Air Root Pruning

A Visual Guide to Air Root Pruning

GeoPot’s complete line of fabric growing containers provides a variety of benefits to growers who want to optimize plant health and increase yields, including improved aeration, superior drainage, and air root pruning. While aeration and drainage are commonly understood terms in the cultivation community, air root pruning is a new concept for some. That’s why we have created the following visual guide to help growers understand the process and what it means for their plants.

Root Bound PLant

In a plastic pot or wooden raised bed, roots circle endlessly within the confines of the container, becoming root-bound. This limits the plant’s ability to absorb essential water and nutrients in the soil, keeping it from reaching its full potential.

Air root pruning prevents plants from becoming root-bound in their growing container and encourages the development of a more robust root zone that is much more efficient in absorbing available nutrients in the soil. While plastic or wooden growing containers don’t allow for air root pruning, GeoPot fabric potsG-Lite fabric pots, and GeoPlanter raised beds are built to help cultivators take advantage of this natural process and maximize the growth potential of their plants.

Here’s how it works:

Roots Growing Outward

The roots of the plant grow outward through the soil in search of water and nutrients.

Roots reach edge

As the roots reach the edges of the container, GeoPot’s porous, non-woven geotextile fabric allows them to be exposed to dry air, causing the root tips to self-prune by drying out, stopping outward growth.

branches of secondary and tertiary feeder roots

As a natural result of this self-pruning, branches of secondary and tertiary feeder roots grow, providing more surface area for nutrient uptake.

More robust root system

The process repeats itself, creating a more robust root system that allows for more efficient absorption of water and nutrients, vigorous growth, and bigger yields.

We hope that this simple visual guide helps to demystify the natural process of air root pruning and illustrate the ways that it can help your plants reach their full potential. GeoPot fabric potsG-Lite fabric pots, and GeoPlanter raised beds were designed to harness the power of air root pruning to help cultivators grow bigger, healthier plants and harvest more substantial yields than they would in plastic or wooden containers.

Learn more about the benefits of growing in GeoPot fabric pots.