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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 66, Number 2 (2023) → The SheetPot: A Low-Cost, Innovative Nursery Container

The SheetPot: A Low-Cost, Innovative Nursery Container

The containers in which seedlings are grown play an instrumental role in the economic and practical viability of large- and small-scale tree planting operations. The type of container (pot) can affect the seedling quality when there are issues with root deformation, poor oxygen exchange, and water logging. Issues of planting shock can also emerge depending on how easily seedlings can be removed from the pot. The economic feasibility of planting operations is also affected by container choice and the associated price, packaging volume, and shipping costs. This article describes a new pot system that overcomes these challenges using a rectangular plastic sheet that can be rolled into a cylindrical pot. The sheet can be designed with a diversity of hole configurations to facilitate air pruning, maximize soil oxygenation, and improve irrigation efficiency. The sheets can be stacked into thousands with very small additions to their packaging volume and shipping cost. The research team made the pot and the existing file open-access, including free access to the die cut, with the expectation that this system can be broadly used and improved over time.


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Author(s): Asryelle Mora, Audrey Rollo, Kyle McDowell, Nicholas Yos, Raul Andres Molina Benavides, Camilo Mora

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 66, Number 2 (2023)

Volume: 66

Number: 2