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Smart pot Vs. Air pot Vs. Cheap azz pot...

I wonder if it's gonna be a little more difficult getting plant out of the air pot when you want to go to a bigger one.

if fact, it should be far easier and cleaner to pot up. if you look at the picture, you see the light blue connector, that is what holds the pot together. look just to the left of that connector and you can see how the male nipple folds into the female input to create the pot. so, when you buy an air pot, you are buying an open sheet of this material, you then assemble it into shape and use the blue connector to hold it together.

so, to pot up, i would think you would water throughly, to keep the soil together. then pull the blue connector and pop the male nipple out of the female connector and simply unwind the pot. you should be left with a sold mass of medium showing roots and a whole bunch of holes from where the female inputs once rested. you then get a larger strip of air pot material and circle it around the existing mass, connect it with the blue connector. then, fill in with fresh medium. the only small issue that exists is if tupper used the round base, if he did, he would have to lift the medium from the existing base and place it onto the round base meant for the larger pot size before wrapping with the new airpot material. but that is assuming the round base was used.

looks like a fun experiment.
 
No it unwinds... The hydro store is suppose to get some lil solo cup size airpots in, those would be a great help, pending cost. I hear smart pots makes a small starter with velcro down the side for that reason.
 
It comes with a round base... I plan on bringing it in if I have to. Both the air pot and the smart pot are outproducing the regular. I'm still waitin on it to recover, shoulda left damn well enough alone and let it sit out in the rain. I wanted to go by the hydro store and see if they got the lil starter air pots in, but had to work late. Maybe Monday....
 
you could always use coconut coir baskets for starters. they are very porous and should let ample air circulation. that way when you are ready to transplant you could either put the entire coir basket into the air pot or just cut it away. i am testing a 4" round coir and a 2.5" square coir with 2 pequins that i germinated. i put another pequin in hydro but as of right now the soils are winning the size race.
 
Hey there Tupper,

Just wondering what size those airpots are and what line they are from? I really want to try them but the 3.8 gal model for 'tomatoes and tender plants' is going for around $10 before shipping! Yours appear to be taller than the tomato line, and at $3.50 looks like a you got a steal of a deal.

Great thread btw, I can't wait to see some pepper production comparisons when they start fruiting
 
I guess there 3 gallon or so there Air pots. I got them at sunshine hydro here. I talked to the guy there today, and he is going to have the 1/2 liter started ones for me Wednesday. Man the air pot is doing best by far, I thought I had neem in one of my sprayers but it wasn't, and I cooked the one in the plastic pot... DOH!!! Well anyway the air pot and smart pot were way ahead of the plastic pot anyway. The airpot is growing faster than the smartpot as well. I have 4 ready for some starts I am going to see if i can keep alive til next season, but that's not too long here.

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Weather is finally 70/90 and things are really starting to take off. Kirk out...
 
The store I get them from is 3.50 a pot, not sure of their shipping, but man there workin overtime. Wife Parents use to live in Punta Gorda, and we always went down and I would bring ya a few on the way by... but no longer. They seem to be coming more mainstream, so keep your eye out.
 
Wow 3.50 isnt bad at all.
I usally go to Tampa off 56th and Busch blvd Graces Hydro Organic center Reall Nice people.
Family owned and run. They even keep their dog in the store.
I wanna try out the store you go to.
 
Gonna have to drive here...
http://www.tropicalhydroponics.net/index.ph I am near the Altamonte store...but call ahead, tomorrow, they are suppose to have the 1/2 liter starters for me, well time will tell...
 
Well the one in the plastic nursery pot has succumb to aphids, and stayin too wet, which was the biggest problem in the first place. The smart pot, is doin ok, it's not as wet, so it's still kickin a lil. The air pot has more than doubled in size, which has me leaning toward the air pot. i notices since I transplanted a fatalli into a smart pot, with transpiration, and evaporation I have to keep a saucer under it to keep it wet enough through out the day. The lower humidity, really sucks the water out quick, not so with the smart pot. The hydro guy said the small 1/2 liters are on back order so he'll let me know when they come in.
 
What's the biggest size air pot they make? I noticed a clear pattern in my pots being the bigger the better. Even 5 gallon pots don't seem to be big enough at times. My best producer this year was 2 choc habs that shared a single home made earthbox setup that was 30 gallons in size. So each plant had 15 gallons of grow space.
 
skys the limit, I think some one here used a 65 gallon. the gimmick is more growth and production from a smaller container... We'll see how it goes.
 
What's the biggest size air pot they make? I noticed a clear pattern in my pots being the bigger the better. Even 5 gallon pots don't seem to be big enough at times. My best producer this year was 2 choc habs that shared a single home made earthbox setup that was 30 gallons in size. So each plant had 15 gallons of grow space.

You can buy rolls of the air pot plastic in 1', 2' and 3' heights by 198'length , but they are outrageously expensive. 1'X198' is $600. worth it if you got the dough I guess

http://www.gpgardensupplies.com/airpotrolls.html
 
Air pots defiantly doin the best, but I Nuked um when the aphids started to eat um, so they are finally recovering. The air pot plant is twice as big as the smart pot. the smart pot defiantly drys out quicker too.
 
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