Grow bag discussions

The term means different things to different people, they are made from several different materials so yes, that makes a difference in quality and lifespan (climate effects too), come in a wide range of sizes and the size determines what you can plant in them.

Personally I prefer the heavy duty fabric brands that will last several seasons and in a 10 gallon minimal size. While the smaller sizes can be used for herbs and small greens, larger plants such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. need the large bags. They are not for use with soil but for soil-less potting mixes.

Dave

Just a note. If you have gophers in your area they WILL chew through the bags! Nancy

For the past 2 years I've grown potatoes in 5 10-gallon Growsun fabric growbags I purchased from Amazon. I've been pleased with their durability, and the handles make it easy to lift and dump the soil contents at the end of the season to harvest the potatoes. However, I think I would have had a larger harvest planting the potatoes in the ground.

Etta, can you say what you understand by the term grow bag? As digdirt says, the term means different things to different people. Is it a large fabric pot? Or is it a what I'd call a growbag, which is a sack of growing medium laid flat on the ground with slits cut for the plants?

I have some of these Grow Bags in the 10 gallon and 15 gallon sizes https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0722RWL7G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

this is my first time using them but I have high hopes. These are very well constructed and are quite strong. I picked them up by the handles after filing them with soil and they felt very sturdy.

I may have a different opinion at the end of the season but right now I think I will be very pleased.

Yeah, on amazon these are ALL called "grow bags".

https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=grow+bags

All sorts of plastics and different fabrics, some with perforations, some without, They also go by gro bags (no w), smart pots, root pouch, potato bags, breathable pots, aeration pots, etc.. Brandnames Smart Pots, Root Pouch, and Brown Bag are probably the most well known as they have been around for many years.

Dave

I bought 4 different brands last year from Amazon. 2 brands were pretty cheap (the handles already broke on a few), but a few were very good. The best of the 4 were from Root Pouch (their "Best" quality). I think I should be able to get 5 years out of these...

https://www.amazon.com/Root-Pouch-Quality-Gallon-Handles/dp/B017Y85EII/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1520804630&sr=8-9&keywords=root+pouch

I use 7 gallon for tomatoes, and 3 & 5 gallon for peppers. Personally, I don't like anything bigger than 7 gallons because it gets pretty heavy and harder to move around, particularly when wet. Lots of people grow tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets, but fabric grow bags dry out faster. 7 gal for tomatoes seems just right.

Plus soil (purchased, or even mixing your own from landscape supply) can get pricey if you're doing more than just a couple of bags.

I used Boxer Root Pouches last year after failing for a few years with plastic pots and my plants finally took off. I grew mostly herbs, potatoes and tomatoes and had great results with them.

When I was interested in trying bags, I found them too expensive. I ended up making my own out of Dewitt 20YR350 3-by-50-Feet 4-Ounce 20-Year Weed Barrier Fabric. I could make them any size I desired, and it didn't break the bank. At $30 a roll, it sure beats paying $15-20 a bag. I've also seen people use those fabric reusable shopping bags. I used my homemade bags for potatoes and rolled up the sides of the bags as they grew to mound them. I also tried tomatoes. I found that the roots grew through the bags into the ground, and for tomatoes, they dry out too quickly. I stopped using them as I expanded my raised beds. I still have them, and they really save space come winter storage time. Bags are very durable and do not crack and or break like sun beaten plastic pots. Even my nice plastic planters tend to break when thrown around if full of soil. If you make your own, sow them with outdoor thread intended for outdoor patio furniture. I used Haobase Black Bonded Nylon Sewing Thread 1500 Yard Size T70 #69. Search web/youtube for DIY growbags.

I've heard of people making their own like that. Depends in part on how you want them to look, whether you want handles to carry them by, want to go through the effort of making your own, etc. Pros and cons.

One note though... $15-20 a bag is WAY expensive for a grow bag. I pay about $3.50 each for a top-quality heavy 7 gallon Root Pouch bag (when buying a 10-pack) on Amazon. It pays to shop around.

After visiting some of those posted links, it does appear there are more reasonable prices in today's market. At a cost of $3.50 each, I probably would have skipped making my own if they had a desirable size.

I paid about $3 a bag for the bags I bought as well. If they had been much more expensive than that, I would not have bought them.

They do last multiple seasons (full disclosure we carry grow bags), one thing that is nice about grow bags is they resist cracking from extreme temp/weather. When you compare this to other pots in their price range made of plastic, they are actually much more durable and some like their look more than traditional pots.

The conditions you keep them in will determine their life, but really you should expect at least 3 seasons out of a set.

This is my first year trying them also. I have a few from Amazon -cheap 10 gallon black bags that are ok and a few Bloem brand and they are great. They have very nice handles to move the plants around, if needed. I have cucumbers and a tomato plant each in a ten gallon black cheaper bags and I have some mini pumpkins growing in the big 15 gallon rectangle size Bloem brand bag. The nice thing about them is that I can water the bag well and not wet the plants. They are worth a try to me but only you know if you will like them or not.