cheapest place to buy Grow bags?

[weezl74]

Hi there, my tomato seedlings are coming on nicely, and will need a new home soon. Any tips on bargain growbags? Never bought them before...
Ta!

Weezl x

[Lotus-eater]

My top tip, don't buy the cheapest growbags, buy the new bigger size they are making, they are double the depth of normal bags and much much easier for watering.

[weezl74]

cool, thanks. Where do you get yours and what do they cost?

[Lotus-eater]

Can't remember, Focus I think, or Wickes. I think they are about £4 each. I find its much better to put them in the ground if you possibly can.
I know some people put tomatoes in a bottomless pot, on a growbag (holes cut in bottom), on the soil.

[ALIBOBSY]

I got mine in netto for 99p each, but they are the old style shallow ones.
I bought them because it was a cheap way to buy potting compost
ali x

[Zazen999]

Hiya.

Growbags have well-rotted manure in them; whereas compost doesn't. That's why they are better than compost for toms as they don't really need any more fertiliser than watering with tom food every few weeks.

[fiscalfreckles]

They had some in our 99p shop that looked a decent size (not deep though).

[alanobrien]

i found wickes to be the cheapest for standard grow bags and certainly way less costly than the garden centres.

[weezl74]

yes, thanks for that, Wickes do seem to be cheap, £1.29 each. Perhaps that's why there are none in stock!:confused:

[Farway]

Lidl garden weekend starts Saturday 1st March

Standard Growbags 89p

I cut holes and put one on top of the other, some stand them upright and plant in the "end" to give more depth

[valk_scot]

Originally Posted by Farway

Lidl garden weekend starts Saturday 1st March

Standard Growbags 89p

I cut holes and put one on top of the other, some stand them upright and plant in the "end" to give more depth

I cut mine in half and stand the sections on end to give two "pots". Punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage.

You still need to feed tomatoes even with growbags. Tomato plants are greedy objects.

[pompeii]

Val
Top tip.

[weezl74]

[quote=valk_scot;8785781]I cut mine in half and stand the sections on end to give two "pots". Punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage.
/quote]
How many tomato plants would go in each one of those?

Weezl x

[Farway]

[QUOTE=weezl74;8799227]

Originally Posted by valk_scot

I cut mine in half and stand the sections on end to give two "pots". Punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage.
/quote]
How many tomato plants would go in each one of those?

Weezl x

Can't speak for Val, but I would only put one given limited amount of surface area for watering, and spacing would be too close as well IMO

Unless someone knows better?

[Zazen999]

[QUOTE=weezl74;8799227]

Originally Posted by valk_scot

I cut mine in half and stand the sections on end to give two "pots". Punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage.
/quote]
How many tomato plants would go in each one of those?

Weezl x

Hi.
Depends on how many you could fit into the same size growbag and how wide the growbags are - in a growbag that is the size to put 6 tomato plants in, I would put 3 in each half bag. But then again, I cut most of the leaves off and space mine closer together than alot of people so I would probably chuck 4 or 5 in there and make the diameter as wide as i could.

[valk_scot]

[quote=Farway;8808247]

Originally Posted by weezl74

Can't speak for Val, but I would only put one given limited amount of surface area for watering, and spacing would be too close as well IMO

Unless someone knows better?

Yup, I'd put one plant per half bag as well. If you give each plant a decent amount of growing medium then it doesn't have to compete with neighbours for food and water, and it will grow better and crop more heavily. You still would have to feed them later in the season though.

Basically it's just a quick way of making a disposable pot. There's nothing magical about the compost in grow bags, though it's a fact that the cheaper they are, the poorer the quality of the growing medium. With the very cheap 99p-ish ones, it's best to not cram in the plants too much. But I wouldn't use the more expensive double-height ones this way anyway.