I think I'm done with Smart Pots

Blazer420 said:
Let me start off by saying that I think that Smart Pots and their ilk are a good idea and certainly have their place. I think I have been using them for 3 years now and they have served me well - most of the time.

Like many things, they have their pros and cons. I think they are great for the beginning and novice grower. They really do protect you from some really common mistakes like over watering, or bad soil, no root binding, etc.

That said, I'm moving back to plastic pots.

Recently, I had a problem with a non-ph potassium lockout. I think that the mechanism (and what makes Smart Pots a decent option) of action of a Smart Pot was at least indirectly to blame. More on that in a moment.

Here is why I'm going back to plastic:

  • Significantly more water consumption
  • Uneven watering - water can and will hit the sides and run out the pot
  • Uneven drying - the airflow through the pot can dry soild faster in some areas
  • They get "sloppy" during the grow - i.e. there is a lot of movement of the pot and the soil/plant because the pot isn't rigid
  • Corrective flushing is hard - water just flows out everywhere instead of evenly top to bottom
  • I believe that because of the uneven drying, you can easily get concentrated nute pockets with no water to act as a carrier to roots

Maybe I'm completely off my rocker with this, but at this point in my growing life, I think I have just "out grown" Smart Pots. Like I said above, I think they are a good thing overall, they just don't fit my needs anymore.

B-
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I share your same observations... I started in plastic pots, moved to fabric "smart pots" and then back to plastic for the same reasons you mentioned. I did get significantly larger yields with the fabric pots over the plastic ones, but it could have been strain related or many other factors as well effecting the yields.

I too didn't like how the fabric pots let water all out the sides, and also had uneven watering. After a cycle they were really tough to clean out all of the salt residue left in the fabric where plastic is much easier to keep clean.

For outdoor or a grow with a nice flood to drain the fabric pots might be nice, but for my indoor grow tent, they were messy :)
 
Fabric pots really do shine outdoors. They are great in the nursery. They are used with great success indoors if attention to watering and trays are vigilant. They store well and last for years. I love them. I like plastic pots in the grow tent for the reasons mentioned already, above, of easier, even watering and easy cleaning, I still use both, inside and outdoors. Starting and growing vigorous root systems that are a spongy ball and not a wrap, that transplant easily, when growing certain species for transplant, a year or several later, that do not transplant easily when grown in a solid pot or dug/bagged/balled, is one advantage of the bags. They can be used as hole liners in the field, or often just grown over ground cloth and mulched between. When using the bags inside , I find an even and slow top watering over a shallow retaining tray works well, the medium must be uniform and does not work as well using very light mixes ,containing very large percentages of drainage materials. The mediums used as soil should be uniformly and well dampened before the bag or pot is filled, for best results for me. I find the artificial root container that supports the plant, is less important, than the material inside it, usually! I would not try and grow Hempy style with fabric bags! Temper your soil/medium to the grow and that includes to the container used, when applicable. I often use a faster draining mix in plastic, indoors especially. Organic soil mix grows, tailored for the conditions/containers do well in either style of containers, while both(plastic pots/bags) may have difficulties without those considerations. I prefer organic cannabis. The easy way for me, is quality compost in a container, better yet out in the garden (if possible))! Happy trails fellow gardeners!
 
I user these risers
HGC725683-01_352x192.jpg


they sit inside a tray so the bottom of the smart pot never sits in the water. Plus if you are an LST'er like me, this gives you tie down areas on the risers to LST the plants. If you are watering in the smart pot, and the water comes out the sides instead of down into the plant, then I would suggest you dont have enough dirt packed in there.

As far a fungus or mold, after each grow throw the pots in the washer with hot water and give them a good washing. My washing machine has a sanitize option so thats what I do.

a couple of good pokes in the soil ( I use a pencil) to get the water down to the roots.
 
Growdad420 said:
If you are watering in the smart pot, and the water comes out the sides instead of down into the plant, then I would suggest you dont have enough dirt packed in there.
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That too, but usually I would advise in that situation that you are watering too fast, especially at first. Once the soil starts absorbing water and falling toward the bottom because of gravity, the suction that causes will also help pull the water straight down. I have no problems with water coming out of the sides, and as a matter of fact, when I first start watering a dry container, i spread a small amount of water out across the entire top surface and carefully send some down the edges to start expanding the soil there.... the next pass I hit it pretty hard, and the water no longer even tries to come out of the side.
 
I have Air-Pots inside of fabric bags cause of the soil running out the holes. Keeps the bottom of tent cleaner. Pulled the top of bags down to let the air in the holes of the plastic. Just pulled the plants down to the bamboo using pipe cleaners. Wait n see. This thread was started years ago. What was used back then for smart pots?
 
Tennessee Tim said:
Fabric pots really do shine outdoors. They are great in the nursery. They are used with great success indoors if attention to watering and trays are vigilant. They store well and last for years. I love them. I like plastic pots in the grow tent for the reasons mentioned already, above, of easier, even watering and easy cleaning, I still use both, inside and outdoors. Starting and growing vigorous root systems that are a spongy ball and not a wrap, that transplant easily, when growing certain species for transplant, a year or several later, that do not transplant easily when grown in a solid pot or dug/bagged/balled, is one advantage of the bags. They can be used as hole liners in the field, or often just grown over ground cloth and mulched between. When using the bags inside , I find an even and slow top watering over a shallow retaining tray works well, the medium must be uniform and does not work as well using very light mixes ,containing very large percentages of drainage materials. The mediums used as soil should be uniformly and well dampened before the bag or pot is filled, for best results for me. I find the artificial root container that supports the plant, is less important, than the material inside it, usually! I would not try and grow Hempy style with fabric bags! Temper your soil/medium to the grow and that includes to the container used, when applicable. I often use a faster draining mix in plastic, indoors especially. Organic soil mix grows, tailored for the conditions/containers do well in either style of containers, while both(plastic pots/bags) may have difficulties without those considerations. I prefer organic cannabis. The easy way for me, is quality compost in a container, better yet out in the garden (if possible))! Happy trails fellow gardeners!
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I should of mentioned, I usually use(for indoor cannabis) a large plastic flood tray under the grow bags and allow the excess to run off after a short time, to allow water to re-absorb from the bottom, if needed. I sometimes, use very shallow trays under individual pots. Fully and tightly filling the bags with your grow mixture, is always a better!
 
Finnicki said:
I have Air-Pots inside of fabric bags cause of the soil running out the holes. Keeps the bottom of tent cleaner. Pulled the top of bags down to let the air in the holes of the plastic. Just pulled the plants down to the bamboo using pipe cleaners. Wait n see. This thread was started years ago. What was used back then for smart pots?
Click to expand...
"smart" pots (fabric bags of recycled plastics and other fibers, that encourage roots to branch out feeder roots ,instead of circling) have been in use for a long time, now! I was using them 20 years ago. When this thread started , many had been using what became known as "smart pots" for years. Pot growers were a bit slow to find them.
 
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