I got some first-hand evidence of how the Smart Pots seem to work. I had transplanted a Quercus michauxii seedling around April 1 into a Smart Pot. It was bitten off by a critter this weekend, so I decided (since I have more michauxii seedlings than I need anyway) to just sacrifice it, and dump and check out the root system. There was one long, slightly "thick" root going down at an angle off the air-pruned tip of the taproot that had reached the bottom and worked its way into the fibers. The root had not emerged from the outside of the pot, but instead seems to have gotten "stuck" there. No side roots had branched off of this particular root yet, but I imagine that the Smart Pot works both by airpruning AND 'trapping' of the root tip.

Usually just the tips and not more that 1/3 the length when pushing it from what I've heard. If any are diseased, just keep the healthy parts. As for fitting them through all the holes, l'm not so sure about that. It is better to mostly get the roots to chase the water IMO. Just putting the roots in the net pot with a medium like expanded clay (hydroton) should do much of the trick since it wets by itself wicking solution up when barely sitting in the top of the water level. You don't want to drown roots, especially those injured from cutting and having a lot in the more oxygenated medium is better than under water - by far. Others may have better experience with what to do with the roots for a big plant, but I would prefer to cut out part of the bottom nd bring a braid of fluffed out root if I had no other choice, and let the plant do the rest. Since you may have a large plant it might be more complicated. Maybe a different medium like a simple perlite bag system, but that's just mulling. My experience was with different plants and although the roots served their purpose initially, my plants eventually developed new white roots and the older ones eventually dissolved away anyway in a great part which as old organic matter provided microbe food, especially those that were under the water level. But I'm just one data point...

A little more information would be useful, is the system inside or outside, how many plants do you have in the tote, how deep is the tote. As the roots are only 2" below the netpots for now, the plants will be relying heavily on the water stored in the hydroton, as the hanging roots get longer they will need more frequent flooding (maybe every 30 minutes) to prevent them drying out between floods. The tap roots will eventually reach the water but the roots in mid air will only have the water coating them and excess water from the hydroton running down them after each flood cycle. This post was edited by hex2006 on Mon, May 26, 14 at 20:43

Net pots support the plant and allow plant roots to grow through the net so they can get oxygen. Net pots need to be big enough for the roots & strong enough to support the plant weight. The mesh of the net pot is also important a smaller mesh allows one to use media with small particles whereas a large mesh will need a media with larger particles. Net pot liners may be added, however, to contain the media. When placing pots in a system, they should sit ¼ of their depth in water. Home or cheaper versions of net pots include strawberry baskets, small fish nets, Styrofoam cups with slits on the bottom, or plastic cups with holes placed in them by a soldering iron, etc.