Re-potting into Air Pots
stickstring ( Sonoma County, CA 9B)
9 years ago
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halocline
9 years agostickstring ( Sonoma County, CA 9B)
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Turn air pruning pots into self watering/air pruning pots?
Comments (1)Hey dude, absolutely, the way to do it is create a wicking bed underneath the pot. You can use pretty much anything that's a few inches deep. I did a quick search for "wicking smart pot" and came up with the link below (it's for growing weed) but applies to veggies and more -- you set the smart pot on top of a wicking substrate like perlite, pumice or a capillary mat and the water will be pulled up towards the plant. The pot doesn't sit in the water, rather there's a inch or so of air between the water level and the pot, allowing water to be pulled up by the plant as needed. You can also create a float valve system tied to a hose so that when the water level goes down below a certain point, it triggers the valve and lets more water in. These are used all the time in rain gutter grows. I'm going to do it with my veggies in Root Pouches and $1 oil drip trays from the dollar store. Finally, wicking systems (like Earthtainers and Earth Boxes) only really work for one grow season. And they only work with normal soil mix, not 5-1-1 or gritty. For growing veggies in one season, self wicking is fantastic. For trees and perennials, go with a drip system, otherwise you run into all kinds of issues such as decomposing mix, severe salt buildup and more. Hope that helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Self Wicking Smart Pots...See MorePotting Soil versus Potting Mix - clarity re confusion
Comments (22)Thank you. You all have been so helpful. I have gleaned new and useful information. I have 7 bands that are potted in the local nursery's organic potting soil with the ingredients listed above. The next 8 bands will be potted this evening in the Miracle Gro with moisture control. These bands have been received anywhere from 5 - 8 days apart. I am really curious to see what the difference will be between the bands that arrived last week to those arriving this week. The ones planted in organic planting soil will receive a very weak dose of fish emulsion every Sunday. The M.G. plants will receive water. Roseseek, thank you for the information and the images:) Again, Thank you all:) Lynn This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Fri, Jul 19, 13 at 19:26...See Morerooting pots/air pots
Comments (3)Campanula, I just came from a nut producers' meeting this weekend. A commercial nursery there grows his trees in root maker pots and he likes them. The alternative, for him, was a nursery bed and then digging them at sale size and leaving a lot of the roots behind. For a home grower, such as myself, milk jugs are fine. There was no difference in size between his trees at the same age as mine. I will not be leaving roots in the grow out bed either, as I will just cut the milk jugs and plant the whole root mass. I may have to uncoil the tap root from the bottom of the pots, but this only takes a moment for each one and allows me to plant at any time of the year as the roots are long enough to reach water. I don't have to wait for the fall rains, or figure out how to carry enough water once a week on very hilly, very forested land. I do have to dig a deeper hole, but I don't mind, since I am close to my woods and can plant a few trees each trip. It will depend on how you want to handle things and how much rain you can expect after planting. Roots formed in rootmaker pots can collect water from the top few inches of soil, very well, but are not long enough to establish in open ground without regular watering....See MorePotting into Air Pots, root length question
Comments (5)Nick, I would prune the roots if they are longer than the pot from top to bottom. If they are longer from center to outer edge, I would angle them down into the container, like lava running down a mountain. Trim them to fit, but don't take off too much - Citrus don't handle drastic root-pruning as well as other species. Josh...See Morehalocline
9 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
9 years agostickstring ( Sonoma County, CA 9B)
9 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
9 years agostickstring ( Sonoma County, CA 9B)
9 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
9 years agomeyermike_1micha
9 years agostickstring ( Sonoma County, CA 9B)
9 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
9 years agomeyermike_1micha
9 years agostickstring ( Sonoma County, CA 9B)
9 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
9 years agomyermike_1micha
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7 years agohalocline
7 years agomyermike_1micha
7 years agoMonyet
7 years agoMonyet
7 years ago
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