Air Pruning Pots , Are they worth it?

I go into detail explaining my position on air pruning containers.

[@nateross14]

I Make my own air pruning /water wicking containers for fruit trees and container food growing using 55 gal plastic barrels cut in half to make two 27.5 gal containers. I make a water reservior with an air gap on the bottom using whatever I have on hand such as black plastic corrugated pipe, milk jugs, plastic bottles, etc. Then I just make a breathable grow bag out of landscape weed barrier fabric (the plastic kind that won't decompose) and as an extra layer of structure for the DIY grow bag, I wrap that orange plastic fencing material with the 2" square holes around the outside of the bag. Then I just put the grow bag assembly inside the half barrel and I cut a pool noodle into vertical sections about 1.5" wide strips to act as spacers all around the grow bag to kee it away from the sides of the barrel and maintain an air gap. The main thing with air pruning containers is they have a much higher total water evaporation surface area and use significantly more water. The nice thing about using plastic barrels with a breathable growbag inside with an air gap all around it, is that the top of the air gap can be sealed with foam or a gasket of some type to contain and reduce moisture loss from the sides of the grow bag. Obviously, this will make the air gap extremely humid, which might allow roots to grow into the air gap, but a small air vent to get the air humidity to the right level to allow air pruning could be moderated. Or the air gap could just be left open 8 months of the year and then only sealed to conserve water 3-4 months during Summer when water loss is at its highest, which should allow effective air root pruning most of the year. If any roots did grow into the humid air gap over Summer, the pool noodle spacers could jusl be removed and then a machete or some long knife could quickly be used to go around in the air gap to quickly and easily trim any root growth without removing the bag. I doubt this would be necessary and roots probably wouldn't grow into the air gap, but just thinking through potential issues/solutions if that did happen. I think DIY breathable grow bags inside a plastic container with spacers for an air gap is a pretty easy, inexpensive, and effective solution for air pruning. I've made a few this last week and now just have to grow in them this season to see how they perform according to my expectations. I'm extremely confident it will work as intended.

[@geriannroth449]

I use old washing machine drums as my air pruning pots the holes in these drums are small enough to Not really let the soilmix come out or cause any major drying out of the growing medium if you want you could paint them white to reduce heat build up. So far it's been working for the fruit trees I've grown in them & in the sunny Caribbean.

[@sambo4926]

I really appreciate this video. I have had some questions that you have answered about these particular pots so thanks a ton bro. I subscribed and look forward to watching more of your videos.

[@Morntong]

To remove plants from pots, place your hand on the top of the soil with your fingers around the stem. Turn upside down. Take a short, heavy stick and gently tap upwards on the downturned top edge of the pot. You are just hitting the pot itself up and away from the root ball, which should fall into your hand. You might instead carefully tap the edge of the upside down pot on the edge of a bench or similar and the root ball should fall into your hand. Thanks for the vid.

[@nateross14]

I have another idea to try for a simple DIY air pruner pot.......Just wrap the inside of any plastic pot/container /half barrel with 1"-1.5" thick breathable matress foam, and then carefully fill with growing medium so as to not to overly squash the foam so it can maintain loft and air inside it. Matress foam easily compresses when a lot of weight is pressed on a focused point, but its can withstand alot of weight with minimal compression when the weight is spread out over its entire surface area evenly such as a pot filled with soil. The bottom of the container would need some sort of plastic grate for an air gap as foam would get squashed on the bottom, but foam would work well around the sides. Any excess moisture that gets in the foam will just gravity drain down to the bottom. My main concern would be any type of fire retarding chemicals in the foam so I'd have to research that or source untreated foam.

[@chatzoo8189]

The video I'm looking for , thanks

[@whiterabbit3073]

Thank you for this movie i decided to buy 18 of air pots

[@jksatte]

I never saw the first pot before. They look really high tech.

[@tonnysenioranthony4251]

nice trick with the cotton chord

[@tomatito3824]

Wicking aire prune pods. Genius!

[@cheebacheeo5876]

If you'd like to experiment with these pots for preventing them to dry that fast, you could try to make a fabric case around them... Using the fabric that is ment to be used in gardening. Don't know the name of the fabric but you probably know. It is quite durable, easy to sew and it breath. Try and share your thoughts about it :)

[@ksionc100]

I was hoping for a comparison video where someone takes a plant out of an air pot container and another plant of the same species out of a regular container and then washes off the soil to see the difference in root system.

[@sr448]

im love airpot😍

[@Raz0rking]

I had a bunch of em last year and boy, were they a pain to water. Either you got a drip irrigation that does it slowly or you need to put em in a bucket so the soil absorbs the water, because with a hose or can you waste so much water. I have no possibility to make an irrigation, so I had to resort to buckets and that took ages with 30 plants to water. edit; Should have watched longer. Using a cotton rope had not even occured to me. It blows my mind!

[@synapsetimelapse]

for the blueberries or other woody perennials/fruit trees, what kind of soil did you use in them? Just regular soil? and what is on the bottom? does the tap root go into the ground or are they open on the bottom as well?

[@TheHivefl]

I use a basic fine textured potting mix. Something with coconut coir is good for these because it is somewhat fibrous. The thing on the bottom is a wick that goes up into the soil so wick water into the soil mix. The roots do no come out far, they get air pruned. That is the point if these containers.

[@radboater]

can you link the root maker tray kit you got on Amazon? I can't find it. What's the Amazon name of the product?

[@timothydobson4657]

very thorough analysis, though a bit on fabric would have helped. Nonetheless, you were clear that fabric had enough vulnerabilities, especially for long term use, that the rigidity of thick plastic corrugation and air holes produced superior results. My question was using for longer term tree growth, and air-pot format seemed better, though more costly. Fabric might be fine for short term produce - not as good for trees in heavy soil placed on the ground. self watering wicking was the other question I had which you and a few others tested and verified. The reservoir tray may produce stragler roots but they are easily hand pruned. Just let the tray dry out alternately to dry air prune the roots before restoring bottom watering. The large blueberry pots are evident of the long term applications.

[@nateross14]

Landscape weed barrier fabric that is made from plastic fibers will last a long time as an air pruner grow bag if you wrap the outside of it with orange plastic fencing (with the 2" square holes) and then put the grow bag inside a plastic container with an airgap and spacers around the growbag.

[@VirtualR]

They are excellent for all types of plants, price is a lot cheaper these days than a few years ago since they are more common now. Really not much difference from regular pot prices now, about 20%-25% more expensive

[@rsobral560]

If i drill holes on the side of my normal square pots will they work for air pruning or not ?

[@jeffmosier3145]

Have you or do you know when using the clothesline for wicking water into the pots. Can you fertilize the water and have it wick up and feed the plant? Or do you just fert from the top with water when it's time to feed?

[@TheHivefl]

Excellent question. I have pondered the same thing. I will just feed from the top with a water bottle with pin holes in the lid. I bet it would work if you had a good water soluble feed.

[@geriannroth449]

Where can i purchase these rootmaker pots?

[@johntc7442]

Do you put potting soil or native soil? Did you have fruit tree roots out grow the pot? Thank you.

[@TheHivefl]

Always use a fine textured potting mix. If you containers do not have good air flow underneath them and humidity is high, roots can grow out the bottom for sure. If air flow is good this won’t happen. Even if it does, resort air flow and they will desiccate.

[@katiecannon8186]

What kind of blue berries do you have? Sorry if you said and I missed it.

[@TheHivefl]

Spring high and kestrel

[@sadoldgit313]

Pond baskets achieve exactly the same result for a fraction of the price!

[@Lay_grew_it]

Mine were only $7.99 they’re not expensive

[@crazysquirrel9425]

I have the 7 gal air pruning pots. Not seeing any real benefit to them. I do see a problem though. They are black. When sun hits the black plastic, it heats up the soil. In mid summer when it is roasting hot outside and the blazing sun beats down on those pots, the soil temperatures can get high enough to kill roots on the side of the pot facing the sun. One of my 'pineapple' type air pruning pots I checked today was 107.3 deg F. And that is part sun too. Laundry basket types were about 10-15 deg F lower in temperature. A cheaper version of an air pruning pot is get 2 round laundry baskets from a dollar store. Invert one and cover with window screen or weed block. Invert the 2nd one and place over the first one. Place both together right side up and trim off excess screen/weed block. Be sure there is drainage in the bottom. Fill with POTTING SOIL. Plant your seeds. Tip: Get a NEW round oil change pan. Place that laundry basket air pruning pot in the oil change pan. Water only from the oil change pan. You may add a water soluble fertilizer there too according to package directions. Oh a 5gal bucket will fit nicely in that oil change pan (be certain of drain holes in the 5 gal bucket!) A 5 gal air pot (bucket) works well too. This gives three benefits - Sub irrigation and air to the roots. And if there is standing water in the pan, crawling insects don't like to swim! Those laundry baskets last from one to 3 years. If you buy a Rubbermaid brand they can last a lot longer. I have used both landscape fabric (weed block) and plastic window screen. From my experience the window screen works better. Weed block is much cheaper. You could use copper window screen but that costs an arm and a leg IF you can even find any. I do not suggest steel or galvanized. A word of warning: You risk mosquitoes if you have standing water in that drain pan for more than a few days. Mosquito eggs can survive months in dry conditions. Generally you fill the drain pan when the water runs out. And only fill it 1/2 way unless your experience shows otherwise. The laundry basket type is CHEAP compared to the root trainer air pruning pots. I have even used new plastic 30 gal trash cans for raised bed garden. Had to drill some 1" or so holes in a few places on the sides and a hole in the bottom for drainage. I fill those 1/2 way with fall leaves, then potting soil on top. It can compost the leaves at the same time as holding moisture. Double duty if you will. Oh and NO BENDING OVER to maintain the plant or harvest. They will be quite heavy though so choose a location for the season so you don't have to move it.

[@TheHivefl]

You do need address heating with any container. These container do indeed dry faster which I addressed in the video. A combination of sub irrigation and air pruning is ideal. Laundry baskets with screen/landscape fabric would absolutely work. However, the plastic such containers are made of is much less durable particularly is intense sun. The benefit of air pruning containers is not the same for all plants. It’s good for everything, but some plants benefit from it more (or I should say benefit from not having their roots girdled). It takes time to see the benefit, root structure develops far better over time than any smooth sided solid wall container. Prolonged life in this environment will lead to death for many species.

[@crazysquirrel9425]

@@TheHivefl The advantage of those cheap round laundry baskets is they cost $1 each at the Dollar Store lol They generally last about 3 years. I would buy top quality (AKA Rubbermaid) if they were sold locally. About heat - I am not seeing a terrible problem with heat on those baskets but 5 gal buckets (even 5 gal air pruning) and similar do. I also have real air pruning pots (worthless in my opinion). They roast plants due to heat. Not much air for the roots either. But sine I already paid for them I will use them. Seems carrots are OK in those though. Our 100+ heat is hopefully gone till next year. My water bill is going to be outrageous.

[@censorshipagainstthemiddle6198]

How big of a air pot is required for a 4 month home?

[@TheHivefl]

For what plant?

[@censorshipagainstthemiddle6198]

@@TheHivefl tomatoes

[@TheHivefl]

@@censorshipagainstthemiddle6198 for tomatoes I would grow in a 15 gal

[@censorshipagainstthemiddle6198]

@@TheHivefl smelly tomatoes?

[@sirsmilealot5458]

Regular cloth grow bags are cheaper, bigger, and automatically air prune.

[@michaelfischer841]

do ( not ) use the plastic screws . use plastic ( zip ties ) instead .