The perfect pot for your plant

Pot size

It is important that you do not put your plant in too big a pot at the start of the culture. You plant a few times to move a larger pot helps in creating a healthy root system. Start with a relatively small pot. The risk of overwatering is then less. Next is a handy rule of thumb that for every 20 centimeters your plant is long, your pot should be 3 liters. However, there are several kinds of pots. Which pot is suitable when?

Plastic

Plastic pots are available in different sizes and types. They range roughly from 1 to 20 liters.

• Cheap.
• Available everywhere.
• Easy to clean.
• Rootbound. This means that the roots cannot grow through the plastic. The roots continue to grow at the bottom of the pot. So your plant is not triggered to grow new roots from the root.
• In warm rooms plastic pots often hold heat for too long.

Textiles

These jars are made of a fabric that looks like felt. There’s plenty of room for air and roots to grow through. They are for sale as square, round and rectangle from 1 to 500 liters.

• Reduced heat stress at the root system.
• More oxygen at the roots.
• Your substrate dries more evenly.
• No problem with rootbound.
• Better drainage.
• Air pruning. That means the ends of the roots die because they grow out of the textile pot. They’re actually drying out. The plant thus creates new roots, which increases the root system.
• More expensive than plastic pots.
• Trouble with overpotting. Roots can become grown with the textile.
• The humidity can rise. After all, there is a larger evaporation area.
• Hard to clean because roots can grow with the textile.

Airpot

The airpot is a good combination between pots made of plastic and pots made of textile. Airpots are made of plastic, but have the properties of fabric pots.

• Reduced heat stress at the root system.
• More oxygen at the roots.
• Your substrate dries more evenly.
• No problem with rootbound.
• Better drainage.
• Air pruning.
• Easy to clean.
• Expensive purchase.
• There’s a grid at the bottom of the airpot. A lot of earth could fall through here.