Huge trees in tiny pots because it’s what they can do for you so long as you are willing to put in a little extra work if you don’t set-up an auto watering system.
I’ve never used them myself since I’m pretty frugal, but I’ve always liked the idea. Do you have a link to where I can find some of the biggest ones they make?
Maybe larger sizes defeat the purpose? If the plants are stationary, what would be the benefit of a 200-gallon version versus a 200-gallon fabric pot that costs a tenth of the price? I can definitely see how the smaller ones (like 3–5 gallons) offer better structural integrity than fabric pots, which is a plus.
If this thread is more for showcasing and not really for discussion, just let me know and I’ll delete the post—I just figured this might be a good chance to let someone talk me into giving them a try.
This depends on where you are. There are knock-offs out there which still do the job but are built less well. Trve Air-pots are made out of recycled milkbottles in Scotland.
So they are the recycled pots ov the land ov the free and home ov the brave!
Nurseries use them to keep root masees small and trees large. To remove the pot is a simple unwrap and no damage to the root system.
If you click the video with Kew you’ll see the situation.
Both showcase and discussion @PsillyRabbit ! IMO we can’t have one without the other.
They unroll and I wash mine with a scrub brush in my bathtub.
They also stack flat so I have all mine not in use on top of one of my 2x4 tents.
Since 2019! A local hydro supplier had them go on sale so I tried one… and now have dozens over the years…
The orange bottom pot is the king of autoflowers size!
Not at all! Actually as a plant pot goes these are the biggest blessing given to use for repotting! Just remove the plastic screws and unwrap your root mass!
I pack the bottom of my pot HARD and firm. Then I scrape/press the medium up and into all the sidewalls first. Then I fill the actual pot until it’s enough for me to add the plant.
Pressing the medium HARD into the base and the walls makes the water stay put. Additionally they are a pain to reyhydrate from the top if they dry out but are unbelieveable to soak up water/solution from the bottom if you need to saturate fast.
I also drop the base into the very last slot giving me more soil than they intended, and I leave a 1cm gap a the top which has the ring of NON PERFORATED NIPPLES so you can top water. This gap gets filled with rice-hulls and adds mulching effect, silica and top attack insect stopping.
I water SLOW, aiming at the base of the plant and often let a little soak down first before dumping the solution. It’s a wicking effect.
Do it if they are accessible and not overpriced! Most I know that tried them end up falling in love with the results.
I do the same thing with a soldering iron and 16 oz solo cups. Helps with air pruning and roots access to O2 but doesn’t have the full root pruning effect that the cones in the airpots do.
You’ll certainly notice a similarity though between your “Home-air-pots” and the trve ones. As an example, up potting from your homemade units prob has faster results than a normal pot… now with the air-pot that’ll be EVEN FASTER.
THANKS EVERYONE WHO’S SHOWING INTEREST! I know these things come across strange at first but seriously there’s reasons some of us swear by them.
This one is scaled down to 1L pots with 6x stations + top emitting drip feeders and I’ll be using a mix of coco coir + perlite .
Version 1.0 used a 5.6gal (blue bottom) Air-pot filled with a combo of coco chips, PromixBX, and perlite with a 10" net pot bucket lid that is filled with hydrotron as it’s bottom.
I water from the top but with enough overflow that the basin for each pot allows for the rootlets underneath to soak up the goodness at their own pace. I’ve been adding H0Cl to my nutrient solutions which helps keeps the salts in the solution vs just caking up these basins. It also means that the salts are accessible during this soaking period.
They do transpire though. I’m giving the 4 tall plants in the Salmon Creek Big Bud run 44oz of solution ever 2 days to get the runoff i’m talking about.
I did to but I did a test and the plant with the dropped tray was in fact bigger and beefier! I just had to make some slight adjustments with watering and all was good and I never went back.
It’s also nice to know the soil’s base is below the high-water mark on my basins so I can solely bottom feed if I should choose.
Ahh yes. I feel this and with my ADHD/OCD/Bipolar2 combo I have to suggest to you what worked for me:
1: Get over yourself. You don’t have to do this, you want to do this. So suck up and take the time needed to water appropriately or switch up how you water.
2: Good tunes or the OG podcast on in the background. With practice any task can become auto pilot. Tipping a can is no exception and with how I go about it i’m in auto pilot with a number count in my head to make sure I water every plant and i’m zoned out into the music or podcast. All of a sudden I count to the highest number and i’m done like I time travelled.
Seriously though with the “1” i’m not trying to bust your chops just take the piss. If you seriously can’t stand the time it takes to water slowly then look into these:
You can cut off the bottom of a water bottle, stick this on the end and then just fill it each watering session and then walk away. Mini drip systems with a watering can.
I use 30gallon fabric pots outdoors and in the peak of the summer it takes forever to water them saturated as if I pour too fast it’s all down and out the sides. I’m going to do something similar with buckets so I can dump 2 gallons of solution or water into the base of a plant and then get on with my life.
You could also probably just set up a flood and drain with soil? I do not actually know if that is a thing, but I see y’all with your drain trays and your handwatering and think about it often.
I swear growers are some of the most MacGyver mofo’s on the planet. while not an air pot I just made a little brother rez to my big boy for multiple options in the old grow but mainly for filling my 2g pump sprayer. But hey maybe I use it to drip feeds some air pots one day. Maybe I’ll buy some right now
I like them the one thing I will say is wrap them in tights/stockings that way they can breathe but prevents mess also helps if you make like a wee bowl in the soil so when you water it fills that Vs pissing over the sides you just water slightly slower Vs traditional pots they are definitely worth it if you have the space I can’t remember why but they do say water from the top only if you read through on there website I’ve heard some say they water from the bottom with no issues using em so idk there’s probably a reason why they say not to tho
Air-Pots are designed to prevent circling roots. Circling roots take a long time to develop in a standard nursery pot. The air hole openings in an Air-Pot kill growing root tips and that prevents the circling. Our Cannabis plants are short term plants.
I switched from 3 gallon black plastic nursery pots to Air-Pots several years ago and ran them for about a year. The Cost vs. Benefit was off. As already mentioned above watering can be problematic. The Air-Pots are out in the shed and I returned to the black nursery pots.
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while not an air pot I just made a little brother rez to my big boy for multiple options in the old grow but mainly for filling my 2g pump sprayer. But hey maybe I use it to drip feeds some air pots one day. Maybe I’ll buy some right now 
