1. What are the benefits of growing cannabis in fabric aeration containers?
First, Smart Pots prevent root circling, helping to improve root development. When primary roots hit the sidewall of a plastic pot, they think they’ve hit a rock they’ll have to grow around, so they waste energy on developing primary roots. When they hit the wall of a Smart Pot fabric pot, the tip dries out and it air prunes the root tip, so you get more efficient root development, and you get roots growing on the inside of your soil medium versus just circling endlessly on the outside.
Second, with fabric pots, you are getting a quicker dry-down time, which means that your soil medium is not staying overly moist or moist for too long. It allows growers to be more aggressive in their fertigation.
In terms of root conditions, it prevents overwatering, oversaturation, and overheating. For outdoor growers, heat releases and the fabric “sweats” to keep cool, like we do.
Lastly, oxygen is a limiting factor in plant growth, and Smart Pots gives you the aeration of hydroponics.
2. What are some of the other factors that make Smart Pot different from other aeration containers?
Durability. We invented and perfected the fabric pot. Everything else is a knockoff that is either going to be too thin and you can’t get more than two seasons out of them. Or they’re going to be too thick and they hold on to too much water. Then you got issues with mold, possibly root developments, and oversaturation of the roots. Our fabric is tested and certified free of BPA and heavy metals, and we’re made in the USA, which allows us to have high-quality control. This also helps with logistics and product availability.
3. Can customers custom-order Smart Pots?
Absolutely! That’s one of the benefits to manufacturing Smart Pots at our warehouse in Oklahoma City. We do custom-size Smart Pot containers, sleeves, tray liners, and raised beds, which can be either PVC-ready or non-PVC. Customs are similarly priced to our traditional sizes.
4. What type of soil medium would you recommend to growers using Smart Pot containers?
For cannabis growers who are trying to be as aggressive as possible with feeding and watering, the lighter the medium, the better. Peat, coconut coir, or a blend of those will give you the lightest medium and the most oxygen to roots and microbes. Because Smart Pots are so breathable, you can get away with using a heavier bulk soil.
5. Smart Pot recently started a podcast, “The Growing Revolution.” What was the motivation behind starting that?
We were looking for another way to stay in touch with our customers, dealers, and distributors. We also wanted to archive some of the people that we’ve met over the years. We’re looking to have a mix of education, entertainment, and telling the backstories of these people. Some of the people that we’ve interviewed in the past are Ed Rosenthal, Milo Shammas, the founder of Dr. Earth, and we’ve got 20 episodes published so far. We’re posting them on Thursdays on YouTube and all podcast platforms.
