Air pruning and Hydroponic Net Pots

[Ivan]

I am about to start using small 2" and 3" air pots to start seeds and grow my plants. I came across this by browsing and it has highly sparked my interest. This is the concept and where my starting point began.

http://air-pot.com/

Basically it will stop roots from circling around the pot and by "air pruning" it will promote a much larger and healthier root ball. I also think it will help to prevent over-watering.

Has anyone heard of this and has anyone tried this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitchen-Hydrofa ... K61PFQNXZ0

[Carl]

a number of UK botanical institutions use these specifically for growing tree's and they work well for that purpose as far as I have seen one thing I was told though is that they do not work well for plants which produce a large tap root.

[DaveW]

Not sure in principle they are much different to using Pond Pots I mentioned in the Schlumbergera thread. Whether they are cheaper I do not know.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... s&_sacat=0

Orchid baskets too are very similar, though usually a larger mesh size:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw= ... s&_sacat=0

I planted an Epiphyllum in a Pond Pot Carl and a stem appeared out one side of the pot through the netting and roots started to run along outside, therefore whether Epiphyllum's can be stoloniferous I still wonder! Maybe you could even grow epiphytes by initially tying them on the outside of a Pond Pot and just water the compost in the centre?

Obviously we are not talking of these pots being sunk under water in a pond, even though that was their original purpose for growing water Lilies etc, but used instead of normal flower pots for usually tree dwelling epiphytes to allow air to penetrate the compost better.

[Ivan]

I am having a tough time finding small pots around here except for the flower and vegetable seed starter which are very flimsy. As I read more about air pruning it peaked my interest. I found these at a hydroponic shop and they are sold as orchid pots but they are suited for a large number of growing conditions I guess. My thought was to line them with window screening just to keep soil from escaping but if there is enough kitty litter and grit I suppose there may not be enough any need for screening.

[ralphrmartin]

Good for some of the touchier small Schlumbergeras etc.

[DaveW]

Ivan got some more answers on CactiGuide, but I don't know if those pots are available here?

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... an#p321355