A fabric pot is a soft container made of non-woven polypropylene or felt. Water evaporates through the walls, which raises air in the root zone, cools the medium by evaporation, and air-prunes roots: tips that reach the wall dry out and stop, prompting branching instead of circling.
In practice
Fabric pots are forgiving of heavy-handed watering and are popular in soil and coco. The flip side is that they dry faster and unevenly, so in hot, dry rooms they need water more often, and the outer layer of medium can dry out before the core. Stand them on a raised tray or crate so the base drains and does not wick runoff back.
Sizes are usually sold in US gallons (a "5 gal" bag holds about 19 L when full, often less in practice).
Don't confuse with
- Air pot: a rigid plastic pot with cones and holes; also air-prunes, but holds its shape and dries differently.
- Plastic nursery pot: solid walls; holds water longer and roots circle at the wall.
The root zone is the volume of medium or solution where a plant's roots live, including its water, air, temperature, pH, EC and microbes.Coco coir is a growing medium made from processed coconut husk, prized for holding water and air at once; it binds calcium and magnesium unless buffered.A dark, ventilated space where freshly harvested cannabis is dried under controlled temperature, humidity and gentle airflow, usually for 7-14 days.Runoff is the water or nutrient solution that drains out of the bottom of a container after irrigation; growers test it to see what is happening in the root zone.An air pot is a rigid container with cone-shaped holes in its walls that air-prune roots, preventing circling and drying the medium faster than a solid pot.Pot size is the volume of medium a plant roots into; bigger pots give bigger plants within reason, but feeding frequency can let small pots punch well above their size.A root-bound plant has filled its container so densely that roots circle the walls, water runs straight through, and growth slows or the plant wilts fast.Overwatering is watering so often that the medium stays saturated, starving roots of oxygen, which causes drooping, slow growth and root disease.
