Air Pruning Experiment

Discussion in 'Advanced Growing Techniques' started by TreeHouseCrew, Aug 12, 2011.

  1. #1 TreeHouseCrew, Aug 12, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 12, 2011
    Couple weeks ago i remembered seeing a thread that has now been deleted talking about an advanced growing technique where you use a small amount of soil to grow.. The way they described it and how i understood it was if you cut the bottom out of a container and let the roots grow through a screen at the bottom, the roots wont build up, and when they grow through the holes they will die when they hit the air. This is supposed to keep new roots growing and make it so nutrients go to the top of the plant.

    I decided to test this out on my own, and so far so good i'd say.

    I've heard of people using zip lock bags with holes at the bottom, so what i did was i took this plastic cup, cut the bottom out, taped a sheet of plastic with many holes in it to the bottom, then put the whole cup over a jiffy pot so the air would reach the roots easier.


    Right now it's at about 10 days and it is growing as fast as any other plant would. I'll see how long i can keep it in this size cup, and of coarse keep GC updated as i go :ey:
    PICS on 4th post

    Please comment! and like i said this is just an experiment so please don't say how im doing something wrong or whatever.. :devious:
     
  2. and the roots ARE growing through like they should :)
     
  3. I'll be interested to see how long it will grow in such a small pot with this technique. That being said, I can't see the pictures you posted :(
     
  4. Sorry about that :hide:
     

    Attached Files:

  5. The only reason im going to keep this one in the cup for so long is, well one, its just a extra plant, and two the roots are actually growing out pretty evenly through the plastic. So we'll see :)
     
  6. I'm wondering how long the plant can grow in that state. I have seen plants once in a large outdoor situation that were in plain sandwich baggies which were laden with holes. The plants would be 2 ft and ready for sexing before transplanting. Underneath the baggies were raised beds full of soil. When the plants were ready to move into their pre-dug holes, they were just ripped from the raised beds with no regards to saving the root mass that escaped through the "hot needle" holes in the baggies. Virtually 100% transplant succes rate. However, with the open air screen it may lead to fungal, bacterial problems with the dying roots all over the bottom.
     
  7. This is actually a really popular technique. I'm using camo pots and smart pots in my grow, which are fabric pots that do the same thing. There are a few types of aeration containers on the market. A 1 gallon aeration container should yield about as well as a 3 gallon plastic pot and so on. The roots don't rap around, so they don't get rootbound as fast, but eventually the roots will fill that small of a cup. For a sog of small plants, this method would work great. I'm using some big 20 gallon ones outdoors.
     
  8. I have smart pots and air pots....air pots do serious air pruning
     
  9. I use air pots and I love them.
     
  10. how much are you guys getting from your plants?? how much soil are you using?
     

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