What net pots do y'all use?

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
Hello all,
What net pots do y'all use?

I have been using the Poppelmann G5 net pot (2 inch) for several years now, but I cannot seem to find them and Poppelmann only sells them in cases of like 4,000, which would take me a few lifetimes to go through.
One of the local mom and pop hydro stores used to carry them but now they don't...
My whole system is setup for this net pot.
One of the major points of choosing a net pot like this was that they are consistent.
But now I can't get them, wa, wa, wa....

Anyway...

I decided to try the slightly smaller size Poppelmann Teku G4,6 net pot (1.75 inches), which seems to be more available online, but these suck!
They are super brittle and they don't fit 1.5" rockwool cubes. If I push the cube into the G4,6 net pot it causes the net pot to square off and break apart and it's not that much smaller than the G5 and the net pot should be stronger than the rockwool cube or felxible enough to conform around it.

By the way, besides consistency, the reason I chose the G5 net pot is because the net portion goes all the way to the top and this works for my Kratky setups (lettuce, bok choy, tomatoes, herbs, etc...) which need a bit of air space between the nutrient level and the top of the reservoir.
Here's a photo of one.

https://www.amahort.com/Uploads/ProductPhotos/129002-01 Poppelmann Teku G5 Netpot 5cm_1.jpg

All the other net pots I found had these collars on them that extended way below the rim making them usesless for a Kratky setup.
Here's a photo of the net pots I am talking about.

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http://www.repotme.com/orchid-pots/img/net-pot-2inch-heavy-800.jpg&f=1

I like the G5 2" net pot because they fit a SOLO cup and they hold a 1.5" rockwool cube nicely.
Then when I tranfer to hydroton, I can cut the net pot into quarters so it doesn't restrict the growth of my plants, or in the case of lettuce I can just transfer them to a larger Kratky reservoir and then push the rockwool plug out after I am done harvesting and re-use the net pot.

So, I am curious what net pot do you all use?
If you can provide photos and sources of where they can be purchased that would be great.


Thank you for your help!!!
 

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ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Lol

I use 8" netpot bucket lids from NGW. Indefinitely reusable, big enough for one pot lifecycle- just stick the rooted clone in your choice of substrate and flood and drain or RDWC with splash and you're done.

I went the RDWC route so I could pull the plant out of the tub roots and all and move it to another one in another room, thereby making it trivially easy to move plants from small to big veg and then on to bloom.

But then I was growing plants that covered a 4' x 6' trellis panel and pulled as much as 2lbs apiece.
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
There doesn't seem to be much difference between those net pots. I don't get it I guess.
The Poppelmann Teku G5's are basically all net, where as the other ones have a huge portion that is solid plastic, so it prevents proper gas exchange when using a Kratky system.
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
@Airwalker16,
I appreciate you help, but those are 3" net pots and I need the 2" ones.

I found the right pots on eBay, here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Popplemann-Hydroponic-Net-Pots-50-count/254109847243?hash=item3b2a208ecb:g:aQkAAOSw259cWNgZ:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

But the seller sells 2 things net pots and chemical pesticides and I am not sure if I want to buy from them...
I know it's stupid, but I am not a fan of chemical pesticides and I would hate to think of what residue is all over the net pots.

Thanks for your help though.
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
@Airwalker16,
I appreciate you help, but those are 3" net pots and I need the 2" ones.

I found the right pots on eBay, here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Popplemann-Hydroponic-Net-Pots-50-count/254109847243?hash=item3b2a208ecb:g:aQkAAOSw259cWNgZ:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

But the seller sells 2 things net pots and chemical pesticides and I am not sure if I want to buy from them...
I know it's stupid, but I am not a fan of chemical pesticides and I would hate to think of what residue is all over the net pots.

Thanks for your help though.
Boil them in water and bleach.
 

Mellow old School

Well-Known Member
You can with good results IMO, use citric acid for cleaning the pots and other items in your hydro setup, done so myself for years, and its cheap too...
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
You can with good results IMO, use citric acid for cleaning the pots and other items in your hydro setup, done so myself for years, and its cheap too...
@Mellow old School,
Thanks for the advice, but I am talking about getting chemical pesticide residue off pots I purchase from a seller, not the usual maintenance cleaning done at the end of a grow to sanitize everything.

A lot of commercial "sterilizing" cleaners out there are basically citric acid and phosphoric acid, which is pretty much the same thing as most pH Down products, like GH and Mad Farmer.
I prefer the Mad Farmer stuff, it does doesn't have a dye in it and it used to be cheaper than GH but then they got all greedy... So now I make it myself.
I don't need artificially colored liquids to make me feel like the product is working, I have testing equipment for that.
Geez, that sounded snobby!
I didn't intend it to come out that way.
I am just not a GH fan and I hate how these hydro companies charge a fortune for bottles that contain 90%+ water, that's all...
 

Mellow old School

Well-Known Member
getting chemical pesticide residue off pots I purchase from a seller
Where and why is there chemical residue on the pots you mention, I mean yes new pots from the manufacturer might have something on them, but still I would say, you can "sterilize" them by putting them in a citric acid solution over night.

Have a Good day...
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
@Mellow old School,
These net pots aren't straight from the manufacturer.
They are from an eBay seller, the only place I can find them at the moment.
The eBay seller sells two things, net pots and chemical pesticides (Syngenta and Monsanto stuff)....
That is why I am worried about pesticide residue on the net pots.
If I were getting them from the manufacturer I wouldn't be worried.

The only way to get them from the manufacturer is to buy a case of them, which is over 4,000 net pots, which is like $550 including shipping.

That's the "big" deal...
 

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
I bought 200 no name 2"net pots of ebay around 5 years ago for pennies each. Clones or seeds start in them, then go to 6"net pot lid for buckets. I've been reusing them all along, but I do lose a few here and there when roots tear them apart.
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
I've had the 6" pots torn apart by the end of flowering, finger thick roots popping out everywhere. Gotta love Dwc.
With Dutch buckets the roots are super fine and they form mats at the bottoms of the buckets.
I use an inner bucket and an outer "drain" bucket, so a mat forms in each bucket.
The inner bucket has the big holes in it because I use 3D printed drain Covers.
I posted a few photos of the mats from one of the buckets.
These root mats that have been drying out for a bit, so the photos came out looking brown. They didn't look like this when they were originally taken from the bucket.
 

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