"I host two gardening programs, and I rave about Smart Pots on the air all the time.
Five to six years ago, I tried the Smart Pot because I wanted to see how things grew in it. I heard a guy making lots of claims about them at a Gardening Writers meeting I was attending. He was talking about how the plant roots in this fabric pot don't hit the side and then go around and around, becoming congested all on the outside of the pot, as they do in other containers. He said that the roots become air-pruned because the sides are porous. So I wondered if the plants would do as well as he said they would.
I have found they do.
I've grown many vegetables in them since then. My husband and I grow all of our potatoes in Smart Pots now. They're very easy to harvest without any damage to the potatoes. Unlike when in the ground, you know exactly where they are, and you can either tip the dirt out of the Smart Pot and pick up the potatoes, or just reach your hands into the dirt in the Smart Pot and pull the potatoes out.
One concern was whether they would dry up a lot faster or need more frequent watering. But I've found that they don't dry out any faster than any other container in my landscape.
I love the black ones because they warm up early in the spring and give everything a head start. We also use the Smart Pots in a solar heated cold frame in the winter and grow salad greens in them in the winter. I find they're also perfect for lining large containers. If you don't want to fill a very large container completely with soil, you can put a crate or something in the bottom, then put in a Smart Pot as a liner, which doesn't take up much space. It fits the container well because it's soft. They are perfect for lining troughs and big urns and that sort of thing.