Grow bags with plastic liners?

10 years ago

I bought three of these that were on clearance but when I opened them and saw the plastic I wasn't sure about them. There is only one tiny drainage hole in the bottom and no holes in the plastic liner at all.

Has anyone used them? I found a pitiful Sungold and some basil for $1.00 apiece, so I went ahead and put them in regular pots since I wasn't sure about these bags.

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Comments (4)

Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
10 years ago
The plastic won't be a problem, but the drainage will. I'd just fold the thing up, get a drill, and drill some holes. You could turn it into a root pruning pot and it will work great!
stephanie_h12 thanked Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
digdirt2
10 years ago
The liner in those bags is somewhat porous (somewhat like landscape fabric works) and designed to slowly leach out through the burlap. It is designed that way to slow drainage and so retain the moisture in the soil longer - which is a problem in many of the other fabric pots which drain and dry out far too quickly taking nutrients out with the water..

The advantage to them is that you have to water and feed the plants much less often than with the other fabric bags or containers. The potential disadvantage is that you do have to be more careful with your watering than you may be with other containers and learn to actually feel down into the soil to the root level before watering - which is a good thing to do anyway. ;-)

Dave
stephanie_h12 thanked digdirt2
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aniajs
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Hope you got a good price break. $20 for a burlap bag is really silly. You could easily get 2 or 3 similar-sized pots for that price.

Live and learn. Add more drainage holes and use it for the basil. Sungold is one of the most vigorous, largest plant size of any tomato variety and putting it in that pot will really limit its potential growth. Then again this is pretty late in the season so you might run out of warm weather before the plant roots fill the pot.
stephanie_h12 thanked aniajs
stephanie_h12
Original Author
10 years ago
They were on sale for 4.99 a piece. Cheaper than a 20 gallon pot. The sungold was a dollar, I figured if it doesn't make it no big loss.

Thanks Suzi and Dave - if I do use it will be next year and I'll check before watering. I always check the soil before watering anyway - we're in a drought and I hate to waste it.

I've grown tomatoes in pots before and they did ok, but I wasn't sure about those bags. I just don't have a lot of space in my back yard and I can put a bag about anywhere. I'm going to make some raised beds this fall too and get them ready for next year.

I'm already checking out my next varieties. This year I have Cherokee Green, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Black Krim, an unknown paste variety and Red Currant cherry tomato.

I planted most of those at a friends house that gets more sun than I do but since I had a very large tree that was rotting taken out I'm going to plant at my house next year. Can't wait! :)