Brown (Unbleached) Paper K-Cup Filters for Planting in Plastic Pots?

[CatfishLoachZealot]

Hi Fellow Tankmates,

Would this work?  I've been thinking about reusing those cage baskets the Co-op sends their plants in.  The slots are great for giving a plant's roots freedom to grow as they please, but are way too wide to keep its nutrients contained, so I was thinking I'd proceed like so:

1. Take a cage basket/pot.

2. Line with a mini coffee filter (unbleached!) like these, cutting a few tiny holes so roots will have an easier time escaping, while keeping the nutrients inside to give the plants a jumpstart.

3. Fill the filter with a soil like eco-complete, some laterite, then top off with whatever gravel the plant is going into.

Thoughts?

Edited February 26, 2022 by CatfishLoachZealot

[Guppysnail]

I don’t know what the degradation rate is in these and that may be a problem as well when the roots start ripping through and shredding it. I know @Atitagainrecently tried peat planting pots for terrestrial plants and it made a mess for him. Other wise your idea sounds fine as far as setup. If it were me trying I would use mesh like media bags that will not disintegrate. Kind of like the burlap used in terrestrial plant(I have no idea if burlap is aquarium safe). Sounds interesting looking forward to see how it works for you. 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Odd Duck]

@CatfishLoachZealot I would worry about rapid degradation, too.  I put some roobios tea bags into some HOB’s and next thing I knew, I had tea leaves floating around.  The tea bags disintegrated pretty fast.  I now put them into some cheap, fine mesh bags I bought for adding crushed coral to HOB’s without it being loose.

[CatfishLoachZealot]

I hadn't thought about what happens when the paper eventually breaks apart...  After a quick google search, it looks like burlap will also break down, so I got a couple mesh media bags like @Guppysnail mentioned.  Gonna poke some holes in that for roots to escape, see how that does.