Performance of a Fertilpot vs a traditional peat pot. Hydrangea
grown 1 year from rooted cuttings on wire benches in a propagation house.
Note the breaks and root penetration.
Roots easily penetrate the fiber pot walls. Here you can see the
lateral branching developing after the roots apical dominance has been
stunted by air-pruning. This gives the plant many more root tips with
which to uptake water and nutrients.
Look closely at how open and
porous the wall of a fertilpot is. Even the finest of
root hairs are penetrating the wall, forcing even more natural
branching in the root structure.
This squash seed was planted 5 days ago. It took 3 days to
germinate. You can see that the first true leaves have yet to emerge,
but the roots are already well through the wall of the wood-fiber pot.
No need to wait for the pot to begin to break down before getting root
penetration.
Fertil pot works well in automated pot dispensers. The primary
modification is a small needle on the gripping mechanism to penetrate the
pot wall and allow for gripping and stripping.
Fertilpots are often used in forestry plantings. Planting speed is
essential to the economics of reforestation. Taking time to remove
plastic pots means taking profits off the table. Better root structure
means better viability.
This is an example of a root structure from a plant left in a plastic
pot too long. Eventually, sometimes several years later, this plant
will die as the roots enlarge and choke the plant. Eliminate circling
roots with Fertilpot.
This is an example of a root structure developed with the biodegradable
wood fiber pot. Notice the good branching structure and the
development of secondary branching.
