Grassroots Mesh Bottom Living Soil Pot

Grassroots Mesh Bottom Living Soil Pots are specialist fabric pots designed to combine consistent moisture retention around the sides of the root zone with increased drainage through the base. Built around Grassroots' MoistureLock™ design, the sides of the pot incorporate a waterproof liner that reduces the rapid edge drying associated with conventional fabric pots. The mesh-bottom version then provides a more open drainage area underneath, making it particularly useful for growers who irrigate more frequently or use liquid fertigation alongside living soil. Available in compact 11 litre and 19 litre sizes, these pots provide the moisture-management benefits of a Grassroots living soil container without requiring the much larger soil volumes associated with full-size living soil pots or raised beds. Key features Designed for living soil: helps maintain a more consistent moisture level through the growing medium. Mesh bottom: provides increased drainage through the base compared with the standard Living Soil Pot design. MoistureLock™ liner: waterproof lining around the sides reduces moisture loss and helps direct irrigation water downward. Supports an active root zone: reducing excessively dry areas around the edge helps maintain conditions suitable for living soil biology. Suitable for frequent irrigation: particularly useful where growers want the moisture retention of a lined living soil pot with greater drainage underneath. Durable fabric construction: designed for repeated use across multiple growing cycles. Suitable for no-till growing: can be maintained and re-amended between crops rather than emptied after every cycle. What is a Grassroots Mesh Bottom Living Soil Pot? Conventional fabric pots allow moisture to escape through both the sides and bottom of the container. That can be useful in coco and other growing systems where rapid drainage and frequent irrigation are desirable. Living soil works differently. The microorganisms involved in breaking down organic matter and cycling nutrients perform best when the growing medium maintains reasonably consistent moisture. If the outside edge of a fabric pot repeatedly becomes extremely dry, part of the available soil volume can become much less biologically active. Grassroots developed its MoistureLock system to reduce that problem. How MoistureLock works MoistureLock™ is a BPA-free waterproof liner incorporated into the sides of the fabric container. Instead of allowing irrigation water to immediately escape through the side wall, the liner encourages water to move downward through the growing medium. Reduces dry edges: moisture is retained through more of the usable soil volume. More even moisture: helps reduce the sharp wet-to-dry gradient that can occur around conventional fabric pots. Directs water downward: irrigation moves deeper into the container rather than escaping immediately through the sides. Reduced evaporation: less moisture is lost directly through the side wall of the container. The result is a fabric container designed around the moisture requirements of living soil rather than simply maximising evaporation and drainage. Why does this version have a mesh bottom? The mesh-bottom version is designed for growers who want greater drainage underneath the pot while retaining the MoistureLock-lined sides. This creates a useful middle ground between a conventional fabric pot and the standard Grassroots Living Soil Pot. The lined sides help protect the growing medium from excessive edge drying, while the mesh base allows excess irrigation water to leave the container more freely. This is particularly useful when running regular irrigation or liquid fertigation where drainage through the bottom of the container is important. Mesh bottom vs a conventional fabric pot A conventional fabric pot is breathable across most or all of its surface. This provides excellent drainage and air pruning but can also cause the soil around the sides of the container to dry considerably faster than the centre. The Grassroots Mesh Bottom Living Soil Pot takes a different approach: Conventional fabric pot: maximum side-wall evaporation and fast drying. Grassroots Mesh Bottom Pot: lined sides for moisture retention with an open base for increased drainage. If you are growing in coco and deliberately want a fast wet-to-dry cycle throughout the container, a normal fabric pot may be the simpler choice. If you are maintaining a biologically active soil but still want strong drainage underneath the container, the Grassroots Mesh Bottom design makes considerably more sense. Available sizes 3 US Gallon / 11 Litre: compact option for smaller plants, shorter growing cycles or restricted spaces. 5 US Gallon / 19 Litre: provides additional soil volume and a larger nutrient and moisture reserve while remaining relatively compact. When choosing between them, remember that living soil generally becomes easier to manage as soil volume increases. A larger container holds more moisture, nutrition and biological capacity and will usually change more slowly than a smaller pot. How to use Grassroots Mesh Bottom Living Soil Pots Place the pot on a suitable drainage or catchment surface. Fill with your chosen living soil or organic growing medium. Settle the soil gently without heavily compacting it. Plant or transplant as normal. Water evenly across the soil surface rather than concentrating irrigation in one small area. Allow excess irrigation water to drain through the mesh base. Where a catchment tray is used indoors, make sure drainage and airflow beneath the pot remain adequate. Avoid leaving the bottom of the container continuously submerged in standing runoff. Watering living soil Good living soil irrigation is about maintaining a reasonably stable moisture range rather than repeatedly soaking the growing medium and allowing it to become completely dry. The MoistureLock liner helps reduce moisture escaping from the side walls, but it does not remove the need to manage irrigation correctly. Watering frequency will depend on: Container size Plant size Root development Temperature and humidity Growing-medium composition Irrigation method The mesh bottom also means excess water can leave the container readily, so monitor the condition of the soil rather than watering purely according to a fixed timetable. Using the pots with automatic irrigation The mesh-bottom format is particularly useful for growers using regular automated irrigation because it combines controlled side-wall moisture loss with good drainage underneath. Drip irrigation, moisture-controlled systems and other low-volume irrigation methods can all be used, provided the system is adjusted to maintain suitable moisture through the whole root zone. The objective is not to continually saturate the container. It is to maintain the more consistent moisture conditions that a biologically active soil system benefits from. Using the pots for no-till growing Grassroots Living Soil Pots are designed to be reused. Rather than emptying the growing medium after every crop, established soil can be maintained, re-amended and used again. For growers already using Ecothrive amendments, useful options include: Ecothrive Soil Food Grow: for replenishing nutrition during vegetative growth. Ecothrive Soil Food Bloom: for additional nutrition during flowering and fruiting. Ecothrive Soil Food Re-Gen: for restoring depleted living soil between growing cycles. Ecothrive Charge: an insect-frass soil conditioner that can be incorporated into soil or used as a top dress. Who should choose the mesh-bottom version? Choose the Grassroots Mesh Bottom Living Soil Pot if you want the moisture retention of Grassroots' lined living soil design but also want increased drainage through the base. It is particularly suited to growers who: Use living soil or biologically active organic growing media. Prefer more frequent irrigation. Use liquid fertigation alongside their soil programme. Want to reduce excessive drying around the sides of a small fabric pot. Need an 11L or 19L container rather than a large living soil pot or raised bed. Want a reusable container for multi-cycle or no-till growing. When would we choose a larger living soil pot or bed? The 11L and 19L mesh-bottom pots are useful where space or container size is limited, but larger soil volumes provide a bigger reserve of moisture and nutrition. If your aim is to build a long-term living soil system that is reused continuously, a larger pot or Grassroots Living Soil Bed can be easier to manage because changes in moisture and fertility happen more gradually. The smaller mesh-bottom pots make more sense when you need the principles of a Grassroots living soil container in a compact format. The NPK Gardening Solutions take The mesh-bottom version solves a fairly specific problem, which is why it is worth understanding before buying it. A standard fabric pot already gives excellent drainage, but it can dry too aggressively around the outside for a living soil system. A fully lined container slows that drying, but some growers still want more drainage underneath because they irrigate regularly. This version combines the two ideas. The MoistureLock sides help preserve a more consistent biological root zone while the mesh base gives excess water an easier route out of the container. For a compact living soil setup using regular irrigation, that combination makes more sense than simply choosing the most breathable fabric pot available. Choose the Grassroots Mesh Bottom Living Soil Pot if you want a compact living soil container with MoistureLock-lined sides and increased drainage through the base.