Bonsai nursery in China using Air-Pots

In 2015, Swindon & District Bonsai Nursery of UK posted an article on their blog about their visit to a large bonsai nursery in China, where air-pots are widely used for trees in various stages of their development as bonsai, for all sizes and species, not just conifers.

Pics by Swindon & District Bonsai Nursery

More pics below & some write up on bonsai community's ignorance about air pruning :

The original pics by Swindon & District Bonsai Nursery were too dark & small. So, I brightened & cropped them for a better view - click here to see.

Original blog article :
http://swindon-bonsai.co.uk/2015/11/11/bonsai-nursery-panyu-chu-kong-steel-pipe-co-ltd/

Air-pots are air pruning pots from UK & were made specifically for tree nurseries. They seem to be a copy of the American Rootbuilder pots, introduced by Dr. Carl Whitcomb in 1990 (Air-pot was introduced 10 yrs later). Dr. Whitcomb is considered to be the discoverer of the air pruning concept & has pioneered the design of many air pruning pots since the late 1960s for tree nurseries in America. 

Such pot designs produce dense, fibrous & non-circling roots, which not only keep the tree healthy but gives a longer shelf life in pots & almost zero transplant shock when planted in ground at the customer's venue. 

Apart from the benefit of air-pruning, such pots also have superior drainage & aeration for roots, compared to traditional pots used by nurseries. If used properly, they can also give faster growth, compared to a traditional pot of same volume. Some nurseries even claim to have saved upto 1-2 growing seasons in air-pots !

While air-pots may look expensive, they are supposedly cost effective in the long term. Cheaper alternatives like fabric pots, pond baskets, converted paint buckets, laundry baskets etc  can also be used. For folks with small to medium sized bonsai, colander is a cheap alternative. For bigger bonsai, perforated milk crates or fish crates are a cheap alternative.

Ideally, all tree nurseries should be adopting air pruning containers but it appears that they are a minority. For some strange reason, the world seems to love pots that guarantee root circling, along with poor drainage & aeration !


Total Ignorance - Air pruning pots are a natural fit for bonsai but it is sad to see massive ignorance of it in the global bonsai community. Many Japan worshiping bonsai artists & pre-bonsai nurseries are happily growing their bonsai trees in inferior traditional pots & think that root circling, poor pot drainage & aeration is a natural thing. For proof, just see the traditional grow pots at bonsai demos, bonsai nurseries & those of individual bonsai artists.

Partial Ignorance - Some bonsai artists are familiar with the concept and do use colanders / air pruning containers but they naively think that it is only suitable for conifers & sick trees and that it is not needed for other tree species / healthy trees. This popular misconception makes me really question the quality of bonsai education imparted to them.  

Air pruning pots are increasingly being used for growing even vegetables & fruit trees by home gardeners ! But surprisingly the global bonsai community seems to be dragging their feet on it or having nonsensical ideas about it. If you are aware of any bonsai training course (beginner to advanced) that covers air pruning then please mention it in the comments section below. I have looked around online and found it missing from the syllabus of even reputed bonsai courses. I wonder why this basic info is skipped ? 

Students should ask their bonsai trainers why air pruning is not covered in the course. When was the teacher going to cover it, if at all ? Is it not relevant ?

How Pot Design Affects Your Plant's Growth

A common excuse for rejecting perforated pots is the higher water consumption associated with them. But this is like rejecting jet engines bcos they drink lot of fuel and instead, opting for more fuel efficient but ancient propeller engines. Bonsai = shallow containers = more watering. It would be ironical for bonsai artists to complain about this.

Colander vs. Bonsai Pots

I first came across the concept of air-pruning on home gardening channels, not bonsai channels or blogs and adopted it within 3 months of starting my bonsai hobby. Of course, later i did come across some bonsai artists using air pruning containers. While I am glad to see them use it, these cases still remain a minority.  

What really blows my mind is that air pruning was discovered in 1960s and is still not a standard practice for growing plants ! 

See my air pruning pots for bonsai.


Success Of Air-pots At Deepdale Tree Nursery, UK -
http://www.deepdale-trees.co.uk/trees/air-pot-system.html

Knecht's Nurseries, USA -
http://knechts.net/air-pruning-nursery-containers/
http://knechts.net/tag/air-pruning-trees/


Native Forest Nursery, USA -
https://nativeforestnursery.com/2017/06/29/air-pruning-advantage.html


I hope this much evidence is enough to convince you to change your pots. But I am pretty sure many will still not do it till they get permission from Japan ;-) 

While some might be offended by my strong opinions in this article, I find slavish mindsets & Japan worshipers equally offensive. When Japan learnt bonsai from China, they did not worship China and instead improvised and became a leader in the field. I admire what the Japanese have done for the bonsai art but I refuse to worship them.

If a person's grow pots for bonsai are not the air pruning type, then I strongly suspect that they do not know what air pruning is despite their claims. And frequent watering is a silly excuse for rejecting this.