Okay so last month I decided to finally bite the bullet and try out these air pruning beds everyone keeps talking about. My regular fabric pots were doing okay, but hey, maybe there’s something better?
What I Actually Did
First off, I spent a whole weekend reading stuff online about air pruning beds. Honestly, it felt overwhelming. So many fancy terms! But the basic idea is simple: the air prunes the roots when they hit the sides, stopping them from circling. Supposedly makes for denser, healthier roots. Sounded cool.
Went down to the local big-box store. Thought maybe they’d have something ready-made. Nope. Nothing. Checked a garden center – crazy expensive kits. Forget that. Figured, how hard could it be to DIY?
Building the Thing:
Grabbed some scrap wood I had lying around from an old shelf project – free is good, right? Measured out pieces roughly 2 feet wide by 4 feet long and started cutting. Not gonna lie, the saw scared me a bit. Took way longer than expected to get everything squared up.
Put the frame together with screws and my trusty drill. Definitely had one side crooked, but hey, functional. The hard part was making the holes. This is where air pruning happens. Drilled holes EVERYWHERE on the inside surfaces with a big bit. Ended up covered in sawdust and totally frustrated. It felt messy and fiddly. Needed holes big enough for air but small enough to hold the soil in… a pain.
Lined the whole inside with wire mesh – the kind they use for chicken coops. That actually worked pretty well to keep the dirt from just pouring out the holes. Felt kinda clever at that point.
Planting Time & The Big Wait
Filled the box up with my usual potting mix. Got some tomato seedlings ready to go and planted them in.
Then… nothing much happened for a while. Just watered them like usual. After about a week, I got curious. Gently pulled one seedling up a bit to peek at the roots. Honestly? They just looked… normal? Maybe a bit shorter than usual? Hard to tell.
Weeks Later – The Good & The Ugly
After a few weeks, things got interesting. Here’s the real deal from my experiment:
Okay, Pros I Guess:
- Watering felt different. It definitely soaked through the whole bed quickly. Drying out seemed even faster than my fabric pots.
- When I finally pulled the plants way later for the season… the roots! They weren’t circling like mad in a pot. They looked bushy, kinda like dense hair. That was cool to see. Felt like the root pruning might have actually worked.
The Cons That Bugged Me:
- Building it SUCKED. Way more time, effort, and frustration than just grabbing a pot. And even if I used new wood, cost adds up with wood, screws, mesh.
- Drying out TOO fast. Seriously felt like I was watering twice a day in summer heat. Plants got stressed when I missed one watering.
- Moving? Forget it! That box wasn’t going anywhere after I filled it. Stuck on my patio. Fabric pots I can drag around easily.
- Weird Stuff Inside? When I emptied it, some roots near the holes looked… dried out? Almost turning brown. Not sure if that was “air pruning” or just the roots dying from dehydration. Felt kinda concerning.
So Are They Worth It? What Else?
My verdict? Maybe, but probably not for me. The effort was huge. The constant watering was annoying. Seeing the root mass at the end was neat, but did it make a HUGE difference to the actual tomatoes? Honestly, yields seemed about the same as my best fabric pots.
Would I recommend it? Only if you’ve got time to kill, like DIY projects that frustrate you, and have a spot that needs a permanent bed you can water constantly.
What’s Easier? Here’s what I’ll stick with or maybe try more:
- Fabric Pots: My go-to. Way easier. Still get good root pruning. Cheap. Movable.
- Air Pots (the plastic ones with holes): Bought a couple to try later this season. Heard they work like air pruning beds but much easier setup.
- Just Bigger Regular Pots: Sometimes, a bigger home is all the roots need to not get too cramped.
- Literally anything else: Old buckets with holes drilled, milk crates lined with fabric. Seriously, simpler seems smarter after this experiment.
Air pruning beds? They do something unique to roots. But man, they are a commitment. For most folks messing around with veggies in their backyard like me, the hassle outweighs the slight benefit. At least in my book. Glad I tried it, won’t build another one!
