Aquarium Plant Net Pots

[Jesseliu13]

Now this may seem pretty stupid but sofar i have no complaints on how effective and cheap it is for me. So Im sure alot you guys have plants in your Aquarium. (if your aquarium has no plants, and is Extremely planted, dont bother reading.)
But my aquarium only needs to be Lightly planted. Due to my fish's needs. So i have about 10 Amazon Swords and a few other Cheap Topfin plants. But i dont like to have the plants root into my gravel! Especially when i have to vaccuum my gravel! so i wanted to get some Net pots for the plants. (Net pots - those black plastic pots that seems to have a jail like design for the roots/holes for roots) I looked online for the cheapest ones... wow its like basically 1 for 1 dollar. or like 5 for 3.99. Pretty stupid for some cheap piece if plastic. So here is the good part.

All you need to do is get some cheap dixy cup or Red solo cup.
step 1: get Plastic Cup (Must be soft plastic. Not wax paper cups.)
Step 2: Cut it so the cup height is same as your gravel (For Neatness.)
Step 3: Get a punching! A hole puncher will do if you can punch it through the plastic. What i used was a metal chopstick and heated it up above a fire and punched holes throught the plastic. Make sure you punch on the side as well as the Bottom! more holes the better your roots have room. Though the more holes the less stable the pot is. Ah 1 more thing. Make sure your holes are large enough to have room for the roots to go through or fresh water to go into the cup! i'd say the thickness of a pencil would be fine. or just a little smaller. any smaller than that the roots may have trouble getting freshwater and growing.
Step 4: insert plant, bulb or w.e into the pot and then fill it with soil or more gravel. I just Used gravel. If you'd live you can put a plant tab into the bottom and put a small layer of gravel or soil. you dont want to put it direct because since the tab is pure nutrition it can damage the roots.
step 5. Put the potted plant into the tank and jsut clean it up a little. (clean it up a little : put it so the pot is level with soil or w.e)

and your done!

 

[Macomber]

I understand what your trying to accomplish but, poking holes in the container/cup for the roots seems to be counter productive. The complaint was that the roots impede on your gravel cleaning efforts. With this setup, now you have a red cup AND roots to contend with.

 

[aquaponicpaw]

I used gutter gaurd for mine. I believe You will get better results if the grow media is allowed to have water flow through it and clean it self. I Have black sand as a substrate and I use gravel and root tabs in the grow pots. Over time the gravel will spill out of the many holes in the pot thus allowing it to clean itself and prevent the buildup of gasses and anerobic bacteria. when it gets unsightly I just add another root tab and scoop the gravel back in. It works well because the sword roots grow through the holes and they don't become uprooted when the gravel is low.

 

[Jesseliu13]

I understand what your trying to accomplish but, poking holes in the container/cup for the roots seems to be counter productive. The complaint was that the roots impede on your gravel cleaning efforts. With this setup, now you have a red cup AND roots to contend with.

Hmm my explaination might have been a little contradicting... Let me reexplain it i guess. well Yes the roots in the bare rocks was a problem. But the Real problem was i didnt know how far the roots grew! as in how wide or deep into the tank so i had to mad a radius where i could not vaccum. But with the cup, I now have an idea of where the roots will stop and whatnot. basically giving me a better idea of where i can vaccum and where i cant! sorry for the confusion!