The Superoots Air-Pot is well known to an increasing number of growers in Britain, Europe and the USA for the unparalleled quality of the roots systems it produces and for the reduction in failures on the nursery.

Now for the first time they are becoming known to the wider public as Frank P Matthews becomes the Caledonian Tree Company's first customer to sell out plants grown in Air-Pots in the pots themselves to garden centres.

In the past, the higher cost of Air-Pots has discouraged growers from dispatching the container with the plant, and the Air-Pot has been removed before dispatch to be re-used. Now, however, as the cost of the containers has been reduced Frank P Matthews is beginning to sell a proportion of their trees in Air-Pots under the "Trees for Life" brand, allowing the plants to continue to benefit from the Air-Pot.

The Air-Pot extends the 'shelf-life' of a plant standing on the nursery or garden centre. There is no root circling in an Air-Pot, so the tree thrives for as long as it is properly watered and as long as the nutrient value in the compost is maintained. No matter how good a root system is when it arrives at the garden centre, it can only degenerate if it stands for too long in a standard container, losing its value and developing problems for the end-user.

Frank P Matthews' customers now know that the tree roots are being managed by the Air-Pot and that they can hold stock on their lines for longer without passing on trees with root problems to their customers. The superior establishment and anchorage after transplant is also now proven and recognised, ensuring that the Air-Pot will become a unique selling point with the public. Indeed the Air-Pot was featured on the BBC Scotland's Beechgrove garden this week as being the 'pot of the future'.