15 gallon pots

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by firstimah, Feb 11, 2009.

  1. Anyone have any ideas of online retailers that sell some cheap 15 gallon pots? I looked around and didn't find much, only ones I found were through SmartPots and GrowerSupply and the shipping was pretty ridiculous for GrowerSupply, my local nurseries and garden centers don't seem to carry these size pots... :devious:

    I'm just looking for 10 as cheap as possible. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
     
  2. I've used the 'Smart Pots' product for several years. Yeah they cost more but it's worth the cost with the 'air-pruning' dynamic that these pots provide with extensive root development, keeping the root ball mass cooled in hot temperatures and other benefits.

    Well worth the money, IMHO
     
  3. I have a 65 gallon SmartPot that I am looking forward to using this year. I always find it worthwhile to shell out a bit more cash to get the good gear you will be happy with. Don´t be a cheapskate.
    Cheap is DEAR.
     
  4. I'm subscribed to your post and can't wait to see the monster you grow in that 65 gallon SmartPot, I think it's probably a good idea to go with the SmartPots, I did some more research tonight and read about how great they work and I haven't found anyone that didn't like them, they seem to really produce some bushy plants.
     

  5. firstimah

    There are 20+ stores in the Portland, Oregon area that sell 'indoor garden' products. That's because there are over 15,000 'legal growers' in the area.

    A year ago only 1 store sold SmartPots. Because of the demand now over 10 stores sell these pots.

    By law, in Oregon we're allowed to have '6 mature plants' and 12 rooted 'kids' - clones (even rooted) don't count in the equation. What this means is that the law says how many we can have but not how big we can grow them.

    SmartPots gives the MMJ grower the ability to grow the largest amount of medicine if judging 'pot size' is the basis of comparison. The benefit from using these pots far exceeds their cost, IMHO

    Peace

    LumperDawgz
     
  6. Wish I was in Oregon, I'm far from there, and our 2 hydro stores are constantly on watch by the po-po so I am not going near one to see if they have them, the shipping isn't bad on them online though, only like $8, so if I go with them then I'll just get them online.
     

  7. firstimah

    If you don't mind me asking, where are you looking at these pots online? Perhaps I can help you save some money.

    Trust me - I don't want to know what area of the country you live in or anything like that but I've been promoting these pots for 8 years or so and I have a handle on their retail network.

    Peace

    LumperDawgz
     
    • Like Like x 1

  8. cantharis

    Just a bit of advice based on experience with these pots and that is to put about 2-3" of perlite or pumice in the bottom of the SmartPot before you load up the soil mix. You'll understand once the plant in that pot is about 10' tall.

    LOL

    LumperDawgz
     
  9. #9 cantharis, Feb 11, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 11, 2009
    Thanks Lumper, I am intending to do that anyway.

    SmartPots can be ordered at: http://www.smartpots.com/

    Not hard to find. Although there is also a totally different kind of ´smartpot´ online. Don´t confuse the 2.
     
  10. damn, i hope yall are getting some P's off your girls....otherwise, i wouldnt be trying to pay for a bigass special pot and a shitload of soil to fill it..... right in the ground for me baby.


    in related news...the eastern united states has been warm as all get-out this week....only another month or so till we start seedlings...get excited!
     
  11. #11 Corto Malteze, Feb 11, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 11, 2009
    Cantharis' grow is on a terrasse so he needs a big pot. But it's true that for outdoor guerilla, it's a lot!

    Pots are good because you can move them around if/when the track to your spot is visible. Under 10 gallon pots would be better imo if you want to keep this great advantage of pots.
     
  12. haha hell yeah corto...stolen 5gallon pots ftw.



    not stealing, the pots.
     
  13. Well my spot is very secluded, by Google Earth the closest house/farm/anything to it is 12 miles north or south of it. I guess I got a prime location in this valley that I was questioning moving to all these years.. lol

    As for the pots, I know 15 gallon pots are pretty massive, but the bigger the roots the bigger the shoots, I'm trying to give them as much room as possible to grow if I do use the pots and don't put em in the ground. Plus part of my crop is going in a swampy area so those are probably the ones going in the pots.
     
  14. #14 COOOL, Feb 11, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 11, 2009
    kkkkkkk
     
  15. Assuming that you are building a good soil mix, the root mass in a #15 SmartPot will exceed the root mass in a standard plastic, lipped nursery stock container of 20 gallons and more, i.e. you get about 1/3 increase with these pots.

    One other thing to consider is that the cloth allows the soil to breathe and stay cooler than plastic pots. This feature will also require you to water more often than you would experience with standard pots.

    BTW - these pots are designed to go outside for growing saplings.

    LumperDawgz
     

  16. Lumperdawgz--if you have extensive experience with these pots it would be helpful if you would start a thread and share whatever knowledge you may have about them. Word on these things is just starting to spread around the city and I think a lot of people are considering them. I'll be using 15 of them this year. You say you know a lot of growers in Oregon who use them. What is the most popular size?
     
  17. dankohzee

    Let me be very clear. The only reason that I know a lot of growers is because I'm a medical user in Oregon. I have, in the past, taught classes on organic growing for card-holders. I used to, before I got smart, go to homes of patients and try to resolve their problems - real and imagined.

    There are 30,000 registered card holders with 22,000 being actual growers. Some people, for whatever reasons, do not grow their own plants but can hook-up with another grower and they provide them with the harvest. A grower can grow for themselves and 3 others. Each card holder is allowed 6 mature plants and 12 'junior plants' (with some of the strangest definitions anyone could have come up with).

    Up in Portland there are 20+ stores which would be considered 'grow stores' or 'indoor garden centers' - whatever term you choose.

    So here is my experience with the SmartPots products. I first saw an article at a mainstream garden website and I was looking for information on growing heirloom apple trees. I found the source for the bare-root trees and then went looking for the best growing method. A search on Google brought up this rather obscure link to a forum and there was a 5-page discussion on the benefits of using this 'air-pruning' method.

    So I ordered 10 of them from a company in Florida who takes these pots and adds handles! SmartPots should do the same. I planted 10 saplings in the SmartPots and another 15 in the standard 'lipped plastic nursery pot' from a nursery supply company. All of the pots were 10-gallon in size.

    Building a good soil for saplings is somewhat different from softwood plants but suffice it to say that all of the pots were filled with the same soil. All of them received the same treatment with organic growing methods, i.e. aerated compost teas, applying pure humic acids twice a month, inoculating with EM-1 (concentrated microbe agent), fish enzyme with seaweed extract, etc.

    The first year there wasn't anything worthy of note between any of the trees. It was in June in the 2nd year that things came together. Branching was the main difference. At least a 40% difference. Leaf levels were almost the same.

    When it came time to plant them in our 'new orchard' out back it was a lot of work. I had a guy with the proper equipment come over to dig the holes, place the trees into the prepared ground and then back-fill the trees.

    The SmartPots weren't coming off. Trees being what they are and the type of root structure they develop had a hold of the cloth and was holding on. So I simply took a knife and cut the pot off and we were off to the next tree.

    When we got to the nursery pots was when the real problems started. These trees have been growing in a pot for a couple of years sitting out in the weather. Hot in the summer, cold & very wet in the winter, spring and fall. They weren't coming off very easy either. By the time we cut & hacked the pots off there was some damage to the root ball. Not a lot but the SmartPots had absolutely no damage.

    The main difference was the health of the roots which you could see. The size of the tap root(s) in the SmartPots was at least double. And white - very white.

    Over the next several months it was easy to identify which tree in the orchard had been grown in the SmartPots.

    As far as growing softwood plants like cannabis the major advantages to these pots are the increase in the size of the root mass, the breathing of the pot up and down the soil level and the ease with which you clean them for the next cycle.

    I think that it's important to thoroughly clean pots before loading them up with your soil. And if you're using larger sized pots it can be quite a chore.

    With SmartPots I just put them into a bag and head over to the local laundromat and toss them in with a cup of so of Oxyclean. Done. Finis. Head home.

    You can use them for years and years and years. Plus they're easy to store if you shut-down during the summer months. They fold up nicely.

    The stores in Portland carry all sizes with #5 and #7 pots being 70% of the sales.

    There are other 'air-pruning' products available. "The Accelerator" is one such product and is made from plastic. Very popular with coco coir growers to hold the strata.

    LumperDawgz
     
  18. If you've got money to burn you might be interested in the Air Pot product from The Caledonian Tree Company.

    The green buttons on the side in this photo hold the pot together. If you need to store them or whatever, they come apart and lay flat.

    Again - if you've got money to burn. They're good if your an outdoor grower and want to get a good start under lights and want an easy way to get the plant free from the container to plant in the ground.

    [​IMG]
     
  19. Thanks for the info. And these things are awesome. Maybe i'll get one to try. BTW, I'll be using 60-65 gallon custom sized smartpots. Whaddaya think of that? Is it overkill? They're already purchased, so it's too late to turn back now, but what do you think is the ideal size for very large MJ plants?
     
  20. Those a cool lumperdawg. Like Dank I am wcraving more Smart Pots info. The only one I have purchased is a 20 gallon, but I was thinking of buying about 10 more in the five gallon size.

    Watch out Dank, I saw their was a order minimum of 500GBP!
     

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