"Plant Warrior Pots"?

[jdmfish]

A local fella at the hydro store mentioned these to me, and naturally, I had to research them. Didn't find any info on them, except they are distributed by Sunlight Supply. And they are cheap - just a couple dollars.


This is what is in the description:

• Plant Warrior growing containers provide added oxygen to the soil environment. Patent pending design allows oxygen to be drawn through the bottom of the container promoting healthy, strong roots. (sounds interesting!)
  
  
• New patent pending cone technology promotes vigorous root growth while using less soil. (could this really be? Less soil, smaller pot, same/better yield?)
  
  
• Sturdy injection molded containers. (if this is anything like the injected molded kayak I have, these should be of VERY good quality construction)

And a few rare pictures:












And factory picture:








I like to try new things out, so ordered 3, 2gal containers [$1.99] (peppers) and 3, 5gal containers [$3.29] (tomatoes) to see how they do.

And I'm always trying to get the same or better growth, using these "advanced" pots, while consuming less soil. I have a handful of the Super Root Air Pots as well, that I'm using, and are excellent growing containers, but are VERY expensive.

http://www.superoots.com/air_intro.htm




In my very limited, and controlled experiment, with two Sun Gold seedlings, I planted a tiny SG seedling in a .3gal (1-litre) SR-AP and another larger seedling (about 1.5x the size of the smallest SG seedling) in a standard 1g nursery pot. About 10 days later, the smallest SG seedling has now surpassed the growth of the initially larger SG seedling grown in a standard, and much larger nursery container!

While the smallest SG seedling was and still is (but about to be transplanted tomorrow) growing in about 2 cups worth of soil, and just breached the 2' tall mark yesterday. And FWIW, the seedling in the SR-AP just flowered for the first time yesterday, and has about 6-8 more flowers than the seedling in the 1gal nursery pot.





So, since I have been doing well, with these "advanced" designed pots, I figured I'd try these "Plant Warrior" pots, since they're about 1/4 the price of the SR-AP. And if could provide similar results, for 1/4 of the price, they're winners in my book. I'll keep this thread updated, once I transplant my seedlings, which I'm about to start in about 7-10 days, for the fall.

FWIW - a 3.4g SR-AP is recommend for growing 4-5 trees, and the 5g is recommend for 6-8' trees. So I'm hoping these are similar - ie. 2gal "plant warrior" pot = 4-5g standard nursery pot, and 5gal "plant warrior" = 8-10g standard pot. Time will tell.

[amideutch]

Very interesting concept. Did a little googling and found another site that sells the inserts and you put them in your pots. Surprisingly the inserts cost as much as the pots. Ami

http://www.plantwarrior.com/

[jdmfish]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Very interesting concept. Did a little googling and found another site that sells the inserts and you put them in your pots. Surprisingly the inserts cost as much as the pots. Ami

http://www.plantwarrior.com/

I saw that too - but I was wondering how that is supposed to bring oxygen into the root system, if the container is "closed" at the bottom? Unlike the "open" design in the "plant warrior pots".


Anyways, the plant warrior pots will be here Thursday, and I will be transplanting my peppers right away into them. It'll be a while until I put the tomatoes in the 5gal size pot, but I'll keep some notes on how the peppers do in the 2gal containers.

[amideutch]

If you look at their diagram closely it shows the inserts are set over drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. Ami

[casserole]

I think you could buy a plastic" pasta strainer" from the dollar store and get the same result

[jdmfish]

Originally Posted by casserole

I think you could buy a plastic" pasta strainer" from the dollar store and get the same result

Do you wish to to give it a go, and see how it does? What differentiates this pot from traditional pots, is the large cone in the middle of the pot, and the raised feet which supposedly allow much more oxygen to the roots.

We have many dollar stores here, but I've yet to see a pasta strainer large enough to grow anything in for a $1. These pots only cost me a couple of dollars ($2 and $3) a piece. Even the pasta strainer I use in the kitchen wouldn't be big enough as a permanent home for even peppers, and that cost me a couple of dollars.



This seems to be the idea behind the "cone" shaped piece, for anyone curious -

http://www.plantwarrior.com/products.html

[Miller]

I work with the Plant Warrior company, thought I would clarify difference in cone and pot.... pot was designed for professionals growers to start better plants for transplanting. Wholesale pot is offered in black only. The cone is for your existing containers with the aeration technology and structural integrity to support your plants. If all goes well we hope to introduce designer pots soon. Good luck with your plants, love to see pictures when they get bigger!

[jdmfish]

Originally Posted by Miller

I work with the Plant Warrior company, thought I would clarify difference in cone and pot.... pot was designed for professionals growers to start better plants for transplanting. Wholesale pot is offered in black only. The cone is for your existing containers with the aeration technology and structural integrity to support your plants. If all goes well we hope to introduce designer pots soon. Good luck with your plants, love to see pictures when they get bigger!

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to register here.

[VitaVeggieMan]

Originally Posted by casserole

I think you could buy a plastic" pasta strainer" from the dollar store and get the same result

I wondered the same thing. That is essentially the design of the single-bucket sub-irrigating "eBucket" described in the Self-contained Box Garden forum over at Dave's Garden. They use a large plastic colander inverted in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. It uses a drainage pipe (straw) to keep an aeration chamber in the top part of the colander, while the bottom serves as a water chamber and the planting mix around the outside edge of the colander wicks water up to the rest of the grow media and plant. The colander isn't as pointy as the Plant Warrior Holey Cone, but it provides the same type of aeration to the plants roots.

Here's a picture and a crude drawing to help clarify.

[jdmfish]

Originally Posted by VitaVeggieMan

I wondered the same thing. That is essentially the design of the single-bucket sub-irrigating "eBucket" described in the Self-contained Box Garden forum over at Dave's Garden. They use a large plastic colander inverted in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. It uses a drainage pipe (straw) to keep an aeration chamber in the top part of the colander, while the bottom serves as a water chamber and the planting mix around the outside edge of the colander wicks water up to the rest of the grow media and plant. The colander isn't as pointy as the Plant Warrior Holey Cone, but it provides the same type of aeration to the plants roots.

Here's a picture and a crude drawing to help clarify.

Oh, I see now!


If I had some extra buckets, I'd be willing to give it a shot, as long as I could find the right size colander/strainer/etc. to fit the bottom. But I don't, and the two I have, I use for carrying water.


Aren't the 5gal buckets from HD/Lowe a few bucks (unless you can buy them in "packs" or bulk), the plastic strainer/colander, a few bucks? That's probably the same price, if not more than the already made pots, unless you have a bunch of 5gal buckets sitting around, which I don't.

[VitaVeggieMan]

Lots of people claim to get free 5-gallon buckets from restaurants, painters, etc. I called about 50 local joints and came up dry, so I buy mine for $2 each from Firehouse Subs, and the money goes to a charitable cause (Fire Stations), plus they are a little more decorative than a plain white bucket.

WalM*rt sells white 5-gallon buckets for $2.50, and Home Dep*t sells orange ones for $3, but I don't care for the gaudy graphics. I use an orange one for my carrots though!

Bear in mind, with the eBucket, you're getting aeration AND a self-watering container. I imagine you'll have to water much more frequently with those Plant Warrior pots as they won't retain any water except what is suspended in the potting mix.

[jdmfish]

Originally Posted by VitaVeggieMan

Lots of people claim to get free 5-gallon buckets from restaurants, painters, etc. I called about 50 local joints and came up dry, so I buy mine for $2 each from Firehouse Subs, and the money goes to a charitable cause (Fire Stations), plus they are a little more decorative than a plain white bucket.

WalM*rt sells white 5-gallon buckets for $2.50, and Home Dep*t sells orange ones for $3, but I don't care for the gaudy graphics. I use an orange one for my carrots though!

Sweet - thanks for sharing. We have a F.H. right down the street, and that'll give me an opportunity to pick up a Hook'n'Ladder and a couple 5gal buckets, if they have any to sell.

The 5gal buckets aren't something they "regularly" 'stock', is it? It's just extra's, from used product - ie. pickles, as I see in one of your pictures?

[VitaVeggieMan]

Our FireHouse subs always seems to have 5 gal buckets to sell although they occasionally run out. They stack them right next to the checkout counter. Yes, they get their pickles in these buckets, and then sell them when they're empty. I give them a good washing at home, but they still smell like pickles until they've been in the garden for a few weeks!

By they way, where did you buy the Plant Warrior buckets?

[jdmfish]

Originally Posted by VitaVeggieMan

Our FireHouse subs always seems to have 5 gal buckets to sell although they occasionally run out. They stack them right next to the checkout counter. Yes, they get their pickles in these buckets, and then sell them when they're empty. I give them a good washing at home, but they still smell like pickles until they've been in the garden for a few weeks!

By they way, where did you buy the Plant Warrior buckets?

Thanks for sharing - if I can get a couple, and find the appropriate colander, strainer, etc. to fit the bottom, I'd like to test out one or two of them against the "Plant Warrior" pots.



Question -

When you fill the home-made version, how do you know when you've applied enough water, and not too much?

[VitaVeggieMan]

Originally Posted by jdmfish

Question -

When you fill the home-made version, how do you know when you've applied enough water, and not too much?

In any well-designed self-watering container, there are one or more overflow holes to prevent overfilling and to leave an air chamber between the plant and the water chamber. In this single-bucket eBucket design, that overflow is a straw inserted through the side of the bucket and into the colander about 1/3 of the distance from the top of the colander to the bottom of the bucket. This gives you a decent size air chamber at the top of the colander for aeration, and an even bigger water reservoir underneath.

To be clear, I have not personally built this type of eBucket. I use a two-bucket design that provides a bit more space for roots and doesn't call for a large, sturdy, and cheap colander, something I didn't find readily in my local dollar store. If I did build this design, I would probably replace the flimsy straw with a stronger copper or plastic tube. If highly recommend you visit Dave's Garden and read the original thread on these eBuckets -- it has a lot more pictures and instructions for building them.