Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

Has anyone tried the Superoot Air-Pot before?
Here is a link to the parent company superoots.com.

I just bought two of the 10 gallon sized pots to try and over winter some of my alocasia, bananas, and other misc tropicals. In the spring, I plan on burying pot and all in the ground with a couple inches of sand around the outside of the pot. In the fall this would allow me to take a knife around the outside edge and cut any new roots allowing me to lift the pot, and allowing the center root mass to remain largely undisturbed. I don't think these would work good for a strong woody root system like that of a palm, but it might help for container grown palms.

So what are your feelings about these, good or bad?

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

I haven't seen these, but have seen other pots with the same principles and think they are good. I think you are defeating the design somewhat by burying them, though, since roots won't be air pruned. However, if you are planning on using them mostly for plants with fibrous root systems, I don't know that such a pot design is necessary. Maybe you could surround the pots with a mulch inside of the whole to allow for the root pruning.

Here is a discussion on a citrus forum (where I met Joe Real, BTW)
http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic....&mforum=citrus

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

I think the plant might grow a bit longer in that pot but eventually you have
to repot it though.
So, what is better for the plant? Repot it once in a while without damaging the roots or every year the roots cut off and less repotting, I don't know.



Ron

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

Thanks for the other link. I will have to look into the RootMaker pots.
They seem like them would work very well for what I am thinking. I was thinking that since my plants are outside at most 8 months with 2 of those months needing to be moved in and out, the roots would be pruned during the colder months and they would receive less damage overall due to digging. These were the first pots I had seen with enough structure and drainage that the could possible handle both, but the Rootmaker pots look like they might be better for my intended purpose.

I just finished digging up most my plants and they look sad right now :(
The amount of root damage is bad, but I know they will recover as they have in the past. Just trying to find a better method short of moving ;)

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

I guess this is at the heart of my thinking, that and what would be easier on my body.

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

I may have to try some of these myself. It's a smart idea, makes sense. Leave it to the Europeans.:nanerwizard:

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

There are several people in the U.S. already doing this. There is also a nursery that promotes their plants grown with this method, calling it RPM, as the roots are more fibrous and reportedly establish quicker. Again, I think this is usually promoted more for trees which have a tendancy to have roots circling in a pot, though I guess I have had bananas in too small of a pot and had the same problem.

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

The manufacturers are Scottish ... I doubt they consider themselves European ! ;)

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

Last I checked, Scotland was in Europe...Right? Maybe I looked at the wrong globe. Come on guys don't nitpick. I think of the people on this site as my friends and I was just makin conversation anyway.:0489: Cut me some slack.:nanadrink:

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

I was thinking this would also be a good pot to overwinter bananas. With a fast draining soil and all the air holes, I think overwatering would be a little harder to accomplish. It would act like a large orchid pot :)

Either way I will be experimenting with it, because I have 2 lol.

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

I have used fabric grow bags for a few years now and really like them. I have used the ones from rootmaker.com and they work well. I have also used the ones from http://betterroots.com/ and like them also. Both allow the roots to stay cooler than they do in hard plastic pots and the grow bags store and ship much better also.

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

Please decribe how you are using this grow bag. I have one given to me by Joe Real and I think I like it, but have not been sure how to use it. I syou plant buried or above ground and staked? Thanks!

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

Harvey,

You can use them as containers or buried in the ground at specified level marked in the bag. I find it best to bury them in the ground and used for other trees also. They are easy to take out of the ground and get almost all the root hairs intact. Excellent if you plan to winter some bananas inside the house. You can bury in spring and take out before the frosts comes. Problem is that the pups could tear the fabric, so be vigilant in controlling the pups. For other fruit trees, the bags are excellent.

Joe

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

Harvey-Like JoeReal said, you can bury them in the ground and they are easy to remove with almost all the roots intact. (One of the types sold by Rootmaker is really good for this. I think they call them "Knit Fabric Containers".)

I usually do not bury my bags but you do have to stake the plant to keep it from turning over in a strong wind if not buried.

Re: Superoot Air-pot ?!?!
 

Thanks! If I am able to establish an Ae Ae kingdom in northern California as I hope, these are something I'll try fitting into my program.