diy growbags

[Jimmy]

This year I got 12 grow bags and 3 x 40l compost from Lidl.
Results have been terrible.
Last year I got the same and all was OK.
This year things don't seem to grow properly.
Anyone had similar problems ?

Anyway this problem and the ongoing cost of growbags has lead me to think of DIY growbags.
I got trailer full of fresh horse muck from the local farm.
It's been in my Daleks for a couple of months now, should be well rotted by spring.

Could I use it for grow bags.
Or perhaps some troughs made of recycled pallets.
My GH has a concrete floor.

Any ideas appreciated.

Note, I can still only login from windows PC. My chromebook and samsung tablet won't login ??

Jimmy

[Snoop Puss]

Giving this a bit of a bump, Jimmy, as I'm surprised you haven't had a reply.

Andraste, if I recall rightly from another thread, you've got some advice on testing horse muck for safety for plants.

Even then, Jimmy, I'm doubtful that you could use it on its own in growbags as it might be too coarse for plants to successfully root in and hold stable. Watering might be an issue too. I can envisage it being either very dry or water slopping around amid the fibrous matter. Would you be thinking of adding anything else to it?

[Andraste]

Hi Jimmy,

I'd be leaning toward your idea of making the troughs as you'll have more control over drainage & the depth of your growing medium to suit the plants you want to grow in them (but I'm by no means an experienced source for that kind of advice).

I don't know how to do the fancy tagging & quoting in my posts but Penellype works some sort of magic with manure for hot beds, although I'm not sure if yours would be fresh enough for that though (Penellype will have the knowledge I'm sure).

The tip I posted which Snoop Puss mentioned is on Rary's thread about his winter beds: he was concerned about possibly having introduced contaminated manure to his raised beds. The test I've seen recommended by others online is fairly straightforward. You sow a few seeds in a small pot that has your manure in & a few of the same seed in another small pot filled with compost/soil you know isn't contaminated. Lettuce seed would be fine to use as it grows fairly fast and the seeds are cheap. Pop them on the windowsill & after a few weeks you should be able to tell if there's any significant failure or difference in the plant growth. The contaminated stuff can cause some quite funky deformities too so it seems there shouldn't be too much difficulty in comparing good with bad.

[rary]

My greenhouse has a concrete floor and I made a raised bed and filled it with soil, the dimensions are 12in. High by 30ins wide by 10ft. Long sitting on concrete floor, the wood is lined with polythene I used old compost bags they overlap one another I also spread them on the floor which I think keeps the soil in but let's exsess water out, of course you could make a container any size you want baring in mind that growbags aren't that deep, and if you do use soil I would recommend that you mix in some course sand or grit with it, I used washed concrete sand I have seen in some garden mags that you should only use garden sand but I have used concrete sand for years with no ill effects, next year will be the 4th. year using the same soil and as long as I have no disease I will continue to use it.
As for using horse manure I would be very warey of that, if the horses have been fed with hay which has been treated with a herbicide (weed killer) it can pass through the horse and still be active when you put the manure onto the garden, (you may well be aware of this problem but it let's new gardeners know about it) So do as Andraste recommends and give it a test, if there is a problem with it dump it in a corner and leave it exposed to the elements for a while

[Andraste]

Just a quick post to try out potential new 'tagging' skills (thanks for the tutorial Snoop Puss) to see if Penellype may be able to offer any insight re. her hotbed magic for your greenhouse/DIY growbag idea. x

[Penellype]

I am not a fan of grow bags, having never managed to grow anything worthwhile in them. I find they either go soggy or dry out, sometimes both at the same time in different parts of the bag. In addition I think there are serious problems with some of the bought composts and grow bags are not immune to this.

There is no reason why you shouldn't use part rotted horse manure as a base for beds or home made grow bags in a greenhouse (as long as you test it for weedkiller first) although I would be tempted to add some compost as well, as horse manure may be short on some trace nutrients. The main issue you are likely to notice is weeds - depending on how much hay has got into the bedding you can find that copious quantities of grass appear. Putting the manure where you are going to use it and covering it with a clear plastic sheet for a month or so before planting will enable you to remove most of the grass, although some will probably remain. Even my hotbeds don't get hot enough to kill the grass seeds, so it is unlikely that storing it in Daleks will.