[poppie]

i have asked question after question on several allotment websites about what to grow in these so called grow bags.all answers point the same way.without being rude none were v helpful.i am not fortunate enough to have spare land.(if it aint salad or tomato dont bother)or live local enough to have an allotment.i have some hard standing and conifers that distribute their wear on the rest.
ive tried.

[barney rubble]

Yes I agree they are pretty shallow for growing - perhaps you could try to get some tubs for better results? Just a suggestion, but try your local caterers, hotels, bakers etc, they will have food containers (for free) which you can "deep fill" for deeper rooted plants. I'm completely container growth as I've no decent soil to dig into. I've got so much growing, haven't got the space to transplant my seedlings into, but have got spud, onions, shallots, garlic, toms, caulis, cabbage, leeks, fennel etc etc. in pots. may not succeeed with everything, but hope to bring some to fruition - good luck!

[Yorkie]

Oh don't feel got at Poppie  

Grow bags are a cheap and useful source of compost and several plants can be grown in them.  The trouble, particularly with the cheaper / thinner ones, is that they don't have the depth in them to provide a lot of root run and to retain moisture.

Having said that, let's be positive  

If you really want to grow in growbags, then yes you can try most things which dosn't have a huge depth (such as spuds parsnips or carrots).  For larger plants, such as courgette or tomato, perhaps only put 2 plants in rather than the 3 which the bags suggest.  

Salad leaves and other leafy plants will be perfectly happy.  I'd probably even try dwarf beans - though perhaps not tall beans as there may be support issues and the roots may be too large.

Another option, to increase depth, is either to cut the bag in half and stand each half on its end (don't forget the drainage holes at the bottom), or to put one bag on top of another, and cut through the plastic where the two meet - hence doubling the depth and drainage.

What I do in my back yard (4' x perhaps 15') is to use the growbag compost in pots - in those pots I have peas, beans, carrots, and toms.  The world's your oyster there, really.

A couple of general things about any multipurpose compost.  Firstly, it dries out quickly - especially if there's a lot of plant growing in them, so make sure you monitor the watering really carefully.  Also, it only contains enough nutrients for about 4-6 weeks of growth.  So either add those granular pellets for hanging baskets or something like growmore or fish/blood/bone to provide ongoing nutrients.

And if you're growing tomatoes, courgettes, etc (i.e. that produces individual fruits / veggies), don't forget the tomato-type feed once flowers have started and the first fruits etc been set.

Hope this helps.

[sclarke624]

Poppie have you looked at the reply to your question "best cropping tomatoes for grow bags? "   http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.phptopic=39141.msg465083#msg465083
Same advice there as Yorkie has given about cutting the bag in half.  So you can use growbags, just they may be better, for things like Tomatoes,  used in a slightly different way.  They will also take up less room on your hard standing cut in half and upended.  As would the growbag compost emptied into pots as myself and Yorkie have suggested.

Anything can be used as a pot within reason, if it has drainage holes, if you don't want to buy pots.

[gillie]

'They' being the horticultural industry invented them to make money.  Then they invented special stands, trays and pot things to make you spend more money. 

I think they are completely pointless lurid things.

What is wrong with large pots and ordinary bags of compost?  Our local garden centre has a huge bin in the carpark where they dump spare pots, presumably from plants that were no longer saleable.  We have collected so many free pots that we have been able to supply a small local nursery as well as ourselves.  I understand that most large garden centres have these recycling bins.

Cheers,

Gillie

[aelf]

homebase gives away the plastic moulded trays that plant pots sit in for deliveries. They are great for growing on in the greenhouse

[mad mark]

I have a very small garden but loads of tarmac enough for five cars outside the house so I have it covered in carrier bags, black sacks, a couple of black buckets, green buckets all with stuff growing in it. When I can scrounge some timber( any one got any near Bakewell?) for raised beds I am going to put some of them on the tarmac. Dont spend money just look around, we make so much rubbish in the western world, there are zillions of things you can plant it. Old tyres are another, though my OH doesn't like the outside of the house looking like a tip so I have to draw the line at those...... have fun

[joyfull]

if you only have a small area get a raised bed (doesn't need to be big and like mad mark said scrounge wood to make them) and do a square foot garden - someone on here has lots of photos and it looks absolutly brill. Think I'm going to do that next year with one of my raised beds for salad stuff and another for herbs 

[RichardA]

more expensive and perhaps even wasteful but I use full unopened bags of compost for growing tomatos rather than grow bags as such. Same idea but more thickness and nourishment but after about 4 weeks any compost will be depleted and will need to be fed. End of season I use the compost for lawn dressing, soil improving or bulk fill for deep pots and tubs with better stuff on top etc.
R

[Mitsy]

I found these troughs great when I couldn't plant in the ground, held tomatoes, peas, carrots etc and only 3.99 at wilkos. They sometimes have 3 for 2 offers on too 

[AnnieB]

Grow bags are of limited use, they tend to be a bit too shallow for most veg. Certainly the use of them for tomatoes is a bit difficult. One option I have found is to grow strawberry's in them, you can get 6 in with luck. Then if you can get a tray for a grow bag it can be kept off the ground as well.

It does pay to give a grow bag a good shake as they are always compacted when you buy them. Can orientate them on their side for a bit more depth but less width to plant in The problem seems to be one of depth of compost. Suppose that lettuce would be OK(?)

Generally agree with most that growing in pots and tubs is probably the best and as said try wilco's as they have a fair selection of large pots at fair prices.

[joyfull]

you could also ask on freecycle for any large pots, tubs and buckets  .
Morrisons aslo give away flower buckets I think.

[theakston_uk]

I was going to suggest what AnnieB said about giving the grow bag a good shake before using it. A bit like fluffing up a pillow. Also turn it on it's side and another idea which I saw on gardeners world was to wrap some thick tape around the middle a couple of times and cut it in half and stand the 2 pieces on their end so you have 2 deep grow bags suitable for soething like a tomoto plant.

I have cut the bottom out of 3 largish plant pots and put them into a grow bag and planted 3 tomato plants into 1 grow bag, this way you get the extra depth for the toms roots to thrive. Here's a pic to give you a better idea.