mica vs plastic pots

[Andrew Robson]

Mica pots are training pots. Like Brian said, I much prefer them to plastic pots because of durability. The sturdiness of them definitely comes in handy.

Last fall Boon and I styled a collected Colorado Spruce that I have in a mica pot. We needed to bend a big branch with rebar, and were able to easily drill a couple holes in the mica pot to get an anchor for a guy wire. Would have never worked with a plastic pot.

In my opinion, mica pots are best used as training pots for really good trees in training.

Cheers!

 

[sorce]

like the machine oil?

Someone here said they like the way gun oil tastes.....I'm not against it either....
They Probly do like it!

we look twice for motorcycles for the same reason

Nice!

high you might want to put your next few pay checks tords a few sorce!

Lol! If they are that expensive!
I'm trying to Nwaite a little longer...but right now....I'm out in 2 months! My trees will never see sills again! I gotta keep em hidden!

Sorce

 

[johng]

I use mica pots for larger Bald Cypress trees...plastic pots have a limited size. They are extremely durable and provide a solid pot for larger collected trees at a very reasonable price. I would NEVER show a tree in mica pot...oh..wait, I just did...of course they were all underwater

 

[Anthony]

The show committee decides what shows.
If they accept, mica or plastic, the tree would be exceptional, or their mother's tree.

Mica and plastic, make great growing on pots, and are visually more pleasant that wood [ been down that road ]

Now what is all the fuss ?????????????
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Nwaite]

Any one use and metal pots?

I have some of old brass and copper bowls that would look really nice with a small tree in it but I didn't know if it would be ok. Any one us them?

 

[wireme]

Any one use and metal pots?

I have some of old brass and copper bowls that would look really nice with a small tree in it but I didn't know if it would be ok. Any one us them?

Might get too hot in the sun.
I have a few mica pots and like them, anything sturdy and an appropriate size for the tree will do for me, if you've got the tree down to a good rootball size pots can be easily changes if ever you get the pot.

 

[crust]

A European just had a award winning tree that was displayed in a custom metal multi pot--pretty cool. Walter has tried metal in the past and made comments about concerns of heating but it was some sort of giant shell monstrosity. Over the years I have used a lot of metal pots no problem. Nick has tried certain metal things which he says won't work because the metal itself seems to tend to be uninhabitable (brass,copper). Just go to an old dump--trees grow through and in everything

 

[coh]

Would think you could just wrap a damp towel around your metal pot to keep the soil temp down. That shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you start planting everything in metal.

 

[wireme]

A European just had a award winning tree that was displayed in a custom metal multi pot--pretty cool. Walter has tried metal in the past and made comments about concerns of heating but it was some sort of giant shell monstrosity. Over the years I have used a lot of metal pots no problem. Nick has tried certain metal things which he says won't work because the metal itself seems to tend to be uninhabitable (brass,copper). Just go to an old dump--trees grow through and in everything

The award winner, was it the tree someone was showing during creation over on ibc a few years back? I don't remember much about it other than it was cool, pine I think.

 

[0soyoung]

Any one use and metal pots?

Might get too hot in the sun.

Perhaps you could explain why a metal pot might get too hot, simply because it is metal (as opposed to black plastic, ceramic, or mica pots).

 

[carp]

Perhaps you could explain why a metal pot might get too hot, simply because it is metal (as opposed to black plastic, ceramic, or mica pots).

Ever cooked an egg on the hood of your truck?

 

[wireme]

Perhaps you could explain why a metal pot might get too hot, simply because it is metal (as opposed to black plastic, ceramic, or mica pots).

No fancy explanation here, I have touched things that are out in the sun during my lifetime, metal things feel hotter than plastic or ceramic things don't they? You know something about this that I don't?
Thermal mass? Density?

 

[0soyoung]

No fancy explanation here, I have touched things that are out in the sun during my lifetime, metal things feel hotter than plastic or ceramic things don't they?

Black plastic pots, out in the sun, can feel pretty hot to me, even with a tree potted in them.

Does a shiny metal bucket of water get hotter than a dark brown 'mica' plastic bucket of water?

I think that shiny and light colored things reflect more light that dull and dark colored ones. For each unit of incident sunlight, an amount r, is reflected. The rest, 1-r is adsorbed and is the energy that is converted into heat. It can get quite complicated to figure out how hot a unit of material will ultimately get, but we're basically talking about a bucket of water.

I think the reflectance of the pot (which I can measure with a light meter; more reflected light the higher the f-stop) is what matters most. It strikes me to be odd that a metal pot would necessarily get too hot. That's why I asked.

 

[Anthony]

Brass. copper, iron and soil, reactivity ?
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Bunjeh]

The biggest benefit I can tell from the few that I own is that they can withstand colder temps than a lot of ceramic pots so they will not crack even in the coldest of conditions. They are thicker than most ceramic pots as well, and seem to provide a bit more insulation to the roots.

 

[wireme]

Brass. copper, iron and soil, reactivity ?
Good Day
Anthony

I wonder too, copper can be very toxic to plant roots, would it leach out? Some tree nurseries were using copper lined plug trays for reforestation seedlings around here for a while, roots hit the copper and stop, no circling, not sure if that's standard or if it was experimental.

 

[0soyoung]

I wonder too, copper can be very toxic to plant roots, would it leach out? Some tree nurseries were using copper lined plug trays for reforestation seedlings around here for a while, roots hit the copper and stop, no circling, not sure if that's standard or if it was experimental.

I think they are painted inside with copper sulfate, not elemental copper.

 

[carp]

Black plastic pots, out in the sun, can feel pretty hot to me, even with a tree potted in them.

Does a shiny metal bucket of water get hotter than a dark brown 'mica' plastic bucket of water?

I think that shiny and light colored things reflect more light that dull and dark colored ones. For each unit of incident sunlight, an amount r, is reflected. The rest, 1-r is adsorbed and is the energy that is converted into heat. It can get quite complicated to figure out how hot a unit of material will ultimately get, but we're basically talking about a bucket of water.

I think the reflectance of the pot (which I can measure with a light meter; more reflected light the higher the f-stop) is what matters most. It strikes me to be odd that a metal pot would necessarily get too hot. That's why I asked.

Ever cooked an egg on plastic?

 

[sorce]

You can get food grade plastics at "my joint" that you could cook an egg on!

My stuff is UV resistant. Probly last forever.....but if you need it to withstand really high temps and last forever....you could spend the $....

Plug.

http://www.industrialnetting.com/

Sorce

 

[jk_lewis]

Yes, you CAN plant in a metal pot, but aside from the "gee whiz" factor or the "look-what-I've-done" glow, why would you want to do it?

I've seen bonsai planted in wheel rims, pie tins, and brass decorative items and in all cases the trees looked confused and out of place. But if it give you that big thrill, go ahead.