I was looking for pots to buy in quantities of 25+ and have noticed that fabric pots seem to cost less than plastic pots (at least on amazon), is there a specific reason. Which is the true winner, plastic pots or fabric pots.
I think @Drew51 has it down to a science.
Not sure if Amazon is the best place to get a deal either…
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Is there another place that you recommend getting these pots from?
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My fabric pots lasted 2 yrs. I wasn’t impressed.
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Fabric pots have been great but they dry out super quickly so for smaller versions it’s tough to keep up with the water.
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Currently I need a high quantity of pots to keep my new grafts in the spring. I guess I would go with whatever is cheaper when bought in bundles since each has benefits in their own way.
Thanks for all your help guys!
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I have grown perennials in fabric pots for around 3 years now. What I will say is even though they talk about reinforced handles the handles still break easily and get easier to break as they get older. If you want something cheap you plan to keep in one spot as long as possible like me then buy them and when the time comes just dispose of them. If you want something you can move go with plastic. Something I noticed was plastic was just so much more expensive because of shipping though. You can bend them to small sizes and they weigh for little with fabric. My 40 gallon plastic pots are 30 something inches high by 28 inches around. Only way I could get those was I got a local hydroponics store to order them and picked them up. Even then they barely fit in my car and I was heavily reliant on side mirrors.
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I was a container only gardener for a long time and used fabric pots for everything and have a blueberry bush in one name brand type (smart pot) that’s held up for over 8 years and 4 moves, several fruit trees in 2-3 year old off brand pots that are holding up. I have a hard time reusing them though, never clean to my satisfaction without making a big mess, so I switched to heavy duty plastic for any potted annuals. I think my plants generally do better in the fabric pots, but it’s hard to say. It depends on what you’re growing. Moving them a lot will shorten lifespan because tugging weakens the fabric. I bought a few air pots/oxy pots and am thinking of using those and comparing.
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I much prefer fabric pots, especially for long term growing, they are much better for the roots long term
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I have been using mostly white fabric pots lately since they don’t become as hot in the summer as plastic ones do. This helps potted plants to survive summer heat. I have a drip irrigation line installed to water potted plants regularly. Amazon is not a good deal. I find the best deal for fabric pots on www.dhgate.com, there are many sellers on that site, so choose carefully. I don’t reuse these fabric pots since they are very cheap. When planting in the ground, I cut the fabric with a utility knife, which helps to minimize disturbing the root ball.
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I’m a big fan of the white plastic panda bags for my potting needs. They are incredibly strong, I wash and reuse them many times, a hundred stacked in a bundle take no space, they come in all sorts of sizes even pretty giant ones, and they are dirt cheap.
May want to add to the conversation by adding Root Pouches.
Root Pouches use recycled materials and dont allow air pruning etc… so that may be a factor for your consideration.
Reviews and more info here… may be cheaper elsewhere not sure.
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I have not noticed more pests over the years on my plants in fabric versus plastic pots.
I wanted to add that at least in my climate, they can get kind of ugly looking with stains if that’s a concern.
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I have ~500 apple and pear benchgrafts in 3 gal Root Pouches (bought through AM Leonard). They do have different fabric thicknesses available (differentiated by color). But no complaints so far (majority are just nearing a year old at this point).
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just to add my 2 cents…
I found that almost everything I overwintered (indoors in a cold canning room off my basement) in fabric pots died.
Keeping the fabric pots well watered was much more difficult than with 5 gal home depot type buckets.
I lost half a dozen figs and a few other hard to replace things in this way…
I still have a couple fabric pots, but I am far more conscientious about keeping up with them than I need to be with the plastic pots…
Scott
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I have actually noticed more pests in my plastic and terracotta pots than in my fabric pots. I think what happens is the roots start to tangle in a typical pot while a fabric pot just air prunes roots to stop growing. Generally my pests come late season when the roots have developed past pot size on my plastic ones.
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I think different plants require different amounts of water and as a result are easier to overwinter in a place like a garage. My mulberry took zero water and I actually had it in July without water needing to be added. My fig needs to be watered every week and even then we will see if it survived.
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