud

Well-Known Member
My root balls were surprisingly small in airpots, still grew faster than plastic it seemed, just smaller balls. very white and healthy but not huge balls.
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
I don't like air pots. No matter how slow you water it all goes out the holes. Fabric pots vary from brand to brand on how permeable they are. I only think they are good for veg and outdoor. I use 10 gals indoor in flower so no need for those. I just use white grow bags for flower.
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
I use the fabric pots 3 gallons or 5 gallons for normal plants and 10 gallon fabric pots for mother plants, the plants like them and grow healthy. Definitely larger yields than the 3 gallon plastic containers I was using, and hyroot is right about the thickness I found the best ones are the thinner ones called "smart pots" the thicker ones are good too but the smartpots let the plants actually pierce the fabric pot and air prune great on the outside .
 

Rrog

Well-Known Member
I'll be running 15 gallon geopots once my next room is done. I'll be recycling the soil and never dumping the old root ball. All natural.

The soil gets better with each generation. The Geopots really work well. I use Blumat drip also, and monitor the soil moisture with a super accurate Tensiometer.

IMHO it's the best way to fly.
 

gk skunky

Well-Known Member
Left is the air-pot 2.2 gal with 2 weeks veg. Right is 1gal generic fabric bags from Amazon with zero veg time. Same cut. Think I'll be tossing my air pots. They don't saturate properly like hyroot mentioned. Also, yoda these cheap ones seemed think enough the roots pierced through and pulled away fine. Just kinda punched around the outside of the bag to loosen it up. Lol
 

Rrog

Well-Known Member
I like the fact that a low cost bag works great. I'm building a lot of raised beds outside for veggies, and will be building wood frames with fabric sides. Using quality landscape fabric is all.

The aeration is great no matter what you're growing.
 

vostok

Well-Known Member
In pot info ....too much air, roots dry up and drop off, screwing the plant size, and delaying harvest

too much water, roots swell, medium and roots become waterlogged, oxygen is removed, plant eventually drown but not b4, again delaying harvest

Ensure your water takes a good 5 minutes to trickle out, even measure the runoff and consider the air temp at the time

best time to water is 1630-1830 daily, or 2 times per week if a weekly waterer...stay sharp
 

purplegrower02

Well-Known Member
A tip for all the air pot owners. I water with one of those pump sprayers. Mine holds 2.5 gallons and i put it on the finest mist and just go from pot to pot watering each one for maybe 30 seconds. This way there is no runoff from the holes like you normally get with air pots.

I've had them for years and just recently got a few free smart pots and man I forgot just how fast watering is when you don't have a air pot.

so now I am growing two purp kush one in a 3 gallon smart pot the other in 3 gallon air pot
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
I don't like air pots. No matter how slow you water it all goes out the holes. Fabric pots vary from brand to brand on how permeable they are. I only think they are good for veg and outdoor. I use 10 gals indoor in flower so no need for those. I just use white grow bags for flower.
Hated the fucking air pots......I know they revised it now, so can't speak about their current design though.

I personally like the root trapper II bags, no air pruning(zero pita leaks) and similar results to copper hydroxide lined pots the nurseries use.....Still pricey imo.

Probably gonna go full circle and back to cheap plastic molded pots....lol
 

Rrog

Well-Known Member
I definitely recommend blue mats, and I'll be running partially filtered water through them. This will be less mineral buildup over time. I'm recycling soil so mineral buildup is a concern.

Captain: www.irrometer.com. The MLT is what I have a few of. I just looked at that website, and I see that you can attach a switch to this tensiometer. Hmmm. I Will contact them and see if this could be implemented for us. I suspect it would be much more accurate and there would be no runoffs, as is common with the blue mat
 
Last edited:
Top