An air root pruning container for growing a plant includes a base and a sidewall upwardly extending from the base. The sidewall includes stepped sidewall sections, each stepped sidewall section including a plurality of generally vertical sidewall panels having successively larger cross-sectional dimensions with distance from the base and horizontal ledges extending between an upper edge of an adjacent lower one of the sidewall panels and a lower edge of an adjacent upper one of the sidewall panels. The sidewall further includes a plurality of ribs, each rib formed between two of the stepped sidewall sections and extending inwardly across the ledges of the two stepped sidewall sections, wherein each rib has two legs that extend apart to form an outwardly-directed open channel. Still further, the sidewall includes holes formed in the sidewall, each hole formed directly between a ledge and a leg of one of the ribs.
