Tomatoes In Grow Bags

[NatalieCooke]

For the last two years I've grown my Toms in the orange B&Q buckets standing in a tray of water but the trays take up too much floor space.
I wanted to know if growing them in grow bag is as good? I've noticed you can fit 3 per bag. I've also come across these Buy Tomato Growpots - Unwins Seeds
Anyone used these or something similar?

Cheers
Natalie

[Potstubsdustbins]

Stop using grow bags to actually grow stuff some time ago, very difficult to get the watering just right, though I will buy them to use the compost if I come across a bargain.

The grow pots, pity you don't live in Nottm, I have a couple under the bench, used once some years back and never bothered with them again.

I have settled on Morrison Black flower buckets, very cheap, last year they were 99p for eight, put drainage holes in the bottom and away you go. Using these my 8 x 6 GH has 12 tomato plants and 2 cumbers down the sides and a couple of sweet peppers against the back wall.

[Alison]

I don't think grow bags used conventionally are deep enough, you can either cut them in half and turn them on their ends to plant two per bag or add ring culture on top but I wouldn't have thought this would take up much less space than the buckets.

[Bigmallly]

15 Squid for a bucket & a washing up bowl?...................Where's £land?........

[Kristen]

the trays take up too much floor space

You mean that they are bigger than the pots, and so you can't get two pots side-by-side because the trays would collide / overlap?

The pots in your link are fine, but very expensive. Personally I wouldn't use growbags if you paid me, although I would take the compost out of them and use that in pots.

I used to grow in containers, in the greenhouse, now I grow in the greenhouse border soil. Much easier to get the watering right, and they only need watering every other day so plants not as stressed if I miss / am late for one watering.

[Dorothy rouse]

I tried grow bags once for toms, but they weren't deep enough and the plants fell over, so had to be re-potted. Last year I used Morrisons black buckets, and some plants in hanging baskets, great success, loads of toms.

[noviceveggrower]

I used Morrisons black buckets last year and had quite a good crop from my plants. I did one plant per tub and being in tubs I was able to move them about the decking as and when needed.
If something happens and you need to move your grow bag it could be quite difficult.

[emzgogo]

Personaly i dig a hole . Cut the bottom off a big plant pot put in hole. Fill with a half or 1/3 a grow bag to top with plant in. Worked fantastic last year. 1st yr i done just in grow bags. It was awful couldnt get the water correct and ended up with blossom end rot. So learnt never to grow straight in them. Just to use the contents x

[Lamboluke]

So if it's not recommended to grow toms in grow bags what are they good for?

[Kristen]

Growing tomatoes I just wouldn't choose to grow the tomatoes in the bag as per the instructions; the compost in them, itself, is fine (although often "cheap & cheerful) Very hard to get the watering right. Commercially they are handy - lay them out in rows in the greenhouse, hook up to drip irrigation & liquid feeding system (which is probably computer controlled to water less when crop is small / on days that sun doesn't shine), and remove them at the end of the season taking with them all disease / soil born critters.

Although I think hydroponics seems to be more popular for recent commercial glasshouses growing Tomatoes?

[Madasafish]

I have found cutting a compost bag# in two and using a half as a tomato planter gives great results.. More space for roots, more space for compost and if you mulch on top, less water loss. Grow bags fall down on both space and water..

# Usually B&Q 120litre MPC ones but 80 litre ones will do.

[Potstubsdustbins]

#9 It's not that they are not recommended..... its more that experienced gardeners have found a better, simpler way of doing things.

Even an experienced gardener will find it easy to make a foopah with grow bags whereas a beginner may well have a crop failure and be put off a great hobby.

[NatalieCooke]

By the sound of things I might give grow bags a miss. My father in law tells me to standing the buckets in trays filled with water. Should they be left standing in the water?
Once the greenhouse is move this year the buckets would only be standing on paving slabs so maybe I should use some large plant saucers.

Thanks for all the replies!

[Bigmallly]

Get some washing up bowls Nat.

[Kristen]

I wouldn't leave pots (of anything, except "marsh" plants) standing in a tray of water ... but tall pots of Tomatoes will drink water, and being tall not "wick" up so much as to get water logged, so it might be all right - and perhaps better than them drying out. Certainly wouldn't do that until the plants are waist high, or so, as they won't be drinking enough to cope with that much water.

Having said that if you figure out how much they drink in, say, an hour or two you could put THAT much water in the tray in the morning. Water pots from the top, thoroughly, then when that has drained through (30 minutes say) fill up the tray. Come back after two or three hours and see how much the tray has gone down and stick to that as an amount; test again fortnightly.

All that said, having trays of water permanently in the greenhouse will help in summer - lower temperature, raise humidity.