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Grow Bags - Watering

9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago

Hey all. My first post here. I'm in Colorado (zone 5b), and am trying fabric grow bags for the first time. And growing from seed for the first time. Pretty good success so far but definitely some problems along the way.

I'm growing Homestead, Ace 55, Beefsteak, and Lg Cherry varieties. Started seeds in mid-Feb then transplanted to 7 gal grow bags. I put up a small greenhouse in the Spring so I could start the season early, and they looked great while in the greenhouse. But then when I moved them outside permanently in mid-May when it warmed up, I think I sun-scorched them. A lot of leaves curled, yellowed, and wilted. They've mostly grown out of it but it didn't look pretty there for a while.

I've also gotten a lot of blossom end rot. Thrown out about a third of the early-setting fruit. And about half of the plants are producing too-small fruit. One Homestead plant is ripening already, but the fruit has only been cherry-size. I keep adding lime (dissolving 1 cup of peletized dolomite lime in 1 gallon of water, then splashing about a cup into each plant bag every week or so). Seems to be helping reduce the BER but I'm still getting some.

Which brings me to my watering question, which I know can be a BER cause too. I have each 7 gal grow bag sitting in a 2" deep saucer that I have the
drip system fill up daily (bottom-water). Seemed fine at first but as it
got hotter and the plants looked scorched, so I upped it to twice
daily, and now 3 times daily. The top inch of dirt stays dry, but the
bottom stays wet and the middle stays moist. It usually soaks up all
the water in the saucer within 30 minutes. Should I be watering even
more frequently so that the saucers always have water in them?

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