Very Nice!
I love them, i got some brains in the 3.4 gallon that are going great, here is my roots from some of my plants when i started them in the 1l pots while back.
Where's the best cheapest to get air pots. In almost sold
Good thread. I like the time lapse comparison pictures.
I don't think it has been mentioned so far that the air pruning pots are designed to increase lateral root growth. From what I read about them, when the root tip dehydrates in the air holes and dies, new lateral roots sprout out producing a denser root ball. Vs normal smooth walled pots where all the root growth energy is directed into the root tip seeking out new space - ie circling the pot.
The end result is a larger root surface area, a better root distirbution and a more efficient root system at absorbing nutrients and air.
These air pots were designed for starting trees so that when they are transplanted into the landscaping project they don't suffer transplant shock. Trees started in normal pots get large roots circling the pot and take a while to adapt to transplant.
The website selling them I saw states that a normal plant potted into these pots as its final position would not see a huge difference against a normal smooth walled pot. Logically the science implies that if you have a good airy soil mix and feed the plant the best quality feed it can get then the air pots and normal pots will see the same results.
However I believe the airpots increase the margin of error you have in correctly feeding and making a soil mix. They do this by maximising the ability for oxygen to get in, and the amount of root absorption sites.
So yes they are great for getting a seedling off to a great start and giving it every chance for its next transplant into ground. Probably not really necessary if you do everything else right with your chilli peppers.
I'm going to try and find some of the fabric ones for a few plants, but I'm hoping for 100 to 200 plants this season and so most will be in the 49cent 9 litre plastic buckets with holes drilled in the bottom.
Keep up the update photos.
You had much better results?