Gronest Aqua Breathe 19 Liters

A 19 litre fabric pot, 26.5 x 26.5 x 27 centimetres, with handles and the Aqua Breathe layer. This is the last size in the range that is still as tall as it is wide. Everything above it gets wider without getting taller.

What it costs to fill

At this volume substrate starts to count in your budget, and that is a sum most pot pages leave out. A 50 litre bag of potting soil fills two and a half 19 litre pots. A 70 litre compressed block of coco, once expanded, fills around three and a half.

So four plants in this size take a good one and a half 50 litre bags, and that is before you mix in perlite or clay pebbles. Blend twenty percent perlite through it and the same bag stretches to roughly three pots.

What you put in also counts twice over: the weight you will be lifting, and the water the pot can hold. A light mix with plenty of perlite weighs less and holds less, so you water more often and in smaller amounts. A heavier mix with a lot of coco pith stays wet longer. At 19 litres that difference is big enough to think about in advance.

What the Aqua Breathe layer does here

The side walls carry a geotextile layer that is less permeable than the outer fabric, so water leaves the pot through the base alone. At this volume that means you can wet 19 litres of substrate evenly, instead of half your watering pulling out through the flanks and leaving the core dry.

That same layer stiffens the fabric and the handles. You only notice it on a full pot: the wall holds its shape rather than bulging out the moment you lift.

Roots at the wall

The outer fabric passes air. A root tip arriving there dries back at the point and stops growing on, and the plant answers by making new side roots further back. In 19 litres that gives you, after a few weeks, a ball rooted right into the corners rather than a dense layer against the wall with loose substrate in the middle.

Technical Specifications:

• Volume: 19 litres
• Dimensions: 26.5 x 26.5 x 27 cm
• Shape: square base
• Material: geotextile with Aqua Breathe side wall
• Handles: yes, stitched in
• Seams: double-stitched
• Drainage: through the base
• Reusable: yes, washable

Frequently asked questions

How many bags of substrate will I need? Reckon on two and a half pots per 50 litre bag. Four pots therefore means two bags, leaving a little over for topping up.

Will it stand on a plant tray? With a 26.5 centimetre base you want a tray of at least 29 by 29 centimetres. A full fabric pot bulges slightly at the bottom.

Is 19 litres a lot for one plant? For a single plant grown on for a long time it is a generous final size. For short cycles with many plants it is larger than you need.

How do I store it? Empty, rinsed and completely dry, folded flat. Storing it damp is the one reliable way to ruin a geotextile pot.