Last weekend, I finally brought out these grow bags (which I bought months ago) to transplant my heirloom tomato seedlings outdoors. After much research, I bought the 20 gallon size because many online experts said that is the min size required for tomatoes. I am an intermediate gardener: I have success with some plants/vegetables and struggle with others. Last year, I planted heirlooms (from Home Depot) in my zone 6a garden that and had a mediocre yield (but I learned that my soil needed calcium and that's why the yield wasn't that great). I've tried growing tomatoes in pots (5-10 gallon), but learned that that size is way too small and that's why they died quickly. So armed with the experience of my failures and knowing that I need to rotate crops this year, I decided to try the grow bags to see if I have greater success with my tomatoes. Here are my notes so far: a) The 20 gallon size is HUGE. It holds A LOT of soil and compost. I folded down the sides of the bags by about 4" (cuz I saw an expert do it on Youtube) and filled the bags with a mix of Miracle Gro potting soil and compost. I filled the bags to about 4" from the top (so not even full) and I started with approx 10 qts of compost plus 46-50 qts of soil PER BAG!!! b) Keep in mind, even after you fill the bags with soil and add your plants, once you water it the volume of soil will shrink and the level you started with will go even lower! That's what happened with the first bag I filled -- now I have to go back and remove my plants to add more soil! What a pain!! c) Anyone that says these bags are easy to move is living in an alternate reality. Again, my bags are only 3/4 full (approx 17 gal) and trying to pick them up is near impossible. I'm 5'4", 160lbs and I exercise but I needed my husband to help me. I put 3 of these bags on plant rollers because they're so heavy. So here's a tip: fill the bags where they are going to reside. Don't even think you can move them easily when they're full. d) Speaking of plant rollers, I needed something to sturdy the bottom of the bags since the plant rollers are smaller than the diameter of the base of these bags (again, this size is HUGE). So I ran to the Dollar Store and bought a bunch of pool noodles. I curled them up and put them at the bottom of the bags (with a chopstick inserted in the hole to keep both ends circular) so that when placed on the rollers, the sides wouldn't droop. Not saying you should or need to do this, but this is what I did. e) The good news is that since I rolled the sides down, I had a built in wind protection for my plants. For the days following my transplanting, the wind around here was horrible, gusting up to 50+mph. So I lifted up the sides and they acted like a makeshift wind barrier for the seedlings. At least it helped a little in between gusts. f) People say that these grow bags make your life easier but I'm worried about the water needs of my plants. I am hoping for an every other day watering schedule, but it seems like my plants need more water in these bags. Perhaps it's because the soil is fresh and needs a lot of water in the beginning to really saturate the amount in the bags or maybe our windy days are drying out the surface much quicker, but I am still watering a little every day for the last 3 days. Hopefully this tapers down. g) I bought the black bags as everyone recommends them over the brightly colored ones. I think the black bags actually look kinda cool in a minimalist modern kinda way. h) I followed the advice of an expert to plant one tomato plant per 20-gal bag, but to plant additional plants around the perimeter. So I planted marigolds, green onions, chives, zinnia seeds, and hot peppers with my tomato plants (companion planting). I may have to thin these out later in the year, but it seemed like there was a lot of grow space left that I could use. So I will report back later in the summer to update on the success (or not) of these grow bags. At least they are inexpensive and collapsible. 5.13 Update: It's been a week and here are my notes: - The watering needs did in fact taper down. I used my water meter to check that the soil is indeed moist and happy to report that it is. So I give the plants a deep watering only every 2-3 days, depending on the heat. - The plants seem to be very happy in these bags! My zinnias, chives, and onions haven't sprouted yet, and one Sandia pepper plant is slow (but green and vibrant). However the marigolds and tomatoes are growing like crazy. (I forgot to mention I add Plantone or Vegetone with some bone meal and earthworm casings to the soil, though. That probably helped). The true test will be when the roots hit the sides of the bag later this summer. - My garden is south facing so I only had to move one bag around to maximize the sunlight. Thankfully, it's on a roller.
