I repotted some citrus in airpot (7.5 liters) last spring.


They seem to be healthier

Very nice trees jm! I will try my own version of the airpot... I found some waste paper bins made from metal mesh (about 13 litres volume) for very cheap and I will use those. For anyone in the UK, I found them in Homebargain for £1.99 each which is way cheaper than the equivalent airpot.

Please explain what a airpot is and how it works:D

The air pot was basically copied after the original air root pruning containers that are manufactured by RootMaker Products company USA. For a explanation of the air root pruning system see this link WWW.rootmaker.com

However, in my opinion the actual Root Maker containers provide better air root pruning than does the air pot.
Millet (416-)

It isn't a copy of Rootmaker at all. It is an Australian patent.
Even Rootmaker couldn't copy it because it's patented.

http://perfectroots.com/how-2-airpots.wmv
From: http://www.superoots.com/

Interesting but do you have to water your plants everyday to keep it from drying out? Please - I have enough to do with watering my plants everyday.

Root Maker did not copy anything. What on earth does a patent have to do with anything?? Having a patent has absolutely nothing to do with it--- Not at all. Any manufacture can easily get a patent on his product, just by changing the design somewhat. Dr. Carl E. Whitcomb, the developer of the air root pruning containers (ARPC) originally came up with the idea of the air root pruning container system. The advantage that the Root Maker container has over several of the other air container manufactures, are the addition of ridges that run inside the container that further guide the roots to the pruning holes. - Millet (415-)

Both are interesting ideas, but I would also think that they would allow the soil to dry out to quickly. Here in the southeast I have a problem with regular containers drying out very quickly.

The biggest difference I see between the two is that rootmaker has a solid bottom disk & the air-pot has a open bottom disk.

The main difference is that in the air-pot the root system is completely radial.

Roots growing in all Root Maker containers also grow radially, except for the 4-inch germinating trays, and one type of the 1-gallon containers. The one gallon containers come both round and square. The 1-gallon, 3-gallon,and 5-gallon containers are all round hard sided containers with bottoms in which the root growth is radial.. The Root Builder containers come in 100-foot rolls, either 18" or 30" tall with out bottoms. However, if a grower desires to have a bottom, they can purchase a root trapper material to make a bottom for what ever size container is made. With the Root Builder rolls, one can make any size container desired from 5-gallon to 300+ gallons. The roots growing in Root Builder containers all grow radially. - Millet (415-)

Sylvain, yes that is a picture of a seedling grown in the Root Maker germination container that I wrote about above. Thanks for the picture, it shows a well developed healthy root system with strong white colored roots. That is a seedling that air root pruning produces. The next step for the seedling that is shown in Sylvain's picture is to be transplanted into either a 1-gallon, or 3 gallon Root Maker air root pruning container. Further, the tree at the size of the seedling as shown in Sylvain's picture should now be put outside in the wind, or if the weather is too cold, set before a fan, so that the stem flicks back and forth against in resistance of the wind, which develops a strong sturdy trunk, that will not require a stick to hold the tree up. Thanks again for the picture. - Millet (414-)

I use drippers inserted along a pipe for watering. So water arrives slowly to the roots and wets the entire substrate of the pot.



I dug a well. I water all the pots at the same time with a pump.