Fabric Pots vs Plastic Pots - which is better - is fabric really cooler?

The pros and cons of both fabric and plastic pots - is fabric cooler - does fabric stop circulating roots?

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Fabric Pots vs Plastic Pots - which is better - is fabric really cooler?
Are fabric pots really cooler? Are fabric pots better for the environment?
Do fabric pots air prune roots and prevent circulating roots?

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[paulmazzola]

Inspired by this video I tried it out for myself as I have both cloth and plastic containers. Here are my results from SE Michigan
Ambient temp 85°
Temp of plastic pots between 80 and 90
Fabric pots between 70 and 74.
Maybe it's just me or maybe it's just too small of a sample size but holy cow what a difference! Always best to do your own research even when the video is a trusted source of information.

[tomvermeulen]

OMG! Thank you for covering everything in a real world example with no BS. I truly appreciate your honesty and the attention to detail. I have heard over and over again the upsides of route self aeration in fabric bags.

[fbhaze]

Thanks for the break down. I was really undecided. I'm going with plastic pots. I appreciate you for making this video and the education.

[shortari]

I’ve had these same growbags going on four years in all different sizes and absolutely love them. They hold up really well here in the hot Florida sun and the soil doesn’t dry out as much. Handles are great to move them around. The black plastic pots end up cracking and last maybe a year here.

[kumd]

By far the most helpful video I’ve seen on this topic. I sincerely appreciate all the work you put into this!

[racebiketuner]

The humidity is very low where I live and we get a very strong afternoon breeze. Fabric pots loose a lot of water under these circumstances, even with 4 inches of shredded fall leaves on top. This situation gets much worse when it gets over 85F. I found wrapping them with corrugated cardboard helps. For me, it was a failed experiment. This year I planted everything in beds or nursery pots ranging from 5 to 32 gallons.

[nancywarder]

Well your April Fool joke was great . At first I thought "oh no he is a ding bat and I just bought his books" Well I am happy he just has a good sense of humor. Perfect. Enjoying your books learning a lot

[annagarza]

This is my first year in using the grow bags. I do find they dry out fast in our hot summers here.

[katjoy]

I am so impressed with this video. I do grow in plastic but have also grown in cloth. But I’ve always heard that cloth was better. But cloth dried out faster and had to be watered more often.

[fracturedphalanx]

Best pot comparison video I’ve seen! Thank you!

[Rohmtschen]

I had already bought cloth pots before I saw this video. I'm glad I saw this however, and will switch to plastic after my fabric wears out, or if I find some free plastic containers. Great video with clear, easy to understand analysis and explanations.

[Randy_Smith]

I've used bags for two years and last year I added a few plastic pots into the mix. The first thing I noticed with the plastic compared to bags was I had to water WAY less with the plastic pots. I have several bags and I'll continue to use them but as they wear out I'll be replacing with plastic. For me the only draw back to plastic is the cost. I want to start growing potatoes in containers and have decided to go with at least 10 gallon containers. 10 gallon or larger plastic containers are A LOT more expensive than grow bags of the same size. Thanks again for sharing such useful info.

[Seiai]

The video was informative! I wasn't aware of the some of the other claims, so it was interesting to watch you address them.

I'm using fabric pots on plants that will stay potted for a long time. The self pruning feature is the main reason I started using them, so I'm glad that you mentioned that in your video.

I made several pots from weed barrier fabric last year. (The fabric is rated for 30 years.) They're holding up pretty well. A roll of fabric is relatively inexpensive especially when you take into account the price of larger pots!

My pots are kept on shallow trays filled with water, so I don't have to water it often.

[emptynestgardens]

I just got my order of 6, 20gal bags that I'll be growing melons and pumpkins in. Growing inground wasn't an option and the price of 20gal plastic pots was insane. I'm glad to know that root development will be a non issue but I'll have to be diligent about watering. Thank you for yet more awesome content and food for thought.

[jeremiahembs]

Shipping space and the handles are the primary benefit of bags. Ease of movement will encourage gardeners to take advantage of micro climates around their property. Bags aren't rigid though so every time you move the plant you are breaking the roots and some plants aren't going to like being moved around. Others will appreciate it. You can also fluff the soil in a bag to prevent compaction so that's a good thing for drainage. S You can get a lot of bags in a truck and they really are easy to move around. The disadvantage is they rot in the desert sun very quickly. Pots will also shatter in the desert sun, but it takes longer. Another advantage of bags is you can fold the edges back or in and pin them so you can use less soil for smaller plants without shading the base of the plant. So I'd say for short term grows bags are probably better as long as you don't move the plant all that often. For long term pots are better.

[waltright]

So for house plants, the cloth bags will prevent root circling. However as another commenter pointed out, roots will avoid growing to the sides of the cloth pot because the soil is too dry there due to evaporation. I also thought the increased oxygen entering through the bag would help plants grow faster.

[lolajoker]

One of the main proponents of using cloth pots is cannabis growers, especially for indoor grows. From what I've seen and read, because of the root pruning, you can supposedly grow a bigger plant in a smaller cloth pot than a plastic pot. I don't know if this is scientifically the case but it's what they say. I picked up some 5 gal Smart Pots (one of the first companies to make fabric pots) on clearance from Home Depot about 4 years ago. Someone gave me 3 cannabis cuttings (legal to grow here) and I decided to try rooting them and I grew them in the fabric pots. They grew very good and very big outside during that summer but since I didn't plant any in plastic pots I don't know if they grew any different than if they were in plastic pots. The Smart Pots are made much better than those cheaper Amazon pots. They are thicker material made from recycled soda bottles and they are made in the USA. I've heard that some of these cheaper cloth pots from China can leach chemicals that can kill the plants so I would stick with a name brand like Smart Pot or other US made brand. I wound up giving the harvested plants to my cousin who is a cannabis user and he said they produced very good cannabis but I have no idea if it was better than a plastic pot.

[uzunerfatih]

I like your evidence based approach to gardening!

[debk]

I had the worst experience with fabric bags. I still have 2 from last year where I cannot remove the old soil and the roots are stuck in the fabric. When it was over 85 degrees, I was watering the bags multiple times a day. I didn't like the look when they started looking dirty. I will stick with the plastic.

[alcg]

This is my 2nd year using cloth pots and had no trouble getting my dirt out, nor root problems through the cloth.
I have 5 XXL 18-20" diameter, and last year grew tomatoes in 3, a zucchini in 1 and Strawberries in 1. I left the dirt in all winter. I'm Zone 6. My strawberries have come back in the same container! This year I have 3 tomatoes & a pepper in others. I re-used half of last year's soil in all but the 🍓. I mixed in new mix. I did have some moss on the outsides, cleaned it up with bleach and water.