root pouch use - ease to relocate

10 years ago

Hi All:

I am in the Northeast so I will have to bring my trees in for the winter. By next fall my collection will include, lemon/lime, tangerine, kumquat, calmondin and 1 or 2 others.

I am building a 6'x6' indoor greenhouse out of 1" PVC so I can easily knock it down and set up season by season. Logistically and weight wize, I will need to limit the pot size to 10 - 15 gal.

I've seen these "root pouches" (at A.M. Leonard and others). They have a life cycle of up to 4-5 years and they air-prune the roots so there is less chance of root girdling.
The cost is ridiculously cheap, 10 gal at $2.50, 15 gal at $4.50 each &20 gal. at $ 5.90 each (in lots of 10).

They are: (a) light,(b) cheap, and (c) with a 4-5 year life they are just right for up-potting.

So what am I missing???
Mike

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Comments (13)

poncirusguy6b452xx
10 years ago
A link to the product so that our top citrus engineers can make a detailed functional analysis.
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mes111
Original Author
10 years ago
BELOW IS THE LINK TO THE SEARCH RESULTS PAGE ON GOOGLE.

The first on the Google page is A M Leonard

There are other outfits that sell these or similar types.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: ROOT POUCH SEARCH RESULTS
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poncirusguy6b452xx
10 years ago
I like the idea. Another brand is smart pots. These pots breath through their side so you will have to use a pot size of about 2 sizes up or a radius of 2 inches larger. This alone will prevent root rapping. If you over water, the water will drain through out the entire pot. When It gets hot and dry you can wrap the top half with plastic so the top drys out evenly with the bottom. I have debated on using these myself, but my plants are small enough that they would offer no advantage. I also have access to 55 gallon drums for free, and they make excellent pots for citrus trees. The downside can be from handles not being strong enough to handle the wait in time vs. Kilograms. They rot over time. They change shape as you move them and break plant roots. I use steel one gallon food cans from restaurants. They are free and they stack. to make up to 5 gallon containers.

{{gwi:39591}}
Pepper plants growing in stacks of 3 grew very well and were taken indoors before first frost. I got 50-70 fresh pepper up through christmas.

This works well for citrus. See youtube video of citrus and transplant of, using bottomless one gallon can planters

Otherwise I believe that these cloth pots are about the best way to go in wet weather areas like Cincinnati.

Click on link bellow and set at full screen. Film is done to real time and is 1.5 minutes in length.

Here is a link that might be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AkMFbhlgB0
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mes111
Original Author
10 years ago
P....

I think that the pouches will be easier for me to handle and move in and out.

Think I'll go with them in the spring unless I hear of some true negatives.

Mike
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tantanman
10 years ago
What am I missing?... Anything advertised as ECO-friendly should be a red flag. They seldom live up to claims.
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poncirusguy6b452xx
10 years ago
tantanman I am kind of skeptical of ECO items. My 48 MPG car lasted 250000 mile and died. It was 28 years old, BUT every penny I saved on fuel I spent on over priced parts for repairs. Great product design, low quality material and QC with super high priced parts. Citrus trees grafted to the easiest rootstock and sold in wrong area by nurseries. What have you experience In ECO trash. I am 100% ECO and I want it done RIGHT.
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mes111
Original Author
10 years ago
T
I am not doing it for any ECO reasons. I am only doing it for convenience. The way I see it is (1) overwatering is less of an issue because any excess will flow right out, (2) the pots are much lighter and will be easier for me to bring indoors in winter, especially with my bad back, (3) even if the pots only last 2 or 3 years instead of 4 or 5 years it is still good, (4) and I know from other plants that I have grown in the cloth pots that the roots do get air-pruned and don't girdle so no root bound problems.

I was just wondering if there was any problem using them on citrus.

Mike
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poncirusguy6b452xx
10 years ago
Go with the pots. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This will probably be the next great step in citrus up north. I can see no problem with citrus. You will get the same benifits I got from bottomless cans and they did the best.

Good luck
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orangelime1
10 years ago
Mes111 why would you want to build a greenhouse inside your home? With all these citrus trees you are planning to grow that little greenhouse will last maybe 2 years if .Citrus trees grow very rapidly.I have a 6x8 outdoor greenhouse and have totally out grown it , I will be shopping around for a larger one this spring.There are also other advantages to having a outdoor greenhouse .You can grow your tomatoes , green peppers , etc when you bring your citrus out in the spring.Vegetables do extremely well in green houses they grow more rapidly and there is no problem with pests.
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poncirusguy6b452xx
10 years ago
My indoor greenhouse is 4ft by 4ft by 9.5 ft tall. It make a world of a difference in how well things grow. When I put my tangerine trees in for the winter they ranged from 2FT to under 4 FT in lightly branched linear growth. From oct 15 to now the trees have from between 8 ft to 10 ft of well branched linear growth. It is modular and comes apart in about an hour. Next winter it will be 12 ft by 12 FT and will take about 4 hours to setup.

{{gwi:557507}}
Current setup as of mid november

I have a short video of what I am doing on Youtube. You can adapt what I have done to your specs. Click on the link and expand the 480P flic to full screen

Here is a link that might be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaASoeaBErs
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mes111
Original Author
10 years ago
Orangelime:

The only place I could possibly build an outdoor greenhouse gets NO sun in winter so it would be an icebox.

I have to bring the citrus in for the winter. The air inside the house gets quite dry. I plan on building a structure (greenhouse) from 1 inch PVC that I quickly set up and knock down as needed. This way I will be able to create a small volume micro-climate in the house for these. I can wrap it with a clear plastic film and better control the environment. I am also planning to start some indoor micro-greens for the winter.

By necessity, the trees will be kept small and I think that I can fit 6-8 comfortably and with some room for some cherry or grape tomatos.

A 6'x6' or 6'x8' should work.

Mike
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orangelime1
10 years ago
I thought that was the case.Mike look at we're I live no lie we have had tops 5 days of sun since November 1st I have never seen a winter like this. They are surviving on pure brightness of being outside . They used to sell a greenhouse about 10 years ago that was like a plastic tent I had one it was great while it lasted . Something like this would be great for you. It took 2 minutes to set up. You will need plastic grounding because citrus are very messy when they are flowering they sometimes produce a sticky substance that is very difficult to remove.Good luck it will probably be a challenge , it's a challenge for me this year.
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mes111
Original Author
10 years ago
Ora.., Pon..., Tan... :

WISH ME LUCK.

I am starting to cut PVC this week. Things are quiet at work in Jan & Feb and this will give me a chance to work out the kinks before next year.

Mike
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root pouch use - ease to relocate

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