Air pruning is a simple idea that changes what the root ball looks like. Instead of a wall that turns roots back on themselves, the felt lets air reach the root tips, so they stop there and branch. Over a season that produces a dense, fibrous root ball rather than one coiled round the base, which is why a plant comes out of the bag without a fight. The range runs eight formats from a 1 gallon herb bag to a 50 gallon tree bag, off the same breathable wall.
Air pruning is a simple idea that changes what the root ball looks like at the end of a season, and it is the reason a felt wall behaves differently from a plastic one.
In a smooth container, a root that reaches the wall turns and runs round it, and by the end of the season the plant is growing in a coil. In a felt bag the root tip meets air at the wall instead, stops there and branches, so the root ball fills the volume rather than lining it. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why the plant lifts out without the root ball having to be cut open. Surplus water behaves the same way: it leaves through the wall rather than collecting at the base.
The ladder runs 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 50 gallon, so the same wall covers a windowsill herb bag at one end and a tree or a full potato crop at the other. Growers use them on balconies, patios and nursery rows, and the felt wall is the reason a heavy format still drains rather than turning sour at the base. Handles are stitched through the wall and sized to the format. The wall system is shared across the air pruning pot range.
| Use | Vegetables, herbs and fruit trees |
| Material | Non-woven felt fabric |
| Form | Round |
| Sizes | 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 50 gallon |
| Root control | Air pruning at the felt face |
| Handles | Stitched fabric handles |
| Fabric | Breathable and draining |
| Packing | Bag, pallet or carton |
The handles are stitched through the wall on every format rather than only on the large ones, so a plant can be moved without the root ball being disturbed. The base is finished flat and stitched so the bag stands level on paving while it is filled, and the rim is turned to stop the felt fraying through repeated handling. Where a permanent tree container is needed instead, the biggest formats sit with the tree and nursery container range.
Tell us the diameters, volumes and colours your programme works to, since the felt is needled to order and a printed logo can be added on programme quantities. Orders ship in bags, on pallets or in cartons, and the flat bag stores in a fraction of the space a stack of rigid pots takes. The wider soft container range sits in the planting bag range. Container and growing media supply is covered at HortiDaily and FreshPlaza.
What does air pruning actually do?
Air reaches the root tips at the felt face, so they stop and branch instead of running round the container, which gives a fibrous root ball rather than a coiled one.
Do the bags drain as well as they breathe?
Yes. Surplus water leaves through the same wall rather than collecting at the base, which matters most in the larger formats.
How are bulk orders packed?
In bags, on pallets or in cartons, with mixed sizes and colours combined in one load.
Tell us the sizes, colours and quantities your programme needs, and we will come back with the packing plan, sample and lead time.
Mark Wu, Co-founder & Technical Director, Sichuan Zhifang Net Industry. 15 years manufacturing agricultural nettings for growers in 32 countries.
