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air-pot benefits for pepper plants?

My OW in air-pots are all still alive and looking good. Most of the ones in normal pots are dead or dying... There were 10 plants in each of the two types.
 
Noah Yates said:
Air pots are amazing!!!! Especially the "super-roots air-pots."  There are multiple advantages to using them.  Firstly, air-pots allow for more drainage so that you can water your plants more often without them getting water-logged which basically turbo charges the plants.  Secondly, they provide more air to the roots and microorganism in the soil (roots breath oxygen)... this helps in the drying/drainage front as well as the third and arguably most awesome function of an air-pot and that is "self-pruning" of the plants roots.  In standard pots, your plant will put out large strands of roots that will seek the bottom of the pot.  However, these roots will invariably hit the side of the bottom and begin to circle around the bottom, wrapping around each other in a highly inefficient tangle of thick, ropey roots and will barely even try to put out latteral, fibrerous roots.  These fiberous roots are the ones that do all of the work.  They are the ones that form relationships with microbes in the soil and thereby feed.  They also take up most of the water.  In an air-pot, when your plant initially sends the ropey roots out they will not just go to the bottom at first.  They will go toward the sides... and once they "feel" the air, they will send a hormonal signal to the main tap root/stem and tell it to begin forming fiberous roots, as well as to send another primary root in the other direction... the second primary root does the same thing.... and this process continues rapidly, until you basically have a fractally uniform root system that is composed of an entire ubiquitous network of fiberous roots. 
Click to expand...
 
You still using any of these? They sure do look cool. Seems like they only come in black though!
 
Actually I have not used them in a few years...  These days I grow exclusively in-ground.  However, this season I do plan to have a few patio plants, and I will definitely be breaking them out!
 
If you're growing in a HOT climate the evaporative cooling will keep the roots at a happier temperature.  During the long weeks of 100F+ / 40C+ weather, my Wallybag plants grow significantly better than those in plastic or ceramic pots.
 
Right on! I'm going to look around see if anyone sells singles and grab me one of them just for the hell of it.
 
If your soil is higher around the edges making a bowl, it will be faster to fill and waste less water. Instead of 20 roots, you will have 100 roots for example. Roots will contact soil much more. More nutes for your peppers, and less heat stress cuzz they can take up water more easily. My best plants have been pruned ones. Especially if you plan on overwintering them and keeping for several years.
 
I use fabic pots which effectively do the same thing.  I did a mix/match on plants last spring and did find the plants in the fabric pots did far better than those in the standard containers. 
 
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