Root Trainers

[Greenleaves]

Evening All

I took delivery today of 16 × 4 cell root trainer books and the quality is not very good...very flimsy compared to what I already have. Can anyone recommend a good brand or supplier? These came from a well known garden supply company that shares it's name with a famous West End store

[Bohobumble]

I'm afraid they are that quality these days, very expensive for what you actually get

I'm rather disappointed with the ones I bought this season to be honest. I even had to take one pack back to the store as it hadn't been strong enough to survive distribution.

I'd be keen to hear of any alternative systems that are of better quality, I would happily spend my hard earned cash for quality.

[Alison]

I have quite a lot of root trainers as I grow all my beans in them. The ones I've been using for about ten years are still reasonably OK even though some of them have come apart at the hinge. The additional ones I bought a couple of years ago are already crumbling badly round the top, clearly lower quality unfortunately

[marchogaeth]

Mine are in their fourth season and they get a lot of wear (Sow, transplant, wash, sow....etc). They are Hannicks Rootrainers - Haxnicks so if that's what you bought they have gone down the pan. I do remember reading something to the effect that "you might get more than one use out of them" but I'd already bought mine. Needless to say I was furious and absolutely determined they'd work for their money but it does sort of suggest that they are meant to be disposable although goodness knows who'd buy them if that is the case. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

[Bohobumble]

I hope Haxnicks are reading this valuable customer feedback

[veggiechicken]

If you want a blow by blow account of VC's adventures with Roottrainers http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...buy_64683.html I bought them 3 years ago, used them that year, bent and buckled several, used a couple the following year with the same result and haven't even thought about using them this year, They're just too flimsy for me.
Somewhere, there's a thread about my homemade ones.....................

[Alison]

It's a shame as the old ones were brilliant.

[Kristen]

Interesting discussion ... I bought one lot to try (many years ago, presumably when they were still good quality and probably only one maker at that time).

I didn't get on with them at all. Fiddly to fill, and opening them up to plant was time consuming (not hugely, but compared to just knocking a plant out of a pot), and quite a lot [of plants] didn't have a good enough rootball to be able to remove it intact, so the rootball broke up on planting which seemed to defeat the object. I think that lifting the plant out, as distinct from knocking it out [of a conventional pot], is more inclined to cause the rootball to break up, especially if not really well formed as yet.

I've seen a lot of people swear by them, rather than at! then, over the years so I'm probably missing something - happy to be enlightened

My tool of choice is a 9cm round plastic pot. For anything that needs tall pot and/or no root disturbance (Parsnips, Sweetcorn, Sweetpeas) I use pots I make from newspaper - about 5" tall

[ron]

I have been using root trainers for many years and got some new a few weeks ago and would agree that the new ones are not of the same quality as the originals

[marchogaeth]

I've seen a lot of people swear by them, rather than at! then, over the years so I'm probably missing something - happy to be enlightened

Actually, I don't think you are. I just spent so much money, I was determined to use them. To get the best from them the roots have to come out the bottom and be "air pruned". I think plants need to be grown in them longer than you would keep them in a pot because (honestly, I'm not making it up - I've looked and tried to understand) the roots grow in a different pattern in the space. I feel I can let plants grow in them until they are quite big which suits me for the tunnel where I'm pulling one thing out and sticking something else in straight away.

I will not be replacing them. I've got a system for filling them now but I do think it's a bit of a fiddle.

[Alison]

I've never found them a fiddle to fill but you do need to grow the right things in them. I find they're great for beans as you can grow loads in a small space and those soil blocks come out really easily. Did tomatoes in them once and didn't find that worked at all.

[Kristen]

I've never found them a fiddle to fill but you do need to grow the right things in them. I find they're great for beans as you can grow loads in a small space and those soil blocks come out really easily.

Thanks Alison. Would it be fair to say, thought, that Beans will grow in anything and still produce decent plants? Someone at the village fete sells them in (what seem to me to be) rather small plastic vending cups. They get away just fine when planted out. Is there a significant advantage to a taller root-run for beans do you think?

[Greenleaves]

Sent them back, not prepared to spend good money on old rope. I shall plant my beans etc up in pots this year and revert to loo roll tubes next year.

I dont know if they is any benefits in root trainers Kristen but have always used them for runner beans. Something my old pops swore by although he used deep grow tubes

[Kristen]

I've only ever grown them in 9cm pots - 2 beans per pot (and thus 2 bean plants per Cane). Some (lazy!) years I buy them from the village fete (variety is Hobson's Choice though, of course). So I've no comparison point with a deeper root pot thus me saying "Mine do fine" is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard of course!

I could try something deeper this year as a comparison, but I don't think I've got anything suitable ... unless I still have that one tray of root trainers lying in the potting shed somewhere. Only other thing I can think of is some Long Tom / Clematis pots, but that seems really REALLY excessive! but I could do that for perhaps 4 plants as a comparison.

[Alison]

I've done beans in 3" pots and root trainers side by side and to be honest there isn't a massive difference on the plants. However I find a big advantage on the root trainers is that they don't take up as much space (I grow a lot of beans) and the trays are very easy to transport (32 modules to each tray) as oppose to that number of separate pots (not sure I've got enough spare pots the right size either as I use so many of them for other things). To be honest if what you're doing works then us stick with that rather than any comparison experiments.