Cone-tainers question

[Ognin525]

Does anyone have exp using cone-tainers? Seems like they could save me alot of space. Any pros or cons to these systems or advice on another brand would be great im on the fence right now. Looking at the 7" deep by 1.5" wide ones. Thanks in advance!

[Daintree]

I have used similar things when I got a bunch of  "tree tubes".
They help make nice deep roots, but then I still have to pot them up into bigger containers, and they spend so little time in the tubes, that I wouldn't say they saved me any space.

If you are starting hundreds of things at once, then they would save you space and "tippage" compared to the 3" wide by 7" deep pots that I use now. But I am never starting more than a dozen or two seeds at once, so the rack took up just as much space as 30 tall pots.

Carolyn

[Jaboticaba45]

I hate conerainers…never will I use them again.
It’s way too hard to repot trees. They would just not come out …I got really angry 😤
Get a slightly wider pit so it’s easier to repot.

[brian]

Someone had posted about creating their own tube containers with PVC.  You could use a cheaper material such as irrigation main tubing, too.  Probably cheaper and less tippy than the cone-tainers, and easier to push plants out

[Ognin525]

Thanks for the input everyone. Iv decided not to get them i was a bit worried about how it was getting a plant out of them. I do remember reading about the pvc tubes ill have to grab some length next time im on a new build!

[nullzero]

I like deep treepots 4"x14", work well for at least the first year. After that I plant in ground or a 10 gal tall fabric container.

[nattyfroootz]

I used to use them to propagate grassland species at a reserve. We'd hsve about 50,000 plants a year in propagation! I like them for more of grassland and species with fibrous vigorous root systems but I don't particularly like them for the subrropicals, at least in my climate and current set up, which is limited to hand watering once or twice a week

[Jagmanjoe]

Someone had posted about creating their own tube containers with PVC.  You could use a cheaper material such as irrigation main tubing, too.  Probably cheaper and less tippy than the cone-tainers, and easier to push plants out

While it would be more time consuming initially, why not split the pvc in half then use packaging tape to hold it together for initial use.  Then at transplant time, cut the packaging tape to make removal easier. One can then retape the pvc and reuse.

I have not tried this myself but don't see why it wouldn't work and make removal of the plant easier.

[Satya]

I hate conerainers…never will I use them again.
It’s way too hard to repot trees. They would just not come out …I got really angry 😤
Get a slightly wider pit so it’s easier to repot.

I had the same problem with root pruning pots, was cursing while trying to scrape them out with a table fork. then one day by accident they got flooded and i was repotting the next day, and when the soil was completely soaked and soft, they came out nicely en bloc without any damage to the roots. From now on, I always soak them the night before transplanting, and I don't have to use the fork any longer))
The main problem with cone-tainers for me was the giant tap root and not many side roots, so if I were to plant in them again, I would drill tiny holes all along the cone. Considering they are on daily irrigation, because they will dry up very fast with this kind of aeration.
They did save a lot of space for me with the Brazil seed order - had great survival rate in them, and plants looked healthy for a long time without fertilizer. But make sure you only plant slow growing trees into them, for fast growing plants they are pretty useless.