If you enjoyed this video, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS here: 0:00 Fabric Grow Bag Benefits 2:41 Tip #1: Sizing Grow Bag 4:58 Tip #2: Locating Grow Bags 8:17 Tip #3: Grow Bag Longevity 9:47 Grow Bag Brand Comparison 11:16 Tip #4: Potting Soil 12:58 Tip #5: Mulching & Irrigation 14:14 Tip #6: Fertilizing Grow Bags 16:54 Tip #7: Refreshing Containers 18:07 Never Plant This In Grow Bags! 22:09 Adventures With Dale
I’m 81 and 4’9” and find that 7 gallon is the max that I can handle weight-wise. If I had your guns, 20 gallon would be doable. I have 40 bags growing everything on my deck. I made your potting mix and set up everything on timed drip tubing. Our Dallas summer was brutal, but everything held together thanks to your shade cloth video. Love my grow bags!
I also used shade cloth thanks to this channel. Absolutely the best thing to happen to my container garden. All my brassicas are under shade cloth at the moment and look strong and beautiful. Will switch over to insect netting as soon as the weather turns colder.
Oh that's awesome! I'm so happy you invested in the shade cloth. I tried so hard all summer to yell that from the top of the mountain, because it's amazing. I'll harp on it nonstop until it becomes as common as a watering can and a shovel in people's garages. Have you ever considered using a "plant dolly"? They make dollies on wheels designed to set your container on so you can just push it around. It may allow you to use larger bags without any struggle.
@@rickirizarry5079 they come in many different shapes and sizes. Here are some examples: Wooden, Circular: amzn.to/3QAMUtJ Wooden, Square: amzn.to/3QyYSUr Plastic, Adjustable: amzn.to/40fwxWD Essentially, you choose the size that is wide enough for the base of your container. You'll have to make one lift where you'll set the pot on the dolly. From there, you just push it around wherever you want. Please note all the short links above are Amazon Affiliate links, so if you choose to use them I would receive a commission at no cost to you.
I loved my fabric pots here in the Pacific NW. Only July-Aug was a challenge since that's only months we don't rain almost daily. 😂. Even my Dalhias overwintered believe it or not. Not common in other pots. I loved 2 things. They prevented my heavily surrounded trees and hedges from invading the pots like they will any large tubs you can't easily move. AND slugs and squirrels tended to avoid them. But my neighbors complained. No soft pots allowed they said. And neither were my colorful 5 gal bucket pepper garden in back yard. We have people that complain about handles on fabric pots AND buckets. I'm not kidding. 😢
I've had great luck with grow bags in Houston Tx. I learned the hard way to use bigger containers; I won't use anything smaller than 5 gallon next summer. I would offer two pieces of advice for others who live in a very warm climate: Use tan grow bags, not black, for anything not super heat loving such as sweet potatoes, melons, Malabar spinach, and the like. It makes a HUGE difference. They're a tiny bit more expensive but not much. In addition to piling mulch thickly on top of the soil, you can also pile it around your grow bags. This will help insulate them. It doesn't even have to be nice hardwood mulch; things like grass clippings or leaves or green material work just fine.
We live in the icy cold Southwest Wyoming. We can't grow in ground, our soil is far too alkaline soil. We grow exclusively in fabric grow bags, and black plastic containers. We had the most amazing harvest of tomatoes, chili peppers, including super hot chilies, onions (using companion planting) multiple herbs and flowers for our pollinators! We had the absolute most bumper crop that we have ever had! We have very limited space. We grew an amazing crop of cucumbers as well! Rock on, brother! Even from the icy north of Wyoming! We also grew 100 lbs of potatoes and 15 lbs of onions!
My elderly mom grew up in the Appalachian mountains of WV in a large family, the youngest of 10 siblings. They had no refrigeration and they grew and canned everything and had a root celler dug into the bank of a hill for potatoes, onions, etc. She said my grandpa had 9 different gardens situated on the hillsides anywhere there was a flat spot you could plant some rows. And she said when he harvested his cabbages he would just dig a hole, line it with straw, and bury them deep in the dirt. Then through the fall and winter he would just go out and dig them up as needed. You just remove the big outer leaves and the inside would be fine. I garden because I absolutely love it, but back then they did it because they had no choice. They HAD to or they would starve. Great channel. Thanks.
If you're using a 5 gal bag, put it into a 5 gal bucket with an overflow drain hole 3-5 inches up to keep in some of the moisture and nutrients from fertilizer. For larger bags you can keep them in a large tote with similar overflow drain holes for the same purpose. 😊
Two things I do with grows bags to retain nutrient and water. One is placing saucers under the grow bags. The other is adding compost to the grow mix, around 25% to 33% of the total mix. Normally I never use compost in plastic containers, but for grow bags there are lots more drainage and aeration so it is forgiving and less prone to becoming anaerobic. The compost help with retaining the moisture and nutrients.
I grow in Herbs in 3 gallon, Peppers in 5 gallon, ,tomato in 7 and 10 gallon, Smaller squash and Zucchini in 10 gallon, and Potato, Onion, Carrot, and large Squash in 25 gallon. In total, maybe 120 Fabric Grow Bags for the past 5 years. Typically add 5 to 10 per year. One thing I do when building my soil, is 1/3 Peat, 1/3 Old Soil from my Compost piles, and 1/3 new soil. I typically fertilizer with organic granular once a month (April - Sept) and I use a liquid fertilizer once a week. the use of Compost, Leaf Mulch, Straw, is why I am comfortable with the granular. As well as a refresh each spring when starting the bags, I find myself refresh soil w/ soil/compost from my piles at least once per summer. That adds the biology/organics to help break down the granular.
I line the bottom and sides of fabric bags with wet cardboard. Put pepper plants in some and buried the bag in a raised bed to retain moisture. Easy to lift out to condition pepper plant for winter storage.
We covered our entire garden with 40% shade cloth here in south Texas thanks to your advice! The plants are doing so much better. I have a lot of grow bags too.
We who have been watching world events knew this was coming, my feelings are 'I DO NOT COMPLY' don't let their scare tactics stop you from doing anything that is good for you. We're going through the same tyrannical governmental over-reach in Aus. I appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge, we need this more than ever right now.
I love my grow bags... I have over a hundred of them. It started when my daughter told me she was getting married and I got a quote from a florist. I have a substantially large greenhouse and we decided to grow her flowers since it was an outdoor wedding. The grow bags made it very convenient to hull the flowers to the venue (for outdoor use, of course). Then I had 50 5 gallon and 50 10 gallon bags to use for other things and crop after crop (annuals) I just get better results. For that "micronutrient/macrobiotic" punch... try making feted swamp water and adding it once a week. Smells terrible but works miracles. I downloaded the Dynamic Accumulator spreadsheet and try to balance out nutrients in the compost swamp water by adding a few different local plants to the mix every week. It's been working really really well.
I don't have room for an in-ground garden in my small backyard, so I use GreenStalk vertical planters and fabric grow bags and put them on my large outdoor patio. I put my grow bags on rolling plant caddies for ease of moving them around. I also put the bags in heavy duty plant saucers so that when I water them, the excess water drains into the saucer, which the bag wicks up from the bottom. The fertilized water isn't wasted when doing this. I like the Hydrofarm Green Premium Saucers online from Grow Green MI. The water in your area must not be very hard. The water in my area of south Texas is very hard. By the end of the growing season, my bags have a whitish coating on the outside.
I'm doing no-dig in my in-ground and raised beds, but 10 gallon grow bags are the only way I'll grow potatoes in the future. Harvesting is a snap! And in the winter I can move them into the sunnier north side of my garden to keep the potatoes coming. And they are repairable with a sewing machine.
I began using grow bags a couple of years ago, and will increase the size and number of them this Spring. Torn/worn grow bags can be used as patching material for others; that saves $$, especially over the long haul. You can also simply put the worn/torn bag inside a new bag.
@@dianadeejarvis7074 Diana, they seem to hold water longer than a single bag, PLUS they are more durable. I've not decided if the extra cost is of any consequence: only doubled two of them, so far.
I'd still be using that torn bag 😂 I just started using grow bags (Epic Gardening's brand) this year and I love it more than I expected. They are lined on the sides so they don't dry out so much. One big tip is not to water if you want to move your bag (if it's a big one) because they get super heavy.
With the big 10-pack I ordered, I now have more than I currently need. I'll be growing my sweet potatoes in grow bags next year, I think, so I'm glad I have extra.
Trace elements in the soil is important for our health. A bag of Azomite takes care of this, adding trace elements in powdered rock form to your soil that optimizes plant growth and ends up organically on your dinner plate. A little goes a long way. Store bought produce, say broccoli, for example, has around 1/8th the original elements in them because they use the same fields, give the three elements for fertilizer, but do not add trace elements. Another way is to grow something like comfrey, a plant that roots go down several feet into the soil that mines these trace elements and concentrates them in the leaves. Grow comfrey in an isolated spot because it spreads, cut the leaves, compost, and then use this to add to your potting soil. Other plants do this as well, alfalfa, some clovers, you can look this up to start your own element mining compost plants. PP The sun heats up dark planters and can cook your root systems, and the water evaporation acts like a swamp air conditioner. Cluster bags still in easy reach so bags will shade each other, and share sides so less moisture is lost, root systems do not over heat. PP I found by accident a certain amount of clay actually helps retain moisture though the right ratio of clay to potting mix has not yet been figured out. I did notice using deep mined clay soil without weed seeds in the planting mix helps them stay more damp, but the roots do not penetrate as deep, so a little experimentation would be needed to get the right ratio of clay to potting soil. the clay also has trace elements in it, but how much varies.
I have several acres of land but I prefer grow bags much of the time due to pests or predators. I have to move my plants on occasion so it helps a lot. I also have a large covered deck and move my garden under it during the high heat of summer instead of using shade cloth. I’ve had better success growing both potatoes and sweet potatoes this way. I have to keep the deer and bunnies out of them so the extra height of the grow bags help tremendously. I’ve even grown popcorn in 10 gallon grow bags. I plan to try lots of new crops in grow bags. We are constructing the main garden still with deer fencing so this works well for my purposes right now.
I'm so glad I "found" your channel, it's been a blessing the amount of good, applicable knowledge you give in detail in each video... I fucking love it.
A question for you, Sir. Have you ever considered putting the grow bags in something like a large drip pan or kiddie pool for multiple bags and allowing the bags to wick up? I've had lots of success keeping my pots moist with this technique.
Thanks! I've been making your recommended potting mix for some time now. Only I have switched to more often using vermiculite instead of perlite because vermiculite holds water more here in the hot desert. I also sometimes experiment with mushroom compost instead of steer manure. Also I add worm castings. But your video on making soil has been very helpful to me and saved lots of money.
I'm growing individual dwarf pea plants in one gallon grow bags. So far, so good. To water and fertilize, I've been putting the bags in a well filled kiddie pool, with fertilizer, and a little soap to keep the bugs off the surface. I dip when they're dry. I've been doing that with a lot of things in grow bags. Peppers seem to really dig that schedule.
Ive been using bags for a while.. I cut holes in the bottom so the worms can make their way in there and they do. I also compost in place, in the bag, when they are empty . The other thing i do is add alphla pellets to them in the fall, and cover with mulch for the winter season
I love these bags! I learned to be sure you pick up ones with handles. Not all of them have handles. I’ve got a gorgeous broccoli in a 7 gallon and potatoes in 25 or 30 gallon bags. Thank for all the info!
I can't get over how much useful information you always manage to pack into your videos, amazing! I'm planning on trying some garlic in grow bags so perfect timing, I'm sure the same size for potatoes would work for garlic. I don't know why but my instincts prevented me from ever planting my fruit trees in grow bags, my reasoning was probably that I doubted it for long term use. I'm glad I watched this and have valid reasons to go by now. Thanks! Aww poor Dale, how did he hurt his paw?
You're welcome! Can you plant the tree in ground? Nectarine's get pretty large, so they'll definitely be a lot more productive in ground than a container. The container would have to be quite large.
As someone who has commercially gardened with cloth pots for 10 years, I can say I got best results when I used pots that are twice the size as their plastic counterparts. That is to say cloth and plastic pots are equal size will not produce the same size plant. ( for me) Root growth laterally does not occur as vigorously due to the aeration in cloth pots. The result was a more expensive soil bill. Great video.
I did a porch garden last year using grow bags as my foundation. Your points in this video line up well with my experiences. However, I will find a solution to avoid using a non-organic fertilizer. That is the entire premise for me growing my own food.
I use a mix of growbags and raised beds. I use mostly ten gallon and thirty gallon growbags. The ten gallon bags are used for pollinators, and determinate tomato plants. The large bags are used for squash, melons, and potatoes. I have three Greenstalk Towers for peppers and strawberries. The rest of my garden is 8 raised beds of various sizes, a feed barrel cut in two, an 8 for long cattle panel trellis, a 10x12 polytunnel greenhouse, and a mound that I use for an inground herb garden.
Great video! I bought so many grow bags from TEMU..very cheap! for under 8.00 I got 4 10 gallon bags. For 8.00 I got 2 20 gallon bags. I even got a 30 gallon bag the size of a kiddie pool for 5.00. They are good quality just about the exact same as ones I bought from Amazon last year. I also bought a kiddie pool 3 years ago from dollar general for 7.00 and its been my herb garden for 3 years now! They work great just poke holes in the bottom! My herb garden took off the very first year..now its all filled in again most came back and in spots that were empty I added more herbs and onions. I did that and saved the grow bags for bigger plants like my peppers, beans tomatoes etc..Love your videos and wealth of gardening information.
So informative! You have very concise topics including solutions to problems. There is a lot of bad advice when it comes to gardening floating around out there. For instance, how to amend the soil depending on what you are trying to grow and the type of container you need. It's like humans taking vitamins, you can either enhance your health or really make yourself sick. We forget that plants are living things and need the proper nutrition. I am 72 years old and can tell you that I have lost more time and money following bad advice. I was raised helping my parents in the family garden. I continued gardening as an adult. I have started planting in containers and raised beds. A new adventure for me. I will be watching your videos closely for advice on how I can be more deliberate jn my garden so as to not strain so much and have greater success. Looking forward to your next video!!!
Thanks! Peat moss has increased in price by over a hundred percent in less than a year and I plan to cut down drastically on its use. Coco coir has always been more expensive than peat. It's a bit frustrating to make a really good container mix at these prices.
This was very timely and helpful content as I am getting ready to take my pepper plants out of my grow bags and refresh them. Going to check into some of your other soil videos. Thank you for the time and effort to make this content and conveniently link everything!
Last year was my first with grow bags. This is an excellent video. I battled keeping the bags watered enough, so my best recommendation is soil composition! I would NOT use potting mix. Make your own soil with compost, Pete and some perlite. You want soil that retains moisture.
Great info. I just built a new house on top of a solid red clay 5 acres. No way I can put anything in this clay without a ton of work. This coming season will be straw bales and grow bags. Hey there is a video idea for you. Growing in hard clay. I am in the same zone but in GA. We are famous for our red clay.
You are my go to gardener! This past year was my best after following your advice with the 20-20 -20 fertilizer. I have never watched a video of yours without learning something new. I canned my tomatoes for the first time and I have to say it was because I had so many tomatoes!!! It was fun and exciting to see the fruit grow. Thank you for your guidance and encouragement!
Love your channel, this spring (2023) I put in a garden in a very small area, for the first time in 20 plus years. I put in 3- 3’x4’ raised beds and 50 or more grow bags set on a drip system watering twice a day. We live in 9A, this garden produced an abundance of everything I planted and we are still harvesting many vegetables. I did pull out many vegetables to prep for my fall planting, my seedlings will be ready by the end of the month to be planted. We are looking to move so this is the reason behind the raised bed and grow bags, The moral to this garden story is grow bags WORK AMAZINGLY! I started watching your channel and the grow bags were mentioned and I just wanted to say, thank you!
I live in North central Florida where the summers are brutal. The fabric grow bags are fabulous in that the plants really love the aeration but as you pointed out, the soil dries out really fast. The upside of that is what comes out so readily also goes in as readily. I am currently growing 40 corn plants in 10, 5-gallon fabric bags. I put them in a kiddy pool with an inch or so of water. The corn is doing so very well. Yes, I have to put mosquito dunks and such in the water but I have yet to water the eternally thirsty corn plants com the top and they are not stressed at all. The downside of that is the bags will probably wear out after a couple two, three years but, like you said, they are not unduly expensive. So, putting the pots in something that can hold an inch or two of water, especially in the summer, is a great idea. Yes, definitely a good potting mix. I am using 60% peat moss, 40% compost and a bit of lime to even the pH. The corn plants are so happy.
We've been using rinsed out dogfood bags and they do wonderfully as long as we keep in mind they need to be about the same size as the pots we would use.
Awesome advice! I had a great summer with cucumbers from grow bags. Watermelon, literally side by side with in-ground : bag = no fruit, in-ground = massive melons. Strangely, the Cantaloupes did great from the bags. But what he said here, the bags will drain of water quickly, so be watering in the hot southeast states.
I had 2 big grow bags with trays and already filled with soil given to me recently. I will be trying the Romain lettuce next to my brick house. Your channel is a wealth of information. Thanks!
I enjoyed this educational and informative video. I went and subscribed so I can use you as a resource as I begin my garden. Thank you for your knowledge 🥰
Using used mineral tubs are also a great way to container garden. In our area we have cattle ranches and can get them for under $10 each and sometimes free!
Thanks to your videos I picked up some 15 gallon bags for my potatoes this year. I tried potatoes years ago but the ants took them over I've got my fingers crossed this year.
These are great for tubers. I just dump them out in my garden card, sift through them for the harvest, and dump the soil back in. So much easier than forking and digging and breaking tubers. To replenish the soil, I stuff the bottom with the leaves and stems of the potatoes or sweet potatoes, then cover that with the soil, then follow up with legumes planted in them.
I used my grow bags for potatoes, after harvest put the leaves/stems in the bottom, then, soil and planted some strawberry plants from the store. The strawberries are thriving and yummy.
I have 8 of those 80L grow bags. Handles rotted off after 3 months but bags seem OK still. Mine are a kind of canvas grow bag. Takes a LOT of soil to fill just one of them. The first 8 hours of sunlight is best for most plants. About storing those bags - hard to find a decent place to store all that soil over the winter. I plan on mixing in about 20% mostly composted leaves in my potting soil. I MAY mix in some Soil Moist crystals just to hold extra water. I plan on setting my grow bag into a LARGE planter so I can just subirrigate by filling the container. No loss of fertilizer due to watering. Purpose was to plant watermelons in it. Going to be hard to duplicate Fox Farms soils.... For my USED potting soil, I cook my soil to 204F to kill bugs, eggs, and pathogens. Can't afford all new potting soil, just a couple of bags...
I moved to Oklahoma and with the wind, heat and sun i water my grow bags twice a day. Also need to get bigger bags and up the amount of peat moss in the mix for next year.
Larger bags and more peat will make a difference. Drip irrigation also makes life a lot easier. Do you mulch your bags? A thick layer also helps a lot.
Aww sorry dear Dale has a injured paw. Do what you have to do hear it! Paw injuries can can complicated fast if not properly cared for! Sending a big hug and your such a good doggy dad for giving him a chew assist!! God bless and thx so much for all your timely information videos!
I am 76 can you put a board under the fabric that has wheels so I can move the bags . I can not liift those bags. And thank you for your advice on growing plants
Simple solution for transplanting the plant into a larger container, is the simply cut a dozen or so, vertical cuts into the sides & bottom of the grow bag. The roots will not have a problem finding their way out ... believe me!
What do you do to mix your dirt? I am having to amend the bulk of the red dirt that my home is on, as it’s a relatively new construction. I live at the top of a hill, so I have to dig out and level. I end up with a lot of rocky soil. I am building another in ground raised bed, so I end up with tons of terrible topsoil that is red and rocky. Last year when I made my first one, I spread all of the dirt on a tarp and mixed everything (new soil, compost, mulch, fert, old soil) with a shovel. It was exhausting and felt incredibly inefficient. Thank you!
If you're asking specifically for my raised beds, all of my raised beds are filled with 100% locally made turkey compost. I called up a local soil company and had them deliver a 10-yard triaxle dump truck full of compost, and I manually wheelbarrowed it all the way over to my beds to fill them. It costs about $500 for a 10-yard triaxle full of compost. Now, when it comes to my grow bags, this is how I make the mix: th-cam.com/video/t3kx5PhCJU8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=YfjasFHXn_QJTWy1 Thanks so much for your support and generosity! I appreciate it!
Have you ever tried putting grow bags inside some kind of plastic containers (with drainage) in the heat of the summer? Like old totes with holes drilled in them? Curious if this would help maintain some moisture.
Hi and thank you so very much for all your excellent videos! Being a transplant from rural Connecticut, I have learned a ton from you about growing in this much warmer climate zone. I am temporarily living just south of Raleigh in an apartment, and this was my first time ever patio gardening and using grow bags. Everything grew really well, but I was wondering if I do anything now to prepare the soil in the empty grow bags for next year besides removing the plants and roots from each grow bag? And in the spring will I need to add in some new potting soil mix to each grow bag to freshen the soil before planting, or do I just plant and then fertilize ? Thank you again.
Hello! I am new to your channel, two days to be exact and been watching your videos all day. So happy to find your channel with the same weather climate.. I am 57 and now becoming interested in gardening. Your channel is perfect since we live in the same state. I live in North Carolina as well. In Garner to be exact. You’re around Wilmington. I’m really interested buying your fig cutting and persimmons and more. Anyway I can visit your garden rather shipping? Thank you!
This is where the US is awesome, you can find most things for a solid price lol, but grow bags arent widely used enough in Australia so we dont have many decently priced options. Most things are limited because we have such a limited range of most things over here
Hi there. Can't tell how much I truly appreciate your informative videos. I love that you give examples of what plants go with what sizes of fabric bags. I do love using these but never know what goes in what. This has helped tremendously. I need some advise on when (times of year) and how often to fertilize container fruit trees (not in grow bags)? I have semi-dwarfs: Apple, Little Cado, Fig, and several citrus. I live on the central coast of California. Thank you. Much appreciated.
Glad the videos are helpful! Apples and figs are deciduous trees, so they should be fertilized between late winter/early spring when they're emerging from dormancy into mid-summer. I recommend you follow my series on fertilizing here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html&si=IwRHyfTSfL6EVZuW I also have a guide on citrus here: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-Jf6xeaxatazygoC Avocados really dislike being grown in containers. They will not do well. They won't fruit well. If you have the ability to put the avocado in ground, I would recommend you do so. However, if you only have room for one avocado, I would not go for a Wurtz. They are a B-type and don't fruit well on their own, and they also don't have the best quality fruit. I am woefully ignorant on growing avocados, because the avocados that grow in California do not do well in the Southeast. California avocados are mostly of Guatemalan lineage, and they do very poorly in high humidity, which is why you don't see Hass-type avocados coming out of Florida. I would recommend you follow Greg Alder for advice on growing avocados in California: www.youtube.com/@gregalderdotcom Based on his videos, if I only had room for one avocado tree in ground, I think he said he'd grow a Hass and just prune it to manage its size. If that's too boring, Reed makes a good backyard tree, since it grows upright and doesn't spread, according to Greg.
It just amazes me that more emphasis is not given to how much heat is generated by the "BLACK" pots. whether fabric or plastic. I personally paint my large plastic pots an off white and buy my cloth pots in a light tan color. It really helps in the summer sun. Why bake your root system in Black pots ???
This was a wonderful video! Although I am surprised to hear you adamantly against the grow bags with perennials and trees. It was my understanding that grow bags allow plants to air-prune and create much stronger root systems. I wonder if it would be less traumatic to a perennial grow bag plant if one were to cut the bag open when up-potting, or maybe used a knife along the interior edges before trying to remove it from the bag.
If you enjoyed this video, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS here:
0:00 Fabric Grow Bag Benefits
2:41 Tip #1: Sizing Grow Bag
4:58 Tip #2: Locating Grow Bags
8:17 Tip #3: Grow Bag Longevity
9:47 Grow Bag Brand Comparison
11:16 Tip #4: Potting Soil
12:58 Tip #5: Mulching & Irrigation
14:14 Tip #6: Fertilizing Grow Bags
16:54 Tip #7: Refreshing Containers
18:07 Never Plant This In Grow Bags!
22:09 Adventures With Dale
Thank you!!❤🌱
How to make your potting mix
@@MillieMoore-hz5ze see here: th-cam.com/video/t3kx5PhCJU8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=DsQO8z1Ye3weLFr4
@@TheMillennialGardener Here in my country we use charcoal in the soil mix to reduced nutrient leaching when it rains.
I’m 81 and 4’9” and find that 7 gallon is the max that I can handle weight-wise. If I had your guns, 20 gallon would be doable. I have 40 bags growing everything on my deck. I made your potting mix and set up everything on timed drip tubing. Our Dallas summer was brutal, but everything held together thanks to your shade cloth video. Love my grow bags!
I also used shade cloth thanks to this channel. Absolutely the best thing to happen to my container garden. All my brassicas are under shade cloth at the moment and look strong and beautiful. Will switch over to insect netting as soon as the weather turns colder.
Oh that's awesome! I'm so happy you invested in the shade cloth. I tried so hard all summer to yell that from the top of the mountain, because it's amazing. I'll harp on it nonstop until it becomes as common as a watering can and a shovel in people's garages. Have you ever considered using a "plant dolly"? They make dollies on wheels designed to set your container on so you can just push it around. It may allow you to use larger bags without any struggle.
Plant dolly? More information please.
@@rickirizarry5079 they come in many different shapes and sizes. Here are some examples:
Wooden, Circular: amzn.to/3QAMUtJ
Wooden, Square: amzn.to/3QyYSUr
Plastic, Adjustable: amzn.to/40fwxWD
Essentially, you choose the size that is wide enough for the base of your container. You'll have to make one lift where you'll set the pot on the dolly. From there, you just push it around wherever you want. Please note all the short links above are Amazon Affiliate links, so if you choose to use them I would receive a commission at no cost to you.
I bought the shade cloth for my son in Texas. I hope it helps.
I found that lining my grow bags with cardboard- sies and bottom, really helps extend the life of the bags and they don't need irrigation as often.
Thanks. I can use Amazon boxes!!!
That’s a good idea… Here in ARKANSAS, without liners they dry our way too fast !
Thank you I live in central Florida and the grow bags last only about 3 years. I am going to try this
Please don't laugh, but my question is do you put the cardboard on the inside of the bags?
Wont that hurt the breathablity of the container?
I loved my fabric pots here in the Pacific NW. Only July-Aug was a challenge since that's only months we don't rain almost daily. 😂. Even my Dalhias overwintered believe it or not. Not common in other pots. I loved 2 things. They prevented my heavily surrounded trees and hedges from invading the pots like they will any large tubs you can't easily move. AND slugs and squirrels tended to avoid them. But my neighbors complained. No soft pots allowed they said. And neither were my colorful 5 gal bucket pepper garden in back yard. We have people that complain about handles on fabric pots AND buckets. I'm not kidding. 😢
I've had great luck with grow bags in Houston Tx. I learned the hard way to use bigger containers; I won't use anything smaller than 5 gallon next summer. I would offer two pieces of advice for others who live in a very warm climate:
Use tan grow bags, not black, for anything not super heat loving such as sweet potatoes, melons, Malabar spinach, and the like. It makes a HUGE difference. They're a tiny bit more expensive but not much.
In addition to piling mulch thickly on top of the soil, you can also pile it around your grow bags. This will help insulate them. It doesn't even have to be nice hardwood mulch; things like grass clippings or leaves or green material work just fine.
Love the tip about layering mulch around the outside, wouldn't have thought of that, but it makes perfect sense! Thanks!
We live in the icy cold Southwest Wyoming.
We can't grow in ground, our soil is far too alkaline soil. We grow exclusively in fabric grow bags, and black plastic containers.
We had the most amazing harvest of tomatoes, chili peppers, including super hot chilies, onions (using companion planting) multiple herbs and flowers for our pollinators!
We had the absolute most bumper crop that we have ever had!
We have very limited space. We grew an amazing crop of cucumbers as well!
Rock on, brother! Even from the icy north of Wyoming!
We also grew 100 lbs of potatoes and 15 lbs of onions!
I bet you had tons and tons of bags
Wht type of dirt do you use?
My elderly mom grew up in the Appalachian mountains of WV in a large family, the youngest of 10 siblings. They had no refrigeration and they grew and canned everything and had a root celler dug into the bank of a hill for potatoes, onions, etc. She said my grandpa had 9 different gardens situated on the hillsides anywhere there was a flat spot you could plant some rows. And she said when he harvested his cabbages he would just dig a hole, line it with straw, and bury them deep in the dirt. Then through the fall and winter he would just go out and dig them up as needed. You just remove the big outer leaves and the inside would be fine. I garden because I absolutely love it, but back then they did it because they had no choice. They HAD to or they would starve. Great channel. Thanks.
Bring the bottom inch into the ground and they absorb moisture from the ground bettor. I set mine next to my AC drip line. Free, automatic watering.
If you're using a 5 gal bag, put it into a 5 gal bucket with an overflow drain hole 3-5 inches up to keep in some of the moisture and nutrients from fertilizer. For larger bags you can keep them in a large tote with similar overflow drain holes for the same purpose. 😊
Two things I do with grows bags to retain nutrient and water. One is placing saucers under the grow bags. The other is adding compost to the grow mix, around 25% to 33% of the total mix. Normally I never use compost in plastic containers, but for grow bags there are lots more drainage and aeration so it is forgiving and less prone to becoming anaerobic. The compost help with retaining the moisture and nutrients.
I grow in Herbs in 3 gallon, Peppers in 5 gallon, ,tomato in 7 and 10 gallon, Smaller squash and Zucchini in 10 gallon, and Potato, Onion, Carrot, and large Squash in 25 gallon. In total, maybe 120 Fabric Grow Bags for the past 5 years. Typically add 5 to 10 per year. One thing I do when building my soil, is 1/3 Peat, 1/3 Old Soil from my Compost piles, and 1/3 new soil. I typically fertilizer with organic granular once a month (April - Sept) and I use a liquid fertilizer once a week. the use of Compost, Leaf Mulch, Straw, is why I am comfortable with the granular. As well as a refresh each spring when starting the bags, I find myself refresh soil w/ soil/compost from my piles at least once per summer. That adds the biology/organics to help break down the granular.
I line the bottom and sides of fabric bags with wet cardboard. Put pepper plants in some and buried the bag in a raised bed to retain moisture. Easy to lift out to condition pepper plant for winter storage.
We covered our entire garden with 40% shade cloth here in south Texas thanks to your advice! The plants are doing so much better. I have a lot of grow bags too.
I started using the “triangle” sunshades from costco in 2013. They save the garden that will otherwise be fried!
We who have been watching world events knew this was coming, my feelings are 'I DO NOT COMPLY' don't let their scare tactics stop you from doing anything that is good for you. We're going through the same tyrannical governmental over-reach in Aus. I appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge, we need this more than ever right now.
They are coming after Aus, Canada, and the US. What a shame!! Got to take away the guns. a big problem for them.
I love my grow bags... I have over a hundred of them. It started when my daughter told me she was getting married and I got a quote from a florist. I have a substantially large greenhouse and we decided to grow her flowers since it was an outdoor wedding. The grow bags made it very convenient to hull the flowers to the venue (for outdoor use, of course). Then I had 50 5 gallon and 50 10 gallon bags to use for other things and crop after crop (annuals) I just get better results. For that "micronutrient/macrobiotic" punch... try making feted swamp water and adding it once a week. Smells terrible but works miracles. I downloaded the Dynamic Accumulator spreadsheet and try to balance out nutrients in the compost swamp water by adding a few different local plants to the mix every week. It's been working really really well.
What a brilliant idea!!!
The 101 of grow bags. Super educational for a beginner such as myself. Thank you so much, I've learned a lot with this video. 👍
I don't have room for an in-ground garden in my small backyard, so I use GreenStalk vertical planters and fabric grow bags and put them on my large outdoor patio. I put my grow bags on rolling plant caddies for ease of moving them around. I also put the bags in heavy duty plant saucers so that when I water them, the excess water drains into the saucer, which the bag wicks up from the bottom. The fertilized water isn't wasted when doing this. I like the Hydrofarm Green Premium Saucers online from Grow Green MI. The water in your area must not be very hard. The water in my area of south Texas is very hard. By the end of the growing season, my bags have a whitish coating on the outside.
I'm doing no-dig in my in-ground and raised beds, but 10 gallon grow bags are the only way I'll grow potatoes in the future. Harvesting is a snap! And in the winter I can move them into the sunnier north side of my garden to keep the potatoes coming. And they are repairable with a sewing machine.
I have some of my fabric grow bags inside a crate. Protects a little from the sun and easier to move.
I began using grow bags a couple of years ago, and will increase the size and number of them this Spring.
Torn/worn grow bags can be used as patching material for others; that saves $$, especially over the long haul. You can also simply put the worn/torn bag inside a new bag.
Is there an advantage to a doubled grow bag, or is it simply more durable?
@@dianadeejarvis7074 Diana, they seem to hold water longer than a single bag, PLUS they are more durable. I've not decided if the extra cost is of any consequence: only doubled two of them, so far.
@@MCOult Thanks for answering. If the alternative is throwing away a torn bag, then using it for better water retention sounds like a good deal.
I'd still be using that torn bag 😂 I just started using grow bags (Epic Gardening's brand) this year and I love it more than I expected. They are lined on the sides so they don't dry out so much. One big tip is not to water if you want to move your bag (if it's a big one) because they get super heavy.
With the big 10-pack I ordered, I now have more than I currently need. I'll be growing my sweet potatoes in grow bags next year, I think, so I'm glad I have extra.
Trace elements in the soil is important for our health. A bag of Azomite takes care of this, adding trace elements in powdered rock form to your soil that optimizes plant growth and ends up organically on your dinner plate. A little goes a long way. Store bought produce, say broccoli, for example, has around 1/8th the original elements in them because they use the same fields, give the three elements for fertilizer, but do not add trace elements. Another way is to grow something like comfrey, a plant that roots go down several feet into the soil that mines these trace elements and concentrates them in the leaves. Grow comfrey in an isolated spot because it spreads, cut the leaves, compost, and then use this to add to your potting soil. Other plants do this as well, alfalfa, some clovers, you can look this up to start your own element mining compost plants. PP The sun heats up dark planters and can cook your root systems, and the water evaporation acts like a swamp air conditioner. Cluster bags still in easy reach so bags will shade each other, and share sides so less moisture is lost, root systems do not over heat. PP I found by accident a certain amount of clay actually helps retain moisture though the right ratio of clay to potting mix has not yet been figured out. I did notice using deep mined clay soil without weed seeds in the planting mix helps them stay more damp, but the roots do not penetrate as deep, so a little experimentation would be needed to get the right ratio of clay to potting soil. the clay also has trace elements in it, but how much varies.
I have several acres of land but I prefer grow bags much of the time due to pests or predators. I have to move my plants on occasion so it helps a lot. I also have a large covered deck and move my garden under it during the high heat of summer instead of using shade cloth. I’ve had better success growing both potatoes and sweet potatoes this way. I have to keep the deer and bunnies out of them so the extra height of the grow bags help tremendously. I’ve even grown popcorn in 10 gallon grow bags. I plan to try lots of new crops in grow bags. We are constructing the main garden still with deer fencing so this works well for my purposes right now.
I have deer and they love my salad bar. they can't wait!!!
I'm so glad I "found" your channel, it's been a blessing the amount of good, applicable knowledge you give in detail in each video... I fucking love it.
I'm so happy the videos are helping! That's what I love to hear.
A question for you, Sir. Have you ever considered putting the grow bags in something like a large drip pan or kiddie pool for multiple bags and allowing the bags to wick up? I've had lots of success keeping my pots moist with this technique.
Thanks! I've been making your recommended potting mix for some time now. Only I have switched to more often using vermiculite instead of perlite because vermiculite holds water more here in the hot desert. I also sometimes experiment with mushroom compost instead of steer manure. Also I add worm castings.
But your video on making soil has been very helpful to me and saved lots of money.
I'm growing individual dwarf pea plants in one gallon grow bags. So far, so good. To water and fertilize, I've been putting the bags in a well filled kiddie pool, with fertilizer, and a little soap to keep the bugs off the surface. I dip when they're dry.
I've been doing that with a lot of things in grow bags. Peppers seem to really dig that schedule.
Ive been using bags for a while.. I cut holes in the bottom so the worms can make their way in there and they do. I also compost in place, in the bag, when they are empty . The other thing i do is add alphla pellets to them in the fall, and cover with mulch for the winter season
I love these bags! I learned to be sure you pick up ones with handles. Not all of them have handles. I’ve got a gorgeous broccoli in a 7 gallon and potatoes in 25 or 30 gallon bags. Thank for all the info!
I can't get over how much useful information you always manage to pack into your videos, amazing! I'm planning on trying some garlic in grow bags so perfect timing, I'm sure the same size for potatoes would work for garlic. I don't know why but my instincts prevented me from ever planting my fruit trees in grow bags, my reasoning was probably that I doubted it for long term use. I'm glad I watched this and have valid reasons to go by now. Thanks! Aww poor Dale, how did he hurt his paw?
I JUST got a nectarine tree and a huge grow bag....I'm getting a regular container today... thanks for saving my tree❤🌺
You're welcome! Can you plant the tree in ground? Nectarine's get pretty large, so they'll definitely be a lot more productive in ground than a container. The container would have to be quite large.
It’ll be ok Dale, daddy is takin good care of you.
Grow bags are great for chasing or dodging the brutality of the summer sun. ❤
As someone who has commercially gardened with cloth pots for 10 years, I can say I got best results when I used pots that are twice the size as their plastic counterparts. That is to say cloth and plastic pots are equal size will not produce the same size plant. ( for me)
Root growth laterally does not occur as vigorously due to the aeration in cloth pots. The result was a more expensive soil bill.
Great video.
I did a porch garden last year using grow bags as my foundation. Your points in this video line up well with my experiences. However, I will find a solution to avoid using a non-organic fertilizer. That is the entire premise for me growing my own food.
I use a mix of growbags and raised beds. I use mostly ten gallon and thirty gallon growbags. The ten gallon bags are used for pollinators, and determinate tomato plants. The large bags are used for squash, melons, and potatoes. I have three Greenstalk Towers for peppers and strawberries. The rest of my garden is 8 raised beds of various sizes, a feed barrel cut in two, an 8 for long cattle panel trellis, a 10x12 polytunnel greenhouse, and a mound that I use for an inground herb garden.
Great video! I bought so many grow bags from TEMU..very cheap! for under 8.00 I got 4 10 gallon bags. For 8.00 I got 2 20 gallon bags. I even got a 30 gallon bag the size of a kiddie pool for 5.00. They are good quality just about the exact same as ones I bought from Amazon last year. I also bought a kiddie pool 3 years ago from dollar general for 7.00 and its been my herb garden for 3 years now! They work great just poke holes in the bottom! My herb garden took off the very first year..now its all filled in again most came back and in spots that were empty I added more herbs and onions. I did that and saved the grow bags for bigger plants like my peppers, beans tomatoes etc..Love your videos and wealth of gardening information.
So informative! You have very concise topics including solutions to problems. There is a lot of bad advice when it comes to gardening floating around out there. For instance, how to amend the soil depending on what you are trying to grow and the type of container you need. It's like humans taking vitamins, you can either enhance your health or really make yourself sick. We forget that plants are living things and need the proper nutrition. I am 72 years old and can tell you that I have lost more time and money following bad advice. I was raised helping my parents in the family garden. I continued gardening as an adult. I have started planting in containers and raised beds. A new adventure for me. I will be watching your videos closely for advice on how I can be more deliberate jn my garden so as to not strain so much and have greater success. Looking forward to your next video!!!
One thing I’m going to try is putting the bags in a kiddie pool as a water reservoir allowing the bags to wick up the water
Thanks! Peat moss has increased in price by over a hundred percent in less than a year and I plan to cut down drastically on its use. Coco coir has always been more expensive than peat. It's a bit frustrating to make a really good container mix at these prices.
Coca Coir might be better. It's more sustainable, I guess.
This was very timely and helpful content as I am getting ready to take my pepper plants out of my grow bags and refresh them. Going to check into some of your other soil videos. Thank you for the time and effort to make this content and conveniently link everything!
Last year was my first with grow bags. This is an excellent video. I battled keeping the bags watered enough, so my best recommendation is soil composition! I would NOT use potting mix. Make your own soil with compost, Pete and some perlite. You want soil that retains moisture.
Great info. I just built a new house on top of a solid red clay 5 acres. No way I can put anything in this clay without a ton of work. This coming season will be straw bales and grow bags. Hey there is a video idea for you. Growing in hard clay. I am in the same zone but in GA. We are famous for our red clay.
You are my go to gardener! This past year was my best after following your advice with the 20-20 -20 fertilizer. I have never watched a video of yours without learning something new. I canned my tomatoes for the first time and I have to say it was because I had so many tomatoes!!! It was fun and exciting to see the fruit grow. Thank you for your guidance and encouragement!
Dude, again, I love your videos. I’ve actually used your affiliate links to purchase winterizing materials. Respect from Louisiana.
Thank you! I appreciate your support.
Great info as always 👍
You're a wonderful doggie dad. Love to Dale ❤😊
Thank you! Dale got his cone off today. He is in good shape.
@@TheMillennialGardener wonderful news! Thanks for sharing ❤🙋♀️
Love your channel, this spring (2023) I put in a garden in a very small area, for the first time in 20 plus years. I put in 3- 3’x4’ raised beds and 50 or more grow bags set on a drip system watering twice a day. We live in 9A, this garden produced an abundance of everything I planted and we are still harvesting many vegetables. I did pull out many vegetables to prep for my fall planting, my seedlings will be ready by the end of the month to be planted. We are looking to move so this is the reason behind the raised bed and grow bags, The moral to this garden story is grow bags WORK AMAZINGLY! I started watching your channel and the grow bags were mentioned and I just wanted to say, thank you!
My three babies love those yak milk chews. They last a lot longer than other rawhide products. Love your garden videos. Keep up the great work!!🎉
They're really great, and they're healthy for them. No funny ingredients. Glad you enjoyed the video!
I live in North central Florida where the summers are brutal. The fabric grow bags are fabulous in that the plants really love the aeration but as you pointed out, the soil dries out really fast.
The upside of that is what comes out so readily also goes in as readily. I am currently growing 40 corn plants in 10, 5-gallon fabric bags. I put them in a kiddy pool with an inch or so of water. The corn is doing so very well. Yes, I have to put mosquito dunks and such in the water but I have yet to water the eternally thirsty corn plants com the top and they are not stressed at all.
The downside of that is the bags will probably wear out after a couple two, three years but, like you said, they are not unduly expensive. So, putting the pots in something that can hold an inch or two of water, especially in the summer, is a great idea.
Yes, definitely a good potting mix. I am using 60% peat moss, 40% compost and a bit of lime to even the pH. The corn plants are so happy.
I’m going to try this, have wanted to grow corn-NJ
We've been using rinsed out dogfood bags and they do wonderfully as long as we keep in mind they need to be about the same size as the pots we would use.
Awesome advice! I had a great summer with cucumbers from grow bags. Watermelon, literally side by side with in-ground : bag = no fruit, in-ground = massive melons. Strangely, the Cantaloupes did great from the bags. But what he said here, the bags will drain of water quickly, so be watering in the hot southeast states.
Here in my country we use charcoal in the soil mix to reduced nutrient leaching when it rains.
This is ALL very true. I have experienced this over the past eight years and have had the exact results you are mentioning! Great advice!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Loved the video. I made my own grow bags 2 years ago from weed block cloth. They are still ok. Im thinking of replacing them with plastic buckets.
I had 2 big grow bags with trays and already filled with soil given to me recently. I will be trying the Romain lettuce next to my brick house. Your channel is a wealth of information. Thanks!
I'm so happy I can help! Nothing like fresh romaine all winter. The variety Giant Caesar has been fantastic for me.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks! I'll give it a try.
I just want summer lettuce...Central Florida will be trying shade cloth this year.@@TheMillennialGardener
4 more days!!?? That's gonna feel like forever!!! Love for Dale❤🐕❤🐕❤🐕
It's officially off. He's back to normal.
@TheMillennialGardener 👏👏👏👏👏
So glad!! I'd love to see Dale playing in your yard again🐕⚽️💜🐕🌻🐕🌳🫶
I enjoyed this educational and informative video. I went and subscribed so I can use you as a resource as I begin my garden. Thank you for your knowledge 🥰
Using used mineral tubs are also a great way to container garden. In our area we have cattle ranches and can get them for under $10 each and sometimes free!
Thanks to your videos I picked up some 15 gallon bags for my potatoes this year. I tried potatoes years ago but the ants took them over I've got my fingers crossed this year.
These are great for tubers. I just dump them out in my garden card, sift through them for the harvest, and dump the soil back in. So much easier than forking and digging and breaking tubers. To replenish the soil, I stuff the bottom with the leaves and stems of the potatoes or sweet potatoes, then cover that with the soil, then follow up with legumes planted in them.
I used my grow bags for potatoes, after harvest put the leaves/stems in the bottom, then, soil and planted some strawberry plants from the store. The strawberries are thriving and yummy.
I have 8 of those 80L grow bags. Handles rotted off after 3 months but bags seem OK still. Mine are a kind of canvas grow bag.
Takes a LOT of soil to fill just one of them.
The first 8 hours of sunlight is best for most plants.
About storing those bags - hard to find a decent place to store all that soil over the winter.
I plan on mixing in about 20% mostly composted leaves in my potting soil.
I MAY mix in some Soil Moist crystals just to hold extra water.
I plan on setting my grow bag into a LARGE planter so I can just subirrigate by filling the container. No loss of fertilizer due to watering.
Purpose was to plant watermelons in it.
Going to be hard to duplicate Fox Farms soils....
For my USED potting soil, I cook my soil to 204F to kill bugs, eggs, and pathogens.
Can't afford all new potting soil, just a couple of bags...
It's so crazy that you posted this. i just got my grow bags out of storage last night.
Glad to be on time 😄
Nicely done, MG!👍
What a great dad!👍
Hey Dale!👋💕
Used to get these rope tubs from Wally. 5 buck each. 11 now, but you know, no inflation. Work pretty good
I use them to make wicking tubs work well.
I moved to Oklahoma and with the wind, heat and sun i water my grow bags twice a day. Also need to get bigger bags and up the amount of peat moss in the mix for next year.
Larger bags and more peat will make a difference. Drip irrigation also makes life a lot easier. Do you mulch your bags? A thick layer also helps a lot.
Aww sorry dear Dale has a injured paw. Do what you have to do hear it! Paw injuries can can complicated fast if not properly cared for! Sending a big hug and your such a good doggy dad for giving him a chew assist!! God bless and thx so much for all your timely information videos!
I am 76 can you put a board under the fabric that has wheels so I can move the bags . I can not liift those bags. And thank you for your advice on growing plants
Use a kids plastic 😅toboggan sled. It's lighter and easily slides.
Thank you the brilliant idea Ang eco friendly material for best gardening safe always
They've been great for me over the years.
20 gal are my fav! Amazing on concrete surfaces. Lots of versatility. Great review and recommendation. Thx!
You're very welcome!
This was my first year using grow bags, so thank you for all the information!!
You're welcome! They're great to use.
Simple solution for transplanting the plant into a larger container, is the simply cut a dozen or so, vertical cuts into the sides & bottom of the grow bag. The roots will not have a problem finding their way out ... believe me!
Wonderful education video. Thank you!
What do you do to mix your dirt? I am having to amend the bulk of the red dirt that my home is on, as it’s a relatively new construction. I live at the top of a hill, so I have to dig out and level. I end up with a lot of rocky soil. I am building another in ground raised bed, so I end up with tons of terrible topsoil that is red and rocky. Last year when I made my first one, I spread all of the dirt on a tarp and mixed everything (new soil, compost, mulch, fert, old soil) with a shovel. It was exhausting and felt incredibly inefficient.
Thank you!
If you're asking specifically for my raised beds, all of my raised beds are filled with 100% locally made turkey compost. I called up a local soil company and had them deliver a 10-yard triaxle dump truck full of compost, and I manually wheelbarrowed it all the way over to my beds to fill them. It costs about $500 for a 10-yard triaxle full of compost.
Now, when it comes to my grow bags, this is how I make the mix: th-cam.com/video/t3kx5PhCJU8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=YfjasFHXn_QJTWy1
Thanks so much for your support and generosity! I appreciate it!
Such a good Dad helping Dale!
I container grow my veggies.but am going to start using grow bags.
Have you ever tried putting grow bags inside some kind of plastic containers (with drainage) in the heat of the summer? Like old totes with holes drilled in them? Curious if this would help maintain some moisture.
We also used little sand bags for lone trees, sat in kid pools over winter
Hi and thank you so very much for all your excellent videos! Being a transplant from rural Connecticut, I have learned a ton from you about growing in this much warmer climate zone. I am temporarily living just south of Raleigh in an apartment, and this was my first time ever patio gardening and using grow bags. Everything grew really well, but I was wondering if I do anything now to prepare the soil in the empty grow bags for next year besides removing the plants and roots from each grow bag? And in the spring will I need to add in some new potting soil mix to each grow bag to freshen the soil before planting, or do I just plant and then fertilize ? Thank you again.
Great info and so thorough, thank you!
Glad to see Dale is getting better😂
You're welcome! Dale's back to 100%.
Thanks for posting this video. It's a great follow-up to your reply to my question yesterday.
Great, helpful information, as usual!
Thank you MG!! 😊👍👍
Hello! I am new to your channel, two days to be exact and been watching your videos all day. So happy to find your channel with the same weather climate.. I am 57 and now becoming interested in gardening. Your channel is perfect since we live in the same state. I live in North Carolina as well. In Garner to be exact. You’re around Wilmington. I’m really interested buying your fig cutting and persimmons and more. Anyway I can visit your garden rather shipping? Thank you!
I so love your videos. I always grab my notebook and take notes. Thank you so much!
This is where the US is awesome, you can find most things for a solid price lol, but grow bags arent widely used enough in Australia so we dont have many decently priced options. Most things are limited because we have such a limited range of most things over here
Hi there. Can't tell how much I truly appreciate your informative videos. I love that you give examples of what plants go with what sizes of fabric bags. I do love using these but never know what goes in what. This has helped tremendously. I need some advise on when (times of year) and how often to fertilize container fruit trees (not in grow bags)? I have semi-dwarfs: Apple, Little Cado, Fig, and several citrus. I live on the central coast of California. Thank you. Much appreciated.
Glad the videos are helpful! Apples and figs are deciduous trees, so they should be fertilized between late winter/early spring when they're emerging from dormancy into mid-summer. I recommend you follow my series on fertilizing here: th-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html&si=IwRHyfTSfL6EVZuW
I also have a guide on citrus here: th-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-Jf6xeaxatazygoC
Avocados really dislike being grown in containers. They will not do well. They won't fruit well. If you have the ability to put the avocado in ground, I would recommend you do so. However, if you only have room for one avocado, I would not go for a Wurtz. They are a B-type and don't fruit well on their own, and they also don't have the best quality fruit. I am woefully ignorant on growing avocados, because the avocados that grow in California do not do well in the Southeast. California avocados are mostly of Guatemalan lineage, and they do very poorly in high humidity, which is why you don't see Hass-type avocados coming out of Florida. I would recommend you follow Greg Alder for advice on growing avocados in California: www.youtube.com/@gregalderdotcom
Based on his videos, if I only had room for one avocado tree in ground, I think he said he'd grow a Hass and just prune it to manage its size. If that's too boring, Reed makes a good backyard tree, since it grows upright and doesn't spread, according to Greg.
Your videos are ALWAYS so helpful MG! Thank you!
Thank you very much...so informative and I appreciate so much....especially regarding trees and not planting in bags
It just amazes me that more emphasis is not given to how much heat is generated by the "BLACK" pots. whether fabric or plastic. I personally paint my large plastic pots an off white and buy my cloth pots in a light tan color. It really helps in the summer sun. Why bake your root system in Black pots ???
Another great video! And very timely as I’m actually filling some bags I got last year 🐶.
Happy to be on time! Thank you for watching!
Great video!! It’s our First time to use grow bags!!
Thanks!
Wow! Thank you so much for your support and generosity! I really appreciate it! ❤
for a dog, a cone is a magical collar that gets them more attention and treats
Luckily, it came off today. Dale is doing a lot better.
Best video I've seen on this subject.
Another excellent video! Thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Love your videos! So much great information! Great timing to start planning for 2024🎉
Thanks... great advice & info (as always.. 😊)
❤ poor Dale !!
My daughter's pup never enjoys having a cone on for the same reasons..
Have you considered compost tea to fertilize your plants that are in grow bags?
Massive, monumental, super descriptive playlist! ♥️
Glad it was helpful!
Great, thank you for this advice, what's your view of using compost tea and fish emulsion in fabric grow bags?
i wonder about wrapping the bag in white plastic in the summer to slow down drying out
Thanks - I’ll review the others as well
Amazing and very informative video ! thanks alot
This was a wonderful video! Although I am surprised to hear you adamantly against the grow bags with perennials and trees. It was my understanding that grow bags allow plants to air-prune and create much stronger root systems. I wonder if it would be less traumatic to a perennial grow bag plant if one were to cut the bag open when up-potting, or maybe used a knife along the interior edges before trying to remove it from the bag.
That was what I thought as well. Another video said cutting the roots inside the bags during uppotting works well.