Superoots Air Pots -An Evolution in Containers

Great thread as always OB , thanks for stoping into my little visitors page and for the kind words. I would +rep ya but I can't again for probably a month lol but I'll keep trying!
 
Ask and ye shall recieve YBT!

Here we have 4 plants in my bloom hut and three are in Air Pots. The biggest one being the mama that kicked off this thread.
She's a biggin'. I've cut away at least a pound of under growth foilage and I had to tie down her main stock for a LST kinda deal to keep her up under the lights. She's finally starting to set her buds so hopefully her vertical growth will be a to a minimum from here on out. As you can see she is quite the unruly plant wanting to take over the entire bloom hut.

100_10391.JPG


100_1040.JPG


In the veg box we see two Yumbolt 47 seedling doing very well in 4"x6" Air Pots and the next round of White Widow clones are in 3 liter Air Pots.
100_10381.JPG


The transfer to Air Pots for every stage of growth in my garden is nearly complete. Only one plant remains that is not in an Air Pot and she is just weeks away from being chopped.
 
I completely agree that Air-Pots are the way to go.

My first grow, White Widow from seed, is finishing and although impressive, does not compare to what I'm seeing thus far in my second grow, White Rhino from seed and clones of the White Widow mother, to complete my legal room.

The first grow is in Smart Pots and organic soil that I mixed myself.

Since reading more, I realized that Fox Farm's Ocean Forest is the stuff. I am using that with the second grow. I have one White Rhino in a Smart Pot and another in an Air-Pot. I put Hydroton in the bottoms of the pots and filled with FF and perlite. A third surviving White Rhino is a mother.

The Air-Pot WR is absolutely amazing. It fights the Low Stress Training every step of the way. I feel like I'm wrestling a bear. The growth from the Air-Pot is probably 25% faster then in the Smart Pot. If I had a complaint from the Air-Pot, which I really don't, I'd say that LST is a bit more difficult with less soil surface on which to work. But the plant is so large now, it's easy to tie the growth tips to the sides of a milk crate, that I'm using as a Air-Pot holding chamber.

I wish I could find a local Air-Pot dealer, although the online site I bought mine from had awesome prices. Soon, Air-Pots will be the only container that I grow cannabis in. Definitely worth the investment.

I'll use the Smart Pots for over wintering tender oregano.

Thanks again OB for waking me up to these -
 
Today's conditions outside are 70 degrees and 20% humidity. Conditions in the vegging chamber is 78 degrees and 38% humidity.
The average conditions in the vegging chamber is 80 degrees and 48% humidity. I have the air system dialed in with the entrie grow room having a constant fresh air exchange and temps maintained at 70-87 degrees and 30-60% humidity.
Stay tuned because this test will run thru the Summer!:yummy::Rasta:
Roger beep !! I'll be watching with interest !!:surf::cool:
 
Have any of you run a side by side from start to finish with these against regular pots?

I am going to buy 6 of the 2 gallon ones for my next grow and compare them side by side with my square 3 gallon pots! Thanks for telling me about these, I love a good experiment.

Hi oks I don't think any of us have yet, but it will be coming soon. :grinjoint:
 
I completely agree that Air-Pots are the way to go.

My first grow, White Widow from seed, is finishing and although impressive, does not compare to what I'm seeing thus far in my second grow, White Rhino from seed and clones of the White Widow mother, to complete my legal room.

The first grow is in Smart Pots and organic soil that I mixed myself.

Since reading more, I realized that Fox Farm's Ocean Forest is the stuff. I am using that with the second grow. I have one White Rhino in a Smart Pot and another in an Air-Pot. I put Hydroton in the bottoms of the pots and filled with FF and perlite. A third surviving White Rhino is a mother.

The Air-Pot WR is absolutely amazing. It fights the Low Stress Training every step of the way. I feel like I'm wrestling a bear. The growth from the Air-Pot is probably 25% faster then in the Smart Pot. If I had a complaint from the Air-Pot, which I really don't, I'd say that LST is a bit more difficult with less soil surface on which to work. But the plant is so large now, it's easy to tie the growth tips to the sides of a milk crate, that I'm using as a Air-Pot holding chamber.

I wish I could find a local Air-Pot dealer, although the online site I bought mine from had awesome prices. Soon, Air-Pots will be the only container that I grow cannabis in. Definitely worth the investment.

I'll use the Smart Pots for over wintering tender oregano.

Thanks again OB for waking me up to these -


I can totally relate to your "wrestling a bear" description! I've had to tie down this big girls main branch to fit her under the lights and twice she has popped the velcro tie loose! She is the biggest plant I've ever grown indoors. She stands at 60" tall and 35" wide. If she was'nt tied down she would be about 70" tall. She is now going into her third week of flower.

100_10861.JPG


Have any of you run a side by side from start to finish with these against regular pots?

I am going to buy 6 of the 2 gallon ones for my next grow and compare them side by side with my square 3 gallon pots! Thanks for telling me about these, I love a good experiment.

The only side by side tests that I've done are two White Widow sisters with one in a 5 gallon bucket and one in a 5.2 gallon Air Pot. The Air Pot plant doubled up her sister in just a few weeks and now that they are both in flower the Air Pot plant is 4 times the size of her sister.
Another side by side was when I vegged 9 WW clones with 7 in regular nursery pots and 2 in Air Pots. The Air Pot Clones doubled up their sisters in the nursery pot in the same time period.
The Air Pot clones are the two biggins' on the left.

100_08943.JPG


Today those two clones 30 days after the above pic are are standing at 35" tall and 20" across for both of them and they have now been in flower for two weeks.

100_10872.JPG


Although there is certainly nothing universal with my grow space this test grow was mainly done for me to see if I can use these pots in the temperate climate I live and still have success.
Unlike Setting Suns LED test grow (which by the way was one of the best ever!) there was no way I could ever take the grower out of the equation because I needed to know if the Air Pots would work for me and my techniques.
Because of the pricing I would recommend to any grower considering making the move to Air Pots to just buy a few to start and get the hang of using them. That way the grower can see if there is a significant advantage to using them and by just using a few at first the grower can get aquainted to using the new pots. Watering techniques and frequency of watering will change drastically compared to standard pots. Plus my Air Pot plants are feeding at twice the normal rate of fertilizer. For me there was indeed a learning curve with these pots and I'm glad I started off with the one and gradually built up to the entire garden using Air Pots.
Now there is no way I'll ever go back to using buckets or nursery pots. IMO, No other container even comes close to performing like an Air Pot.

If I do any other side by side comparison it will be an Air Pot plant/garden vs a Hydroponic or Aeroponic plant/garden. I've been thinking of this because I believe the Air Pots will outperform a hydro set up. No grower in his right mind would ever think an organic soil grow could out perform a hydro garden but I believe that is about to change.

On another interesting note. The two Yumbolt seedlings are keeping pace with six clones in the veg station. Never before have I seen a plant started from seed grow as fast and large as a clone in the early stages of life.
 
Update time on the Yumbolt seedlings!

In a 17 day time span the two Yumbolt 47 seedlings have emerged from seedling stage and are now young plants in an aggressive vegative growth pattern.
They are now 3 weeks old and ready to transplant.

000_00562.JPG


The two plants were removed from the 4"x6" pot the same way transplanting was described earlier in this thread.

These two pics show the root structure of the young ladies.
OMM, the first pic is for you buddy! You can see the U of H love on my greenhouse door.

101_00031.JPG


101_0004.JPG


You can see how I used a single layer of hydroton in the bottom of the pots to prevent extreme soil run off.
After a test with some berry plants it seems that the hydroton is unnecessary. It sounds weird but soil does not pour out of the wide open screens over time. You just have to really pack the soil in the pot the way Superoots describes in their instructions.

101_0005.JPG


And Voila! There you have it! The two plants are seated comfortably in their new two gallon pots and will continue to mature.
The taller of the two will be moved outdoors in the coming days and the squattier one will donate some clones in the next couple weeks and then be moved to flower indoors. The best of her clones will become the new mother plant in my garden. :rollit:
 
My early veg comparison, Smart Pot vs Air-Pot, with the White Rhino from seed shows that the Air-Pot growth is overwhelmingly superior. The seedlings looked identical before being added to the pots. I think the WR in Air-Pot plant is ready to walk itself to the flowering room!!

I tossed out the connecting keys (DOH) for my 16L Air-Pots, so more are on order. Once those arrive, I'll transfer seedlings into flowering sized containers; compare the Smart Pot vs Air-Pot with some White Widow clones.

I am predicting that the Air-Pot will win out again.

I am going to flower in the 5 gallon Smart Pot and 16L Air-Pots, so I can roughly check any yield differences.

Peace!! :thanks:
 
those pics look crazy. the soil looks like a pineapple.lol. have you flowered any girls under these air pots? do u think they yield allot more then regular pots?

High Irishboy!,
The first three airpot plants are in flower now and have been in there for only three weeks. It's hard to tell what the end results will be compared to past harvests but i think the improvement will come in a more robust harvest on all levels. The plants look very healthy with uniform development from head to toe.

Honestly I'm anticipating the harvest from the big mama plant just as much I'm looking forward to rinsing off her rootball to see how it grew over these several months!:peace:
 
High Irishboy!,
The first three airpot plants are in flower now and have been in there for only three weeks. It's hard to tell what the end results will be compared to past harvests but i think the improvement will come in a more robust harvest on all levels. The plants look very healthy with uniform development from head to toe.

Honestly I'm anticipating the harvest from the big mama plant just as much I'm looking forward to rinsing off her rootball to see how it grew over these several months!:peace:

for sure. cant wait to see those root balls and the formation
 
Hi OB:ganjamon: Yep, good old Local Motion Cool! :bravo:

Thanks for doing the Hydroton experiment. I almost did it myself. That's proof positive that AirPots do not need them. The soil really doesn't come out the bottom as one might think, it stays in just fine.:ganjamon:

I usually put Hydroton in my regular pots for more oxygen. I fill the top of the pot. I started to do it with the AirPots. Then it hit me, AirPots don't need any extra oxygen . That's why they have that name. A sure dumb moment for me.:yahoo:

Keep up the good work OB!:ganjamon:

Damn near forgot, I gave you a much deserved +rep!
 
Hi OB:ganjamon: Yep, good old Local Motion Cool! :bravo:

Thanks for doing the Hydroton experiment. I almost did it myself. That's proof positive that AirPots do not need them. The soil really doesn't come out the bottom as one might think, it stays in just fine.:ganjamon:

I usually put Hydroton in my regular pots for more oxygen. I fill the top of the pot. I started to do it with the AirPots. Then it hit me, AirPots don't need any extra oxygen . That's why they have that name. A sure dumb moment for me.:yahoo:

Keep up the good work OB!:ganjamon:

Damn near forgot, I gave you a much deserved +rep!

Thanks OMM! You know I had a moment of clarity yesterday after I posted the pics and really studied them on why the soil does not run off. It's simple really now that I think about it. It's the roots! The roots are acting as a basket keeping the soil well packed and in place.
It's working just like in nature when roots from grass and plants prevent erosion on a hillside when it rains.
California's coastal region is a great example. When that area of the state suffers a massive fire that burns away all of the vegatation the only thing that's left is a scorched Earth hillside. In the Winter time when the heavy rains hit that same hillside will sometimes have a landslide because there is no vegatation to hold the dirt in place.
AirPots work the same way. Fill one up with dirt and no plant. Apply water and watch the water and soil wash away out of the bottom. Add a plant to the equation and no more wash out!:yummy:
 
Hi Orangeblood you have your hands full with all the threads you are working. I love the Air Pots and am looking into buying some. Thanks for all the work you put into the site members here make 420Mag the best on the Web.
 
Just last night, I transferred White Widow clones from three Air-Pots and four Smart Pots, into their vegging containers (16L Air-Pots and 5 gallon Smart Pots).

I noticed that the clones in the 3L Air-Pots had MUCH better root development then those in the 1 gallon Smart Pots. In fact, all of the Smart Pot clones had their surrounding dirt mass disintegrate during transfer, even though I was trying to be very careful, like root development had not yet progressed to the top layer of soil. The Air-Pot clones all had roots growing out the bottom. Not sure it matters, but it seems like it should.

I even had a clone in a Smart Pot that had only slight hairs for roots. The three Air-Pots clones had root development like in OBs photo.

Each time I see the growth in these Air-Pots, I am simply amazed.:yahoo:

Peace
 
Hi Orangeblood you have your hands full with all the threads you are working. I love the Air Pots and am looking into buying some. Thanks for all the work you put into the site members here make 420Mag the best on the Web.

Thanks Wingman! Glad to have you here and welcome to the revolution!:welcome:

Just last night, I transferred White Widow clones from three Air-Pots and four Smart Pots, into their vegging containers (16L Air-Pots and 5 gallon Smart Pots).

I noticed that the clones in the 3L Air-Pots had MUCH better root development then those in the 1 gallon Smart Pots. In fact, all of the Smart Pot clones had their surrounding dirt mass disintegrate during transfer, even though I was trying to be very careful, like root development had not yet progressed to the top layer of soil. The Air-Pot clones all had roots growing out the bottom. Not sure it matters, but it seems like it should.

I even had a clone in a Smart Pot that had only slight hairs for roots. The three Air-Pots clones had root development like in OBs photo.

Each time I see the growth in these Air-Pots, I am simply amazed.:yahoo:

Peace
The root growth is insane! I was shocked to see how those roots on the two Yumbolts were so prolific. They grow like they are on a mission. The buds on the WW are swelling daily at fast rate and they're already frosting up. Every night when I open the tent door is like Christmas morning and I'm 8 yrs old.:ganjamon:
 
Back
Top Bottom