Airmaxx Rooting pot 7.8 Liter

A 7.8 litre rooting pot, 25 centimetres tall assembled with a diameter of 20 centimetres. It ships flat with three screws and a base on a foot, and goes together in a couple of minutes.

What happens at the tip of a root

The wall of this pot is made of rows of cones facing outwards, each with a hole in its point. That is not decoration and it is not drainage. It is the entire working principle.

A root growing outwards in ordinary potting soil takes the path of least resistance. In a closed plastic pot it meets a smooth wall, turns, and starts circling along it. You end up with long, thick roots carrying few side branches, and that loop does not stop by itself: after repotting the same spiral simply carries on.

In this pot the root is instead guided towards the cone and meets dry air at the hole. The tip dries back and stops growing. The plant answers by forming new side roots behind that dead point, and those in turn go looking for a cone. After a few weeks what you have is not a spiral but a branched network using the whole of the substrate.

It is also why the top two rows of cones have no hole. There you do not want air contact but a solid band, so nothing washes over the rim when you water.

Where this size fits

Nearly eight litres carries a plant through a full cycle in a small space. At 20 centimetres across you can stand nine on a square metre pushed together. If you want more depth at the same width, the 9.4 litre is this pot with five centimetres added.

Watering a pot that passes air everywhere

A perforated wall also means evaporation from the side. Expect to water more often than you would a closed pot of the same volume, and spread the water across the surface rather than into one spot. Stand it on a tray or a grid, because the base sits on a foot and water runs straight out.

Technical Specifications:

• Volume: 7.8 litres
• Assembled: 25 cm tall, Ø 20 cm
• Supplied: flat, wall plus base with foot
• Fixing: 3 screws, included
• Wall: perforated cones, top two rows solid
• Drainage: through the base, which stands on a foot
• Reusable: yes, dismantles

Frequently asked questions

Will my roots not dry out? Only the tips that reach a hole, which is the point of it. The substrate in the middle stays moist as normal.

Does it work in coco or clay pebbles? Yes. The effect comes from air contact at the wall, not from the substrate.

Is this the same as a fabric pot? The idea is the same, the execution is not. A fabric pot prunes across its whole surface, this one at the points of the cones, and this one holds its shape without support.

Can I use it in an ebb and flood system? You can, but the open base means water leaves as fast as it arrives. Plan on short, repeated flood cycles.