h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just found this site on a google search. I was looking for entries about coir fibre pots and came across the advice about watching out for dodgy landscapers who don't remove the plants from fibre pots when planting. The theory of the pot acting as a wick is not one I've heard before, but may be true to a degree, but to 'do down' the landscaper and the pot is a bit harsh.
Firstly, the whole idea of the coir fibre pot is that you plant it in the soil to rot away, there is no plastic waste. The pot itself is made out of waste material.
Then there is the practical point, that if established in the pot, the plant will not come out anyway, as it will have rooted into the base and sides of the pot. If worried about free root run you can rip the pot sides if you want and you can remove the rim if worried about the 'wick effect'.
One of the great things about growing plants in these pots is the way the roots grow. In a plastic pot the roots are forced to grow round and round, forming a tight rootball, which is sometimes slow to root out into the surrounding soil after planting. In a coir fibre pot the root grows through the pot wall until it reaches the air, when it stops and is forced to branch further back. This produces a very strong root system primed for planting with loads of root ends poised to root into the surrounding soil.
Any landscaper using these pots is doing a good thing for the plant and the environment, and should be praised for his green approach.
As you might now have guessed I love coir pots!