Has tomorite grow bag mixture changed?...

mmunro2013

Thanks again for your comments, most helpful... we couldn't really tell how heavy the pots were as we put a few crocks in bottom of each to improve drainage. Anyhow, to we decided to repot in a premium compost mix with seaweed extract. Now watching this space. Will report back in a while. 

-taff

I wouldn't bother with crocks. My toms are in pots sitting on a gravel bed, I fill the gravel with water, the toms send their roots into the gravel looking for it. As long as there are holes in the bottom, and the pots aren't sitting in water, they'll be fine. Although even that doesn't make sense given that the roots grow in the gravel and the gravel always has some water in it...Thsi could be the start of more experiments

ArbitraryRandom

I think tomatoes are one of those plants which can be grown well hydroponically - you just need to make sure there's enough movement of the water so the oxygen levels remain decent around the roots (the plants don't rot/drown)

Gillbrown55

mmunro2013 said:

Has anyone noticed if tomorite grow bag mixture has changed. Seems to be more fibrous and strong smell of manure. Also, doesn't seem to absorb the water as well, just drains through?

Bought 6 tomorite giant bags two weeks ago. All red romaine and other green lettuce plants shrivelled went brown and died within four days. Two out of 6 cucumber plants shrivelled and died. Iceberg lettuces now starting to die. I followed the planting instructions to the letter. The compost smells like rotting silage and is full of white mould. I foolishly didn't keep the receipt from the garden centre. I tried tracking Ng Levingtons down without luck. The compost is full of large twigs. Anyone else have this problem?

elle_may

Not related to grow bags, but bought Asda 3 for £12 and find the compost has changed instead of soil looking it is lighter. I could not pick up bags last year. I can only describe it as coil looking and in clumps.  Will see what it does but i don't think i will buy anymore.

winkerw

I have purchased 6 again this year I am going to complain to them. My plants are weak thin and yellow leaves in all 6 bags I have used them for years and not had a problem 5 bags are in my greenhouse and one bag outside all plants are the same. I grew everything from seed myself and I have put two of my plants in my raised beds they are strong and thick so what on earth is going on tomorite.

Gardenerilla

I have identical experience to winker w. My Tomorite growbag plants look even paler and weedier whilst their outdoor siblings are fantastically vigorous and fruitful. The 8 plants in the greenhouse have so far produced a total of 3 ripe tomatoes.  I bought an extra growbag to fill the grow ring turrets and used the remains of the bag to pot a grafted pepper plant. Label said plant should grow to 100-150cm. It hasn’t grown an inch in 3 months or produced any new peppers. Huge mistake. A couple of weeks ago I replanted some of the tomatoes in pots of soil enriched with farmyard soil improver. The new growth is a deep rich green. 

Gardenerilla

Two friends who bought Tomorite growbags at our local Tesco, probably from the same batch as mine have also had the same extremely disappointing results. 

Ganga

Not growbags but when i was doing our garden make over during/after lock down i bought loads or Levingtons top soil ,we are talking about 30 bags ( the 30 litre size ) and it was fantastic ,very good quality ,very fine ,sand like BUT the same stuff bought now is full of wood ,chewed up plants etc. the quality has gone so far back and along with others on here even compost bought at B and Q is the same ,since they removed peat the whole industry is using composted " something " from the local council garden waste collections. 

Dustyevsky

About 18 years ago, I recall thinking I'd found a way to increase profits from our small nursery. At that time, composted waste was in its early stages, and the local recycling centre was almost giving away its output. A couple of quid would buy an 8' x 4' trailer load.

Sadly, although the compost looked OK, I soon found it wasn't possible to grow plants in it 'neat.' With more than about 20- 25% in a mix, problems with growth occurred. It was stodgy and couldn't form the main ingredient in any of the mixes for the various types of plants.

We should have come a long way since those primitive experiments in the noughties. On the big business side of things, plants in their millions are still produced annually under highly controlled conditions. Fine, but for small nurseries and home gardeners, whose conditions and weather are not so controlled, there's a growing feeling we're being taken for a ride on the eco-wagon. ....And we'll be told it's for our own good!

Postscript. My toms are much the same as usual this year, but they're in a mix of garden soil, well composted manure and Levington (which is coarse, but seems OK otherwise) and they're fed weekly.