Roots growing through the side of cloth pots

Hi Guys I have a couple questions on this subject. I am growing Gelato auto’s in 5g cloth buckets in a Spider Farmer stock tent set up … The plants are in their seventh week.
1st Is it common for an Auto’s root ball to to penetrate the sides of cloth pots?
2nd Or is it something I’m doing such as over watering? The Ph is fine, for nutrients I am using the I heart GM nutrients pack … Thanks a bunch for any input …

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Welcome to the community.
It can be something that just happens or it can be caused by the pot sitting in a tray with water in the tray.
Usually if there is good air circulation and its sitting on some kinda riser to lift it off the ground just a little bit, it shouldn’t be yo much of an issue.

When the roots hit air they want grow much farther

Got any pictures and may be able to advise ya better.

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Shouldn’t cause an issue, your only worry should be the integrity of the grow bag. If you want you could always just double bag it.

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These growers have you covered. And you have a good problem if that’s the only one you got. Those roots will die once in the light and won’t hurt a thing you could trim them off if it bugs you. Keep on keepin on! :sunglasses::v::call_me_hand:

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If you have a bigger bag, put some dirty in bottom, set current bag with plant in it, then full in the sides. @oldmarine does this routinely if I’m not mistaken.

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Welcome to the community. Looks like you are cover by good suggestions! Happy Growing :blush::v:

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Just let them wick off naturally thats the purpose of fabric pots. The part that stays inside the pot will be fine and healthy. Bigger and thicker and will eat more nutes. I’ve nerer had any adverse efects from this. I would not put them inside another pot that would restrict air flow and defeat the purpose of using cloth pots in the first place.
You could set them on top of another pot of dirt like @oldmarine but if you have hight restrictions there is no need.

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Forgot to put.
When the grow is over let the pots dry out really good and just brush the roots off. Throw them in washer on gentle cycle no soap that will get the salts off and your good for next grow.

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Yes its normal for the roots to grow through the fabric. On the sides they will Air Prune themselves as there is no water for them. Underneath if left in water they will continue to grow but pose a risk of fungus/mold. Best to set on a rack or remove the extra water.
As mentioned above since the root will grow through the fabric you can “Pot Up” by setting it an inch or two into a bigger bag. Here’s a pic on the root mass where I set a 1 gal bag into a 5 gallon bag.

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Normal for me, always have roots sticking out the sides of the grow bags, though they won’t get too long with the air pruning.

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@Hellraiser thot is a different looking grow bag could you show a better pic and give more info on it.

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I use mesh grow bags, prefer them over fabric. That pic was of a Radicle mesh grow bag but the company went out of business, they made great bags but was horrible at fulfilling orders in a timely manner so they are no longer available but I have a bunch of them, great bags and look as good as new after a cleaning and last for years.

Here’s a better look at them:

I also use Rain Science mesh grow bags which are just as good and the company is great on customer service, unlike Radicle.

Here’s some plants in Rain Science mesh grow bags:

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I am giving rain science bags a try given Hellraiser’s positive comments.

48 day old GDP - photo from 2/22

Thanks for all the tips and info, this is my firsts grow and it kinda freaked me out lol The girls just started their 7th week, I just started flowering nutrients, any tips would be awesome… They look much better than my phone does them justice…




@Hellraiser Thanks again for helping me with that :facepunch:. I am all RS now. I have 12 25g containers. Green,Red,Yellow,Blue,Black-Like VOLTRON :+1:ha ha. But it will help with notes,database,etc.

*Disclaimer-my grow op is called THUNDERDOME. *


I have Roots always out of the bottom and on to the wooden pallets I have them on.Pics include some of the previous cover crop grow out of the side of my Radicle bags! (25G)That also meant weeds invaded my containers and that bummed me out.
I have had netpots, radicle bags, and now Rain Science bags. I like RS the best so far. I have then side by side, and the RS bags have the green trim around the edge.
In my best Marcellus Wallace voice,Im prepared to replace the old soil that has bad weeds,if it comes to that. But I would rather recycle the soil.

But to answer the original question-roots grew out of the bottom of my black netpots,never the side. Wait,but i got all meta and smoking helped me see that the side growth basically IS roots, in a way. My bad. I got the assignment wrong. :dizzy_face:


SL out.