We are very proud that the best horticultural institutions in the world – including the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Edinburgh, and the Forestry Commission’s Bedgebury Pinetum, among many others – are major supporters and users of the Air-Pot growing system. Indeed they propagate their rare seed collected around the world ONLY in Air-Pot containers, then pot on into larger Air-Pot containers too.

Also, the authorities behind the London Olympic Games 2012, have specified that all plants grown in containers of 5Litres and above will be in Air-Pot containers!

This is simply because the Air-Pot system actively enhances the root system and, consequently, the plant health and vigour.

We developed the Air-Pot container in the 1990’s – and still work closely with our customers to keep making improvements – for the best nurseries to grow high quality trees and shrubs. The Air-Pot growing system became known for producing excellent results even with ‘problem’ species – those which simply don’t like regular containers, or have too vigorous a root system, which normally get quickly and really badly pot-bound – Eucalyptus, Quercus, Pinus.

Simple technology:

• There are no flat surfaces on the inside of an Air-Pot container to deflect roots and start the circling process. Instead, the curved cones guide the roots as they grow out or down, towards the air. ‘Air-pruning’ simply means that the root tip is dehydrated, so it stops growing and develops more and more fine feeder roots.

Main benefits:

• More roots mean more efficient take-up of water and nutrient and faster growth.
• The drainage prevents the soil getting water-logged, which is so often the cause of premature death in containers.
• You can plant a cutting or small specimen into a much larger Air-Pot container than you would think possible. You can miss all those interim stages of potting up, causing much less interference to the tree or shrub.
• And as long as you keep feeding the plant, it can stay in an Air-Pot container longer without coming to harm. So if the tree is getting a bit big for the Air-Pot container, but there is a delay in planting it out into the garden, just ensure that you give plenty regular feed and water.
• And finally, the high quality Air-Pot grown root system enables the trees and shrubs to establish quickly when planted out without suffering growth setbacks and minimizing transplant stress.

Helpful pointers:

• As in any container, water ‘runs-off’ when watering a plant which has been allowed to dry out. Keep the growing media moist with regular watering to avoid this problem. Better still, install a dripper irrigation system to water little and often (according to the needs of the plant). If you do have drippers, every so often, move them to different positions around the plant.
• The Air-Pot system encourages the development of more and more roots. Remember to step up the watering accordingly.

Air-Pot for Trees & Shrubs