Today I planted the plants I started!

[Jetstar]

Today I finished planting my grow bag garden with the plants I grew from seed, the only 2 I didn't plant yet are the Shish!to peppers and Straight 8 cucumber plant. I have 2 Black Sea Man a Jet Star & Big Boy along with a sweet 100 tomato plants, 2 Cubanelle peppers and a North Star bell pepper developed for northern climates. In addition I planted Contender beans (Bush type) and Blue Lake (Pole beans) Last week I planted leaf lettuce I started from seed and direct sowed radishes, beets, peas & carrots. here's a few pics of my grow bag set up.

[ginger2778]

You are well on your way. Looks great!

[Nan_PA_6b]

Congrats! Off to a good start.

Nan

[asaump]

Very nice.

I've started seeds for the first time this year and I am about 2 weeks away from planting. Very excited......

[Nan_PA_6b]

Nothing like planting out your own babies!

Nan

[JRinPA]

Hey there, what does that grow system consist of? Do the bags last more than once season? Looks great for on concrete.

[mobiledynamics]

I'd skip the saucers if it was me..the water will wick and keep the fabric pot wet. I suppose it depends on how thick the fabric is, etc...

Mine get pretty knarly between water salts/chem feeding salts and the fact that my mix is fairly coarse so I water often. Sometimes the pot will develop a white crust cause I'm not flushing as often or the latter, where the pot fabric is wet due to keeping things moist during hot spells, and then it grows this funky green algae on the exterior.

[rxkeith]

just pay attention to the weather.

since your plants are in grow bags, you can always move them if necessary if a cold snap comes in. i never feel safe here until we get past mid june, and even then you gotta watch the weather. drives you nuts sometimes.



keith

[mobiledynamics]

Hey Jet. Maybe I missed in another thread. What is your soil medium

[Jetstar]

Mobiledynamics, I don't use kiddie pools like most people do, I tried them once and all they did was make my backyard ugly!! Lots of dead grass where the pools sat so I switched to polymer trays that are just over 2" tall and 20 across. That way I can grow everything in a small space, and if a plant needs to be isolated because of a problem its not hard to do. I got the trays at a local Menards store... Menards is a lot like Home depot. As far as soil medium its potting mix not soil or are you wondering what I add to the potting mix?



JRinPA, When you ask what does the grow system consist of are you asking what I add to the potting mix I use? As far as the bags go some will use them for 2 or 3 yrs. they just wash them for the following year. The bags I use are Walmart fabric bags and cost .50 cents so each year I just by new ones

[mobiledynamics]

JS -

I was just saying, I would leave them bottomless....let it drain. Granted, my fabric pots are on drip. IMO, they get pretty icky if the fabric stays wet.

Keep in mind everything flushes out with fabric pots. Most big box potting soil has fertz in them so it should hold you by. You can incorporate some CRF in con★★★★★★★★ of liquid fertz for greater sucess with fabric

[Jetstar]

Mobiledynamics, Not a chance on leaving them bottomless, yeah the bags do get stained but I like feeding my plants from the bottom it allows the roots to take in only what they need rather than having something go wrong watering from the top. I also add my water soluble fertilizer from the bottom, that and on my patio I want water seeping all over. Not saying your way of watering is bad, just saying for my application its a no go. And yes your right most potting mixes do have fertilizer in them but its used up very quickly when growing tomatoes or peppers they need a lot of amendments through their growth cycle its why I add my water soluble 15-30-15 every 2 weeks after the first month to the tomatoes & peppers the other veggies in my garden don't need that much fertilizer but the tomatoes & peppers do.

[mobiledynamics]

Ah. Different strokes for different folks.

Heh. During the summer, when it's hot as F, (my mix is fairly light) and I'm watering more frequently, my fabric pots stay pretty wet too. I just hate the muck that develops when the fabric stays wet given the conditions..

[JRinPA]

So it is bags, a saucer, typical potting mix, and then 15-30-15 water soluble on a schedule.

I was curious because I've been doing some rain gutter pots past couple years and was wondering how much this differs.

[Jetstar]

JRinPA, here's just how I prepare each grow bag that will have tomatoes or peppers grown in them. First I fill the bag with 3" of potting mix I press the mix down firmly then I saturate the potting mix til water begins to leak through. Then I fill the bag til it about 2/3 full with dry potting mix now I add 1-1/2 cups of garden lime not barn lime that'a way to strong, now I add 2TBS of Epsom salts, 2TBS Bone meal and 1TBS of calcium nitrate. Now mix all the ingredients well in the dry potting mix section you just added. Now fill the bag almost to the top if you did it right that that should be about 7" of a potting mix buffer from the mix that you just added amendments to, now plant your tomato or pepper. Remember if its a tomato plant it deep so it will add more roots. Now the final step around the inside edge of the bag carefully add 1-1/2 cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer by keeping it tight to the edges you insure it wont come in direct contact with your plant, now cover the fertilizer with a thin layer of potting mix... Your done now set your planted bag in a tray or kiddie pool, if you use a kiddie pool you need to carefully drill holes 2" from the bottom so it will never have too much water, if you use trays like I use you don't need to drill holes. This method has worked great for me, after a month I do add a fertilizer that's water soluble every 2 or 3 weeks I mix my 15-30-15 1TBS per gallon of water and then put 1quart in each tray when I fill my trays with water... Good luck!!