I have stumbled across Superoot Air Pots and wonder what experiences other readers have had with them. I notice they claim a lot but searches end up with answers from either America or the manufacturers. I noticed an advert for them in kitchen garden recently but can't seem to find any articles. I intend to grow tomatoes, cucumber, melon in my greenhouse and courgette, cucumber and tumbler tomatoes outdoors. I am using a ceramic automatic watering system in the green house.
I have put a peach tree into one and intend to plant other dwarf fruit trees along with citrus fruit trees in them. Anyone tried?
Superoot Air Pots
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Pa Snip
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Seen them mentioned, not actually seen any on sale anywhere. Have no idea how or if they work.
Another thing to find out about, await with interest.
Another thing to find out about, await with interest.
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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PLUMPUDDING
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Is it a similar principle to root trainers that when the roots reach the air it root prunes (kills them) so they make more root inside the pots.
The idea is ok but I won't be paying for a fancy pot when things grow perfectly well as they are.
The idea is ok but I won't be paying for a fancy pot when things grow perfectly well as they are.
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A-Lot-Meant
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I understand the theory and it is said to work on trees (any tree nurseries out there?) but what I am asking is, has anybody experienced use in the kitchen garden? Does the theory work on our vegetables?
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Pa Snip
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PLUMPUDDING wrote: I won't be paying for a fancy pot when things grow perfectly well as they are.
I'm liking your thinking
But it may be the best thing since sliced bread, or the price and advertising might suggest it is, oh for the days of a decent Hovis
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Shallot Man
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Pa Snip. Re o for a decent Hovis. Try Warburtons PREMIUM Brown Bread. Be careful they do an ordinary one in almost identical packaging.
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Pa Snip
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Thanks Shallot, although I wasn't actually looking for Hovis.
It was just a throw away line about the power of advertising, having said that the airpot might be advertised as the best thing since sliced bread, as most of us remember THE Hovis ad I'm sure.
And before anybody says anything, yes I do remember that Hovis wasn't slice originally
It was just a throw away line about the power of advertising, having said that the airpot might be advertised as the best thing since sliced bread, as most of us remember THE Hovis ad I'm sure.
And before anybody says anything, yes I do remember that Hovis wasn't slice originally
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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A-Lot-Meant
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We seem to be drifting of the subject a bit. I am not really interested in Hovis more about possible results from superoot air pots and vegetables. No offence intended.
Pa Snip wrote:most of us remember THE Hovis ad I'm sure.
And before anybody says anything, yes I do remember that Hovis wasn't slice originally
The hovis ad??
Wasnt it sliced at first? I thourght bread was always sliced, I just assumed it grew that way
lolOnce the game is over the king and the pawn go back in the same box. Anonymous
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Exploring is like walking, where the walking decides where we're going. Bob the dinosaur from dinopaws
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Westi
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Well A-Lot-Meant - not sure about the theory of killing off roots, surely this weakens rather than strengthening the plant?
I suppose there is credit in trying to contain growth of some the garden thugs, but they, by nature are unlikely to remain contained if there is a way out they'll find it! They do use them in nurseries & the like but whether that can transfer to small scale I don't know.
Actually I think it could be cost prohibitive & when standard pots work why the added costs?
Westi
I suppose there is credit in trying to contain growth of some the garden thugs, but they, by nature are unlikely to remain contained if there is a way out they'll find it! They do use them in nurseries & the like but whether that can transfer to small scale I don't know.
Actually I think it could be cost prohibitive & when standard pots work why the added costs?
Westi
Westi
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Pa Snip
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A-Lot-Meant wrote:We seem to be drifting of the subject a bit. I am not really interested in Hovis more about possible results from superoot air pots and vegetables. No offence intended.
You will find that threads very often seem to drift out of subject and back in again here.
The advertising comparison I was intending suggesting that good advertising can sell anything by making it sound like the best thing since sliced bread, Including Airpots possibly, seems to have gone over heads.
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Geoff
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I searched Beechgrove Factsheets but there was not a lot there. Supposed to be something in No.11 2005 but couldn't find it, there was this from No.19 also in 2005. Obviously they grew Tomatoes in them but didn't say how well they did, the watering bit might be of interest.
Factsheet 19 2005
Last year, at a community garden in Campbeltown, we planted some apple trees that had been grown in air pots. Jim was intrigued by this growing system, so invited Jamie Single, who has developed these pots for use in the UK, to come to Beechgrove and tell us more about them. He described the air pots as an airpruning container system that stops roots circling around the inside of a traditional pot, and that better root structure promotes better plant growth. The plant responds to this "air-pruning" by sending out more roots to compensate for the loss which leads to a dense root system with a vast number of active white tipped roots. With so much root right back to the stem, the root system is very efficient in its use of all the available water and nutrient. Plant vigour and health is therefore guaranteed. The roots grow towards the holes in the sides of the pots, but can’t grow out into air. When they hit the air the roots dehydrate and become air pruned, which stimulates new root growth. This continuous build up of fibrous roots mean that the plants grow quickly. Jamie had brought along an oak tree and a walnut which he’d grown from seed earlier this year, and a redwood that he’d planted 2 years ago. All the trees were looking great an growing much faster than would do in conventional pots. Earlier in the year here at Beechgrove we used the airpots to start some tomatoes off. When we’d planted them Jim had insisted we use an automatic watering system, because surely the plants would lose a lot of water through the holes in the pots. Jamie said that in fact the pots are only about 7% porous, so there is less evaporation than you might expect. The plants do however need about 20% more water than plants grown in a conventional pot because the large root mass uses more water. The containers can be made to any diameter in a variety of heights which makes it easy to produce a rootball of varied dimensions. Jim asked if commercial growers would be prepared to pay for these more expensive pots. Jamie said that the quicker growth rate meant plants could be sold more quickly, and this meant it was worth paying for the pots. For more information on airpots look at www.superoots.com The pots are made from recycled plastic, and are reuseable by just unscrewing the fasteners, unwrapping the plant, and using the pot again.
Factsheet 19 2005
Last year, at a community garden in Campbeltown, we planted some apple trees that had been grown in air pots. Jim was intrigued by this growing system, so invited Jamie Single, who has developed these pots for use in the UK, to come to Beechgrove and tell us more about them. He described the air pots as an airpruning container system that stops roots circling around the inside of a traditional pot, and that better root structure promotes better plant growth. The plant responds to this "air-pruning" by sending out more roots to compensate for the loss which leads to a dense root system with a vast number of active white tipped roots. With so much root right back to the stem, the root system is very efficient in its use of all the available water and nutrient. Plant vigour and health is therefore guaranteed. The roots grow towards the holes in the sides of the pots, but can’t grow out into air. When they hit the air the roots dehydrate and become air pruned, which stimulates new root growth. This continuous build up of fibrous roots mean that the plants grow quickly. Jamie had brought along an oak tree and a walnut which he’d grown from seed earlier this year, and a redwood that he’d planted 2 years ago. All the trees were looking great an growing much faster than would do in conventional pots. Earlier in the year here at Beechgrove we used the airpots to start some tomatoes off. When we’d planted them Jim had insisted we use an automatic watering system, because surely the plants would lose a lot of water through the holes in the pots. Jamie said that in fact the pots are only about 7% porous, so there is less evaporation than you might expect. The plants do however need about 20% more water than plants grown in a conventional pot because the large root mass uses more water. The containers can be made to any diameter in a variety of heights which makes it easy to produce a rootball of varied dimensions. Jim asked if commercial growers would be prepared to pay for these more expensive pots. Jamie said that the quicker growth rate meant plants could be sold more quickly, and this meant it was worth paying for the pots. For more information on airpots look at www.superoots.com The pots are made from recycled plastic, and are reuseable by just unscrewing the fasteners, unwrapping the plant, and using the pot again.
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A-Lot-Meant
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Thank you Geoff for returning to the topic, I found your "cutting" very interesting. Pity about not being able to find the other article. It seems common-sense that plants with a stronger root system should fair better than those with a weaker system so it should be beneficial.
Information seems a little scarce in the UK. America seems to be using them for growing "pot" as most of the articles seem to show and comment on cannabis growing - not something I am into! Though the neighbours may think so when the daylight bulb comes on.
My interest is in the root system, if it works on veg the same way as trees it should mean that it can stay in the pot longer, grow bigger and also suffer no check from transplanting. Where space is limited this could be a considerable advantage allowing you to bring on plants faster. I have seen a comparison picture of onions and the growth of the Kelsea onion appeared to be greater.
But to me, at present, this is all theory, it appears that those of us who are willing to pop a penny or two will have to experiment to find out. It is not surprising that the pots are expensive and hard to get hold of. My understanding is that to buy wholesale you have to layout a minimum of £1,000 +vat? per order, a considerable amount for plastic pots in the grand scheme of things.
Surely there is some independent person or company that has used them and has an opinion?
Information seems a little scarce in the UK. America seems to be using them for growing "pot" as most of the articles seem to show and comment on cannabis growing - not something I am into! Though the neighbours may think so when the daylight bulb comes on.
My interest is in the root system, if it works on veg the same way as trees it should mean that it can stay in the pot longer, grow bigger and also suffer no check from transplanting. Where space is limited this could be a considerable advantage allowing you to bring on plants faster. I have seen a comparison picture of onions and the growth of the Kelsea onion appeared to be greater.
But to me, at present, this is all theory, it appears that those of us who are willing to pop a penny or two will have to experiment to find out. It is not surprising that the pots are expensive and hard to get hold of. My understanding is that to buy wholesale you have to layout a minimum of £1,000 +vat? per order, a considerable amount for plastic pots in the grand scheme of things.
Surely there is some independent person or company that has used them and has an opinion?