Short version? For most growers it's the AC Infinity Heavy Duty Fabric Pots. Five in a pack from £20, tough enough to go round again, and with handles you can actually grab. Watching the pennies? Our own Round Fabric Pot is £2.50 for a 20L. Growing in living soil, you want the Grassroots Living Soil Fabric Pot, because an ordinary fabric pot dries out at the edges and the soil there stops doing its job. And if you run an AutoPot, buy the AutoPot FlexiPot. Plus a PotSock. Everyone forgets the PotSock.
The best fabric pots
AC Infinity Heavy Duty Fabric Pots
Thick, tough and sold in fives, which is how most people end up buying pots anyway. The 3 gallon works out at £4 a pot, the 5 gallon at £4.40. The 10 gallon pack is £26.99.
- 3, 5 and 10 gallon
- Pack of 5
- BPA-free fabric
- Nylon handles
- Metal rings take twist ties, so you can tie plants down without bodging anything
- Handles and reinforced stitching. You'll be glad of both the first time you shift a full one
- Built for repeat use, so they should see out more than one crop
The Hydro Bros Round Fabric Pot
Our own pot, and the one to grab when you just need a pot. Nothing clever going on. A 20L is £2.50 and it air-prunes roots the same way the pricier ones do.
- 1L to 78L
- Sold singly
- Folds flat
- Works in hydro
- Regular sizes run from the 8L at £1.50 to the 39L at £4.00
- Buy the exact number you need, not a pack of five when you've got room for three
- Water soaks through the fabric, so it'll work in a hydro system as well as by hand
Grassroots Living Soil Fabric Pot
The odd one out. It has a non-breathable liner on purpose, because in living soil the dried-out edge of a normal fabric pot is wasted soil. Keep the whole lot damp and the microbes carry on working.
- 11L to 380L
- MoistureLock liner
- 4 inch aeration strip
- No-till
- Dries from the top down, the way soil does in the ground
- You water less often, because it isn't losing moisture out of the sides
- The aeration strip round the base stops roots circling the bottom
- Heavy US-made fabric with a triple-hemmed top edge
AutoPot FlexiPot 20L and 35L
Run an AutoPot and fancy fabric over plastic? This is your pot. The 20L sits in the XL tray. The 35L goes in an XXL tray, an Auto5 or an easy2GO.
- 20L and 35L
- BPA and lead-free
- Folds flat
- Washable
- Costs next to nothing, so replacing a tired one isn't a big decision
- Wash it and go again. Just keep it out of the tumble dryer
- The 35L measures roughly 33cm across and 39cm tall, and suits hydro, coco and soil
EasyFeed Fabric Pots 10L to 30L
Square, and in the same four sizes as the EasyFeed gravity systems. So they're handy if you run one, and just as handy if you'd like the corners of your tent to earn their keep.
- 10L, 16L, 22L, 30L
- Square footprint
- Breathable fabric
- 10L (£3.95) is 22cm square and 16L (£4.50) is the same footprint, just taller at 33cm
- 22L (£5.50) is 28cm square and 30L (£5.95) is the tall version at 38cm
Grassroots Living Soil Beds
For when one pot isn't enough. Same liner idea as the Grassroots pots, stretched out into a proper bed for no-till growing, with the option of a trellis on top.
- 1ft x 3ft to 4ft x 16ft
- Moisture liner
- 60cm or 110cm trellis
- Pipework pre-cut
- Less water, and lower humidity indoors, because it isn't drying out through the sides
- Tall trellis pipe can be cut down if 110cm is too much for your room
- Re-usable many times, so the price spreads out over a good few crops
Living with fabric pots
They're no harder than plastic. They just behave differently, and most of the moans we hear come from people treating them the same.
Roots hit the fabric, the tips get air-pruned, and the plant branches out into finer roots instead of circling round the wall. Lovely. But that same breathable wall lets water out too.
- Expect to water more often. Fabric dries quickly from the sides and the bottom. Great if you're feeding little and often. Less great if you go away for the weekend.
- Stand them on something. The whole pot drains, so put a saucer underneath. Lifting it off the floor also helps keep algae and other buildups from spreading.
- Keep an eye on humidity. A lot of fabric pots in a small tent will nudge the humidity up, especially late in flower. Decent extraction and some air movement usually sorts it, and if not there's our dehumidifier guide.
- Clean them between crops. Empty it, let it dry for a few days, then brush off the dust and small roots. AutoPot say you can machine or tub wash a FlexiPot in peroxide. No tumble dryer, ever.
- Fold them away. Dry first, then flat in a box. Takes up next to no room, which is more than you can say for a stack of plastic pots.
The bits that go with them:
The AirBase replaces the pebble drainage layer. The round one (£7.99) fits a 20L fabric pot. Want the self-watering base to refill itself? That's the AC Infinity Auto-Fill Valve Kit (£37.99).
At a glance
Six ways to buy what's basically a bag. The differences are in the sizing and what's sat around it.
| Pot | Sizes | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 AC Infinity Heavy Duty |
3, 5, 10 gallon | Most tents, repeat use | From £20.00 (5) |
 Round Fabric Pot |
1L to 78L | Tight budgets, odd numbers | From £0.90 |
 Grassroots Living Soil Pot |
11L to 380L | Living soil, no-till | From £8.00 |
 AutoPot FlexiPot |
20L, 35L | AutoPot systems | From £4.90 |
 EasyFeed Fabric Pots |
10L to 30L | Square footprint, EasyFeed | From £3.95 |
 Grassroots Living Soil Beds |
1x3ft to 4x16ft | Big no-till beds | From £87.00 |
Prices as at November 2026. Check the product page for the live price.
How to choose
- Growing in a tent in soil or coco? AC Infinity. Pick your size and you're done.
- Just need a few on the cheap? The Round Fabric Pot, one at a time.
- Living soil or no-till? Grassroots. Normal fabric pots work against you here.
- Got an AutoPot? FlexiPot, and a PotSock with it.
- Stuck on size? Gallon sizes are US gallons, so 3 gallon is about 11L, 5 gallon about 19L and 10 gallon about 38L. Around 20L suits medium to large plants. Our grow tent guide will help with how much floor you've actually got.
- Not sold on fabric? Air Pots air-prune through holes in a rigid plastic wall, from £1.49 for the 1L to £17.49 for the 38L.
Curious what circling roots actually do to a plant? That's all in our root-bound plants guide.
Quick answers
Are fabric pots better than plastic pots?
For roots, usually yes. Roots that reach the fabric get air-pruned and branch out instead of circling. Plastic holds its shape and doesn't dry out as fast, so fabric pots do need watering more often.
What size fabric pot do I need?
Around 20L suits medium to large plants, and 35L and up is for big ones. Smaller 3 gallon pots, about 11L, suit a short veg cycle.
Do fabric pots need a saucer?
Indoors, yes. The fabric drains from all over, so you want something underneath to catch the runoff.
How many litres is a 5 gallon fabric pot?
About 19 litres. Most fabric pot sizes are US gallons, so 3 gallon is about 11L and 10 gallon is about 38L.
Can you reuse fabric pots?
Yes. Empty it, let it dry for a few days, brush it off and wash it. Keep it out of the tumble dryer.
Can you use fabric pots in hydroponics?
Yes. Water soaks through the fabric into the medium, and gravity-fed systems like AutoPot and EasyFeed run on them. An AutoPot FlexiPot needs a PotSock on the base.
Do fabric pots make a grow tent more humid?
A bit, yes. The fabric is porous, so more moisture leaves the pot than from plastic. Good extraction and some air movement sorts it out.
Still stuck? Give us a ring on 020 8686 9643 or email info@thehydrobros.com.
Or pop into the shop for a natter: Unit 12, Progress Business Park, Progress Way, Croydon CR0 4XD.
More grow guides
- Best propagators for cuttings and seeds
- Best root stimulators
- CANNA Coco A&B: a closer look
- Best dehumidifiers for grow rooms
- Best grow tents by size
- Root-bound plants: how to fix it
The Hydro Bros Team. We sell this kit and talk growers through it every day in our Croydon shop.
