Why Grow Bags?

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

I do very little container growing other than starts, over wintering, and some of my seed stock.  So curious, why do folk go for grow bags over pots or buckets?  It seems to me that they would dry out really fast.  Peppers do like to dry out a bit, is that why folk like them?

Just curious. I prefer growing in ground to containers.
 
Fabric grow bags have grown in popularity for how they force the root system to branch out instead of circulate. Also there is an increase in oxygen to the root zone through the fabric. I like them and use them myself. You can also use a smaller fabric pot in place of a bigger plastic pot or bucket.
 
I had a ton of peppers in both buckets and bags last grow season. I left them all out over winter and didn't protect from frost. Only the ones in the bags survived the winter. Could be the varieties though *shrug*
 
I think the biggest reason is the affordability. I'd be using bags exclusively for my container growing if it wasn't for the fact I get free buckets from friends all the time.
 
I want to start using grow bags.. From what I read, there a cheap alternative to an aero pot. The roots will die of as they ends become exposed to the oxygen and because the root ends the plant shots off a replacement making thick strong root branching off the root ball versus growing a single root three or four laps around the pot. It also allows as mentioned oxygen to get into the soil and more even drying through the soil instead of having wet soggy areas inside a pot were its cooler or shaded or deeper. They are easily able to be watered through the bottom through its wick like bottom . Add to that if they have good handles stitched on there easier to handle if you need to move them.
 
What Kraken and filmost said. Air pruning. No need to buy specialty grow bags either. The blue reusable Walmart shopping bags work great and only cost 50 cents each. Only drawback is they last one season. 
 
I prefer, and had much better results in-ground as opposed to my containers last year. Another reason people use them, is space. By putting some in containers, it allows me to have more plants. My in-ground garden area is only 20x 15, with containers I can stick plants anywhere.
 
I use bags but not the woven polyethylene ones - proper thick micron plastic with drainage holes at bottom.  They cheap, last a few years and are easy to store when empty. 
 
I use 20 liter bags for a single plant - just over 4 gallons.  It means I can move and isolate plants and also when dormant I can prune them back and pack them like sardines.
 
I also have more control over moisture and nutrients in each bag.
 
I do grow in the open - but that is mass production for sauces etc.  I toss the seeds on those so I don't bother if the rows are being visited by pollinators.  But if you want to be sure of pure line seed then isolation is the only way.  I can't do that with in-the-ground growing.  Well I can but I'm not going to put little mesh bags over flowers.  Easier to pick up a bag and move it into the tunnel.
 
I do both. Partly for experimentation and partially because I want to make sure I have certain varieties. I don't want to lose MOA's for instance so I am growing in the ground and in bags. That way if there is severe weather or some infestation in the garden I can move them away or shelter them. Plus isolation will be easier.
 


These two tiny Cheletepins are in a 10 gallon grow bag. So far I'm not thrilled. Took four hands to fill and still ended up with dirt all over the balcony. Also is very awkward to move, which is one reason I tried it. If I use the handles it compresses everything and when I set back down there are big divots and cracks to smooth out. Because it is soft it is much harder to drag over the sill to bring inside at night. We will see...
 
Scorched said:
The blue reusable Walmart shopping bags work great and only cost 50 cents each. Only drawback is they last one season. 
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Last grow season most of my plants were in orange 6 gallon Home Depot buckets. I had 3 in the Home Depot fabric bags that you get at the register for also around 50 cents. I'm not sure if it's the varieties that were in the bags or if the bags themselves were a determining factor but my peppers in those bags did exceptionally well AND were the only ones to overwinter [with the exception of some annuums that also overwintered]. Most didn't. So this grow season I bought a bunch more of those bags and have about half my plants in the buckets and half in bags. The Home Depot ones I'd say last a full year. Maybe getting away with a little longer if you don't move them around.
 
Spicy Mushroom said:
Last grow season most of my plants were in orange 6 gallon Home Depot buckets. I had 3 in the Home Depot fabric bags that you get at the register for also around 50 cents. I'm not sure if it's the varieties that were in the bags or if the bags themselves were a determining factor but my peppers in those bags did exceptionally well AND were the only ones to overwinter [with the exception of some annuums that also overwintered]. Most didn't. So this grow season I bought a bunch more of those bags and have about half my plants in the buckets and half in bags. The Home Depot ones I'd say last a full year. Maybe getting away with a little longer if you don't move them around.
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I went with Home Depot bags at first, and I hated them.  They are made of vinyl instead of fabric, and don't drain well.  I was hoping they would at least drain at the seams.  When I went to transfer the dirt into actual fabric Wally bags the bottom 6-8" were just waterlogged sludge.  The Wally bags on the other hand seem to dry out very well.
 
IMO, the 'air pruning' is a push at best.  The necessary loss of root volume can't help.
 
IMO, the big benefit is substantial evaporative cooling.  This keeps the roots cool even in the middle of the Arizona summer.  Compared to my plastic container plants, the Wallybag residents grew significantly better during the hottest months. 
 
I also suspect that the increased gas flow to the roots is probably a good thing.
 
I need to grow in containers (on tables) due to an insecure yard that is overrun with rabbits and the occasional Javelena, which will shred a bunny-proof fence just for fun.
 
 
 
Compared to my plastic container plants, the Wallybag residents grew significantly better during the hottest months. 
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Exactly the same here for the most part. Plastic buckets, home depot bags, hot Sacramento summer. The ones in the bags were growing better than the ones in the buckets.
 
 
Exactly the same here for the most part. Plastic buckets, home depot bags, hot Sacramento summer. The ones in the bags were growing better than the ones in the buckets.

So the bags worked better?
 
filmost said:
the roots ball of my plants grown in fabric bags is denser. comprised of many tiny roots with no circling
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Exactly why so many like them. They make some really big ones as well and they are popular with the canna growers who like to have 15' tall Blue Dream plants in northern, CA. ;)
 
I think there great as far as air to the roots. I had nice plants last year, they just didn't get as tall as other plants in buckets. The problem was they did dried out faster. If I do it again I will put a saucer under them. Im going to try them for indoor OW this year. SIP's are my container of choice. Great results, didn't have to water as much and was impossible for me to over water. That's just my experience.
 
here's an example. this was from a 1 gallon. first pic was right after sliding off the grow bag, second is after shake out all the dirt (though a lot of roots also came out with it). pics really don't do it justice though.
 
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Scuba_Steve said:
I went with Home Depot bags at first, and I hated them.  They are made of vinyl instead of fabric, and don't drain well.  I was hoping they would at least drain at the seams.  When I went to transfer the dirt into actual fabric Wally bags the bottom 6-8" were just waterlogged sludge.  The Wally bags on the other hand seem to dry out very well.
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Yours must be different than the ones I bought from HD. Mine are made of very fine nylon fabric. They do drain very slowly, so one must be careful to avoid overwatering.
 
I also had plants in HD and Lowes 5 gallon buckets last season.
 
It seemed that I needed to water the bucket plants more often than the HD bags, but I really did not notice a huge difference in how well the plants grew in each type of container.
 
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