Grow bags can make gardening much more manageable, both indoors and outdoors. Every gardener should at least look into grow bags, as they are superior to traditional composite or plastic pots in many ways.
Grow bags are much lighter than pots, and as such, it’s easier to move, store, and hang them. They also provide more breathability and can drain quicker than pots.
A massive advantage of grow bags is that you can customize them to whichever size and material works best for your specific needs. There are tons of options, so it’s essential to know a lot about them before you purchase one.
Here’s a brief guide on why you should use grow bags and how they can benefit your everyday gardening needs.
Benefits of Using Grow Bags
Gardening in grow bags has become a popular option for most new gardeners, mainly because it’s a simple way to begin gardening anywhere, without the need for a full-fledged garden. You can find grow or top soil bags in almost any plant nursery.
Grow bags provides countless benefits for gardeners, including:
They Give Plants a Healthier Root System
One huge advantage of using grow bags is air pruning. Air pruning happens when plant roots are exposed to the air, which causes the roots to “burn off” and allows new, healthy roots to enter the system.
Grow bags, which are made of fabric material, efficiently keep the plant roots pruned and encourage a better-developed root system with more fibrous growth.
They Don’t Require Much Space
Even if you don’t own tons of acres of fertile land or don’t have enough space for a proper garden on your property, you can fill out your gardening dreams using grow bags since they don’t need much space. You can tuck them into a corner of your balcony or porch.
A medium-sized grow bag that holds about 5 gallons or 19 liters of soil typically measures only one foot in diameter.
They Provide Better Temperature Control
Plastic pots can get pretty hot during summer or under direct sunlight, which causes all the heat to build up inside them and cook your plants since pots aren’t that breathable.
The benefit of fabric grow bags is that they offer better temperature regulation. Grow bags allow heat to escape quickly to avoid damage to plants and produce. Excess heat can escape the bag from all sides.
Tips for Gardening with Grow Bags
Although grow bags can prove beneficial for every type of farmer and gardener out there, it’s usually urban gardeners and people who don’t have much space for a garden that uses them.
As such, these people are relatively new to gardening, especially gardening that involves using grow bags. So, here are some expert tips to help you out:
Plant Selection is Important
Since grow bags limit the size of plant roots and available water, choose plants with shallow root systems such as salad greens and radishes for best results. Root systems that require more space, like melons or artichokes, won’t do as well, especially if the bags aren’t large enough.
Alternatively, you can purchase dwarf varieties better suited for container growing — selecting bush or compact versions rather than vining types might also help.
Know the Size You Need
The size of the grow bag you’ll need depends on the type of plants you want to grow. Its best to check out plant spacing guidelines online, but here are some general recommendations for the size of grow bags required for certain vegetables, fruits, and herbs:
- Extra Small Grow Bags: These bags can hold upto 7.5 liters of soil and are a primary choice for most herbs like rosemary, thyme, and basil. Vegetables like radishes and lettuce can also be grown in them.
- Small Grow Bags: They tend to hold upto 11 liters of soil and are used to grow vegetables like carrots, beets, celery, and herbs like parsley.
- Medium Grow Bags: These grow bags can handle upto 19 liters of soil and are an excellent choice for countless vegetables, including peppers, eggplants, cabbage, broccoli, beans, and potatoes.
- Large Grow Bags: They are able to hold a considerable amount of soil, upto 38 liters. These grow bags are ideal for growing tomatoes and sweet potatoes.
Use Self-Watering Bags for Frequent Watering
Certain plants require more often and frequent watering, but since typical grow bags tend to dry out quicker, it’s better to grow them in a self-watering grow bag, also known as an Oya.
The self-watering grow bags have a water reservoir built into their base. If you keep the pool full, there will be a constant supply of water and moisture for the plants.
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