Grow bags

[encore]

also if your going to go with the holes in the buckets with a hole saw, run the drill in reverse! your wrists will thank you.

[2gengh]

Using grow bags...... but thanks for the tip...

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by encore

here's a picture of it starting out.

Nice work and beautiful garden Encore! I wish I had so much space and such a nice lawn. Also the hot tub I spot there in the back must be quite relaxing.
Yes, I’m kind of green with envy right now.

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by Merridiel

Walmart has bags this size for 50 cents each. Or at least, they did a few months ago when I was buying a few dozen to plant in.

does anyone know the approx. volume of the blue cheapo walmart bag? Is it close to 5 gals?

thanks

[Ricky Shaw]

Says they're 12x12x8

1152 sq in / 231 = 4.99 gal

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

Says they're 12x12x8

1152 sq in / 231 = 4.99 gal

thanks!

I think I'll get the walmart bags then put 3" net cup in bottom
Then, I'll cut 1/2" plywood in 12" squares, cut out round 3" hole in center of plywood then screw that to the top of the 2x4's that run the length of the RGGS. This will make 12" square platforms to set the grow bags on top of.

whattya'll think?

[Gerardo]

It'll be very wet.

[Deborah]

Question. What is the function of the gutters? Drainage?

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Question. What is the function of the gutters? Drainage?

search/google "rain gutter grow system larry hall"

[Deborah]

Interesting!

[Merediana]

Last year I wasn't happy at all with my (fabric) grow bags. I had 10 gallon bags and usually grow indets in 3.3 or 6.5 gallon buckets without any problems. Yes, many say that this is to small, but it works for me. However the grow bags didn't work. Plants were much weaker and looked much more unhappy.
If I'd try grow bags again, I wouldn't use some made out of fabric...

[Merridiel]

Originally Posted by pecker88

does anyone know the approx. volume of the blue cheapo walmart bag? Is it close to 5 gals?

thanks

They hold around the same amount of soil as my 5 gallon buckets. But remember that trade gallons are different than regular gallons. They hold about 7 gallons of soil for me.

[Greatgardens]

This is my first venture with Grow Bags. Got a pretty good price on some well-constructed 10-gal. bags at Amazon, so thought I'd try them. (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) These are going to be used for some test dwarfs, so I might end up with 2 dwarfs in the 10-gallon bags. But my question is: do these drain well, so that water logging will not be an issue after a heavy rain?
-GG

[Ricky Shaw]

I think the fabrics work best with high porosity mixes like ProMixHP, Sunshine #4, or make your own with peat/perlite/coir/mycros. We've had some pretty heavy downpours and it just percolates through with no issue. The biggest downside is the small media environment is quickly depleted of nutrient and replacement with granular ferts will take too long. My advice is become familiar with water soluble ferts and have the plants on a feeding regimen, the rains will flush the pots, but you'll be adding nutrients back with your next watering.

[Father'sDaughter]

Take Ricky's advice for growing medium and a regular feeding schedule, and they will work great.

However, dwarf tomatoes grow very dense, leafy plants that can be susceptible to gray mold and other foliage issues. While the media volume will easily support two, the round shape means they'll be growing in very close quarters. Plan on doing a lot of leaf branch pruning (leafs only, not suckering) to keep good air circulation.