i see a lot of people loving the airpots, i'm the only hater i know so they must be good.
when i grew in them the plants stretched like crazy, needed constant watering, made a mess every time i watered them, cost 8 times the price of my reg pots, hurt my fingers putting them together and yielded less than my regular square pots, i have 48 of them stacked in my shed that i'll never use again.
i grow in coco and did a side by side grow with the 20l airpots and 18l square pots in the same room, square pots won by a mile. i was really surprised after hearing so many people say amazing things about them. it was one grow in one room and with one strain so it wasn't exactly scientific, but i didn't like what i saw.
Good to hear differing experiences so thanks for chiming in. I've never grown in square pots, so I can't compare my growing experience. However, I agree re: the watering, it's definitely more of a task with airpots. However, after a few waterings you get the hang of it, and it became no big deal. I found that you've got to water slowly, and it also helps if you pack the dirt in such a way that it's at its lowest around the base of the stalk, and goes up in height as you move towards the edge of the pot. That way the water does a better job of staying in the pot.
They do try out faster than normal pots, but I kind of like this aspect of them. I like that my plants were always hungry and thirsty, and while a lot of water was lost to evaporation, the fact that I was able to get in 1.5 feedings a week with airports (compared to 1/week with normal) made for some fast growing plants. There was more stretch, but in my personal experience there were bigger buds to accompany the stretch. Everything about the plant was larger (you better be ready for it). When I finished my last grow with normal pots, my light was about 6" above the canopy and I still had plenty of room to raise the lights if need be. With the airpots, I had to raise the light all the way up, and actually remove a 2' shelf that the plants were sitting on so that they could sit on the floor. And that still wasn't enough room.
Anyway, none of this is scientific either, just personal experience, so thanks for sharing yours. BTW, what's the rationale behind the square pots? Easier to pack them into a space? Less root circling?