It’s reasonable to do your research on how long do smart pots last before purchasing them, but you’ll be happy that they take up to five years of service. One can conclude that smart pots are worthy investments for the greenhouse or garden. These fabric containers will suit you if you’re the type of gardener who wants to be productive year-round, yearly.
A productive year-round garden is doable in the greenhouse in combination with smart pots as containers. This is because you can grow early in the greenhouse and use the pots to elongate your season. Both the greenhouse and containers will last long, but you’ll be the one responsible for their maintenance to achieve a reasonable life expectancy from them.
How Long Do Smart Pots Last And How To Care For Them
Smart pots last for three to five years, and the company prides itself on having strict quality control in the US. This gives you the confidence that the plants’ quality will be consistent for a long time, ideal for gardeners who want to reuse them. It took more than 30 years to test and prove the quality of smart pots, and the states in the US and other countries noted professional-grade results in using them.
What are smart pots?
Smart pots are fabric containers that originated in Oklahoma from High Caliper Growing of Oklahoma City. It’s safe to say that the flagship “Smart Pot” is the most popular fabric container in the market, making the label synonymous with any fabric pot. And best of all, these pots can last up to five years or more.
What makes smart pots better?
Temperature and moisture control
You can substitute regular pots with smart pots and take advantage of better heat release and moisture control. These keep the roots healthy and prevent problems with lack or saturation of moisture in the medium. Using these containers with the greenhouse also makes it manageable to control your plants’ temperature due to their breathable fabric and consistent condition indoors.
Better surface area for stronger roots
Have you heard of root pruning? The company mentioned that these pots could root prune for better distribution and spacing of the roots inside. The pot stops the root tip once it reaches the container’s side so that the plant starts side branching.
This provides a better surface area for the roots and facilitates mineral and water absorption optimally. The healthy fibrous growth will then be beneficial for your plants and their productivity. Remember that strong roots make vigorous plants.
Chemical-free
If you intend to have an all-natural garden, you might even like that these pots have no BPA, chemicals, and dyes, so you know your soil is free of them. You don’t want the plant roots to absorb dangerous chemicals and potentially affect what you eat. The risk of chemicals leaching onto your soil is not existent with smart pots.
Year-round productivity
Regardless if you’re growing outdoors or indoors, smart pots will be perfect for multiple seasons. However, you can take advantage of the cool season better if you use a greenhouse. Crops like lettuce and carrots will grow well in these pots inside the greenhouse for the winter or plant garlic in fall for harvest next summer.
Additionally, you can use the pots and greenhouse to move warm-season plants indoors. You can adjust the greenhouse temperature and light to ensure that the moved potted plants will survive until their transfer outdoors.
Caring For Smart Pots
For your smart pots to last longer than five years, you need to know how to clean and maintain them. If you plan on reusing your smart pots for the next season, you can leave them at the end of the growing season to save storage space. You can even keep the larger ones outdoors, and they will survive year-round as long as you cover them with mulch for the winter.
For primary care, remove the pots’ contents and let them dry out so that it will be easy to remove residues and excess soil and roots. You can then fold the containers and store them in a cool dry place for the next season. Depending on your assessment, it’s possible to reuse the soil from the pots as an addition to compost.
Over time, you’ll notice algae growth or salt build-up, which is common in containers. If you can’t remove the contents yet, gently scrub the outside of the pots with a solution of baking soda and water. This should address stains and build-up on the exterior, but remember to let the containers air-dry afterward.
Other cleaning options for build-up and dirt are OxiClean or non-chlorine bleach as they help sterilize the pots for safe reuse. You can wash them by hand or soak in a bucket, but you can save time using a washing machine. Rinse the containers thoroughly to get rid of residues and skip the dryer to maintain the pots’ shape.
Conclusion
Year-round and consistent productivity of plants is possible with smart pots and greenhouses. But do you know how long do smart pots last? These containers make excellent investments because they can last for five years or more.
They also offer several advantages such as temperature and moisture control, better surface area for stronger plant roots, and extended growing season. Using these pots in the greenhouse ensures healthy growth and productivity of the plants. The only thing left for you is the responsible maintenance and care of them.