RootMaker® Pots are the gold standard in root pruning technology. As the pioneer in root pruning research since 1968, RootMaker® products offer complete root-pruning container systems for all stages of growth: from propagation to harvest. Experienced growers understand that making root production a top priority will lead to healthier and more productive crops. RootMaker® holds patents on container designs that promote healthy, fibrous, laterally-branching root structure by way of air pruning, root entrapment and root constriction. No matter your production method, there is a RootMaker® Pot suitable for your application. RootMaker® Pots (plastic and fabric) come in 8 different styles.
RootMaker® Trays available in 18-, 32-, and 60-cell trays all incorporate the patented design for air pruning technology
RootBuilder® II Pots (thermoformed HDPE air pot) available from 1 pint to 100-gallons
RootTrapper® Grow Bags (exterior laminated black, spun-bonded polyester sidewall and base) are available up to 500-gallons. This grow bag is used for both indoor and outdoor grows.
RootTrapper® II Grow Bags (exterior laminated black, spun-bonded polyester sidewall – except bottom 2” – and base) are available up to 300-gallons. This grow bag is used outdoors when extra drainage is needed.
RootTrapper Grounder® (exterior laminated black, spun-bonded polyester sidewall with knit fabric base) is available from 3-gallons up to 60-gallons. This grow bag is used in outdoor applications, only on top of the soil to allow narrow roots to grow into the soil for extra stability.
RootTrapper® In-Pot (exterior laminated black, spun-bonded polyester sidewall and base) custom fitted to any size socket pot for pot-in-pot production.
RootMaker Pot Licker® (exterior laminated black, spun-bonded polyester sidewall and base on sizes 15-gallon and up. No base material under 15-gallons) available 1-gallon up to 45-gallons. This product is used to retrofit your existing stock of smooth wall nursery pots into air pruning pots.
RootTrapper® Knit Bag is available as a 5” liner up to 24” diameter to grow a 4” caliper tree. Designed for in-ground growing.
All RootTrapper® grow bag containers are constructed of black, spun-bonded polyester and laminated with a white polypropylene outer coating. The white outer coating is designed to reflect the sun’s radiant energy away from the container to avoid overheating the root zone. This has two benefits:
Protects tender roots from heat damage
Conserves water that would otherwise be lost to evaporation
The porous fabric design prunes up to 100 roots per square inch.
Root Structure in RootMaker® Pots
All styles of RootMaker® Pots create fibrous, non-circling root systems. The increased root tip surface area equates to faster root establishment and increased efficiency in nutrient and water absorption. Due to this increase, plants will experience
Little or no transplant shock
Overall accelerated growth
Increased vigor
The RootMaker® Method
A plant runs on energy and the more productive the leaves are at manufacturing the energy necessary for the growth of tops and roots, the better. Experienced growers understand that making root production a top priority will lead to healthier and more productive crops. The RootMaker® method promotes healthy roots from seed to harvest:
Plant seed in RootMaker® propagation containers which destroy the taproot within a few days after germination and stimulates secondary root branching by air-root-pruning not only at the bottom but o the sides as well. This creates a root system with root tips ready to grow radially as well as downward when transplanted. Then done properly and timely, root systems far superior to what occurs in nature can be produced – both faster and more consistently. (this step also works for cuttings)
Transplant seedlings after 10 to 16 weeks into one- or three-gallon RootMaker® plastic air-pruning containers or into RootMaker Knit Bags in cinder blocks or the 5-gallon RootMaker Grounder® if soils drain well.
During fall months, plant trees in the appropriate RootMaker® Fabric container or RootBuilder® Air Pot to match your production method.
