40. Air-Pots
I was watching the Countryfile “Plant Britain” programme on catch-up on Sunday evening, and noticed how many of the participants were using air-pots for their young trees. I learned about them from the protea-growing world - they are excellent for the protea proteoid root systems, and hadn’t realised how popular they were. I often get asked about them by friends, so thought it was worth sharing my enthusiasm for them here.
The concept is simple but very effective. Made of recycled plastic, they consist of a circular perforated base (to allow good drainage) and a wrap round body which is secured by coloured locking pins. The black pots with their cones have a very futuristic look, each individual cone is a hole (to allow good aeration). The pots are super easy to assemble, disassemble and store.
Air-pots promote plant growth in two ways: by providing well drained and aerated compost which releases more nutrients to the plants, and by dramatically improving the plants’ root system. It is explained well in a video on the Air-pot website .
I started using them for my proteas, but this year have extended their use to the young 2-3 year old fruit trees I am growing for the orchard. The plan is for them to develop a strong root system (and hopefully early fruiting) before they can go into the ground, after the building work is completed in a couple of years time. This method will allow me to move them with minimal root disturbance.
I have also used five air-pots as potato planters (towers) this year, and have had a couple of good crops from each of them. I unwrap and empty the whole pot into a wheelbarrow, sort through and remove all the potatoes, then re-pot them with the next crop. It is an easy way to do it.
Air-pots are ideal for bringing on any young trees - my air-pot fruit trees have put on a lot more growth than those in the ground this season. I noticed that the Woodland Trust and London boroughs were using them for their young trees.
I will also like to start using the small air-pots for seedlings and cuttings this year, particularly the proteas, so will keep you posted on how that goes.