I have been growing since about 1969. I have grown indoors since about 1985, when air surveys began heavily in my area, I have used by now HPS, T5, and LED lighting and still do. I was a horticulturalist/farmer/landscaper for several decades and have experimented with many different grow systems and pots/bags. I have grown very good cannabis using all of the above and hydroponics and organic soil grows. While yields may be at the consistently larger size for good hydroponics, it does not yield for me any better return, on the dollar invested, to grow organic that way. The "air pots/bags have done very well in the nursery for ornamental's and in the grow room for cannabis. The root pruning action encourages more feeder roots without the circling of large roots in the pots. When I went totally organic about 1991, I decided to eat and smoke sustainable,healthy produce(and POT) instead of plants pumped with chemicals. The beneficial microbes are happier in a natural environment and it seems to me people can thrive better that way too! However the way you choose to grow, it is important in soil or soil less mediums to have more feeder roots! In many hybrid grow methods this feature of the "air" bags will be helpful!
As stated already the hempy method works very well with air bags! If I lived in the city and had limited materials(and experience/knowledge) to build great compost, I might play with doing hempy method organic, with air bags of course!(I may be playing with this soon!) BTW, the largest container grown cannabis plant I ever grew was in a 100 plus gallon bag , outdoors in organic medium, yeilding about 2 lbs. of buds from a plant about 8 feet tall and nearly the same in diameter. I never did this again, due to the paranoia I suffered until harvested! Happy growing!
I do Hempy Buckets now, but when I ran coco I used Air Pots with great success. I never liked the soft sided fabric pots for various reasons. The down side of the air pots is fungus gnats - so I used to cover them in pantyhose to prevent the little fuckers from getting in the holes to lay their eggs.
These are roots at only 2 weeks from sprout in a 1ltr air pot.
These are 9.2ltr air pot covered in pantyhose. I suggest queen size. Lol.
Spider mites attack primarily the leaves of stressed under watered or over watered plants. Fungus gnats love constantly wet places, standing puddles, debris/dust mixed with nutrient rich water or pot surfaces or sides that are constantly damp or wet can be inviting to the gnats and fungus diseases. Ph is important to help plants resist pest. Under worked compost can bring mites into your grow room, both good and bad mites(some attack other mites or bugs). Amended coco(or peat moss) is an excellent medium for use in fabric bags or pots of any kind).
Cleanliness in the grow room pays off. Good air flow is vital! Defeating fungus gnats in a constantly wet environment requires covering the grow medium and keeping everything clean and dry as possible, maintaining sticky traps and reacting to any that show up immediately! About the same for spider mites, clean, vigilance and react swiftly. A few spider mites at harvest left from control attempts is not so bad, if you wash the plants/buds very well. Spider mites can easily be identified by either inspection of the leaves or shaking vigorously a branch over a large sheet of white paper. The specks that show up can be inspected with a magnifier or just watch for a speck to begin crawling! If you see crawling, you better get busy fast! Do not use commercial spider mite chemical controls! I use various organic homemade sprays that tend to offer control- not eradication of mites. Rosemary oil, fels soap , neem oil, pyrethrin (made from flower buds of a daisy type, not permethrin a dangerous chemical!)) cocktails take care of reducing or eliminating most pest I have encountered the past few decades. All of these things readily wash off the plants a couple weeks later at harvest,, leaving no harmful residues or flavors to distract from your good bud. I sometimes just make shatter out of buds that may of come from plants that got heavily infested before controls(after a good wash, still). I have never used any commercial (even organic ) mite sprays due to either cost or not wanting to use chemicals that may linger in the plant tissues. In general the fabric bags/air pots are better for me in most ways. BTW, if you get mites,etc. in your grow room, throw away or very carefully clean the entire room and all tools and equipment. Don't go for a walk in your garden or landscape then waltz into your grow room! Wash your favorite jacket, shoes and etc. that may enter the space.Relax, smoke a bowl and keep on growing bud! Anyway that works for you!
If I might chime in I grow in coco with Air pots never had issues with anything here is my current set up it's drain to waste
you can check out my last grow in my signature
