Tomatoes in a bag

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Bagging Tomatoes & Cucumbers
A s an avid gardener I'm always willing to try something different when it come to growing plants whether it's starting cuttings, seeds or growing plants in an assortment of containers. Sometimes I'm successful, other times, I'm grateful I have a compost bin as a way to quickly dispose of any mistakes.

I've always tried to reuse the plastic one and five gallon nursery containers although the black ones tend to get too hot in the summer drying out the soil and raising the plant's roots temperature. They also take up a lot of space when you have to store them. And often, while in storage, the containers become the home of various spiders, lizards and pack rats.

That's why I was curious when I spotted some easi-lift grow bags in one of the annual garden catalogs that crossed my desk. The bags were available in 3, 5, 12, or 15 gallon size with a minimum five bag order. They weren't inexpensive but I liked the idea that when not in use, I could roll the bags up and store them in a small box and use a minimum of space in the garden shed.

In the past I've tried some hanging plastic bags for growing strawberries. One set was too small and dried out so quickly it became a nuisance to keep the plants adequately watered. A larger bag using a different type of plastic wasn't too bad and I still have strawberries growing in the bags in the greenhouse. Even though better than the first bags I tried, these still seem to dry out quickly but are easier to maintain in the confines of a greenhouse.

White grow bags with handles become the home for Container Choice tomatoes.
A few weeks later Container Choice tomatoes are setting flowers and fruit. The plants were moved to the greenhouse.
Not the best tasting tomatoes in the plant kingdom but fully ripe and fresh off the vine.

As the Container Choice tomatoes continued to grow I added inexpensive wire cages that have three or four connected wire hoops. They're usually useless for most tomato plants but they seemed to give adequate support for the container sized plants. I also added a few bamboo stakes and tied the stems to the supports as needed.

Although the white color of the bags was good at reflecting the heat I ended up moving all the plants to the floor of the greenhouse to keep them from drying out to quickly and to protect the developing fruit from birds and the onslaught of ground squirrels the summer vegetable garden encountered. Whiteflies quickly found the tomato plants, multiplied rapidly, and I then had to defend the plants from the nuisance insect.

Straight Eights, Straight Up
I'd started a few Straight Eight cucumbers in peat pots thinking I'd transfer them to the vegetable garden and train them up a trellis. In the past, the summer heat and nematodes usually reduced the production of the cucumbers so it was hardly worth the effort. Fortunately I still had three unused bags so I planted two cucumbers in each of the bags and moved them into the greenhouse to see what happened. I figured the vines wouldn't get too long, since they never did in the garden. One should never underestimate the value of cooler temperatures in an evaporative cooled greenhouse.

Within a few days the Straight Eights climbed the confines of the bags and needed somewhere to go. I tied support lines from the bag handles to the top of the greenhouse and then across the ceiling so the plants would have something to follow as they grew.

Two plants to a bag produced vigorous plants and healthy root systems that needed daily watering even in a temperature controlled greenhouse.
Might get a little dark in the greenhouse if the cucumbers continue their trip across the ceiling. Hanging cucumbers will be easy to pick. There are plenty of male and female flowers that may need a little assistance in pollination.

With all the plant growth the bags filled with roots and watering became an everyday event and eventually twice a day. Again, the whiteflies decided the lush growth and humid environment was an ideal breeding ground. I began a weekly spraying of either insecticidal soap or Neem to try and control the insect infestation.

More Bags
The white handled bags were interesting to work with in and out of the greenhouse but a bit more experimentation was needed. Back to a garden supply website I purchased several three gallon and five gallon black plastic nursery grow bags (no handles on these bag) I could use during the winter to grow larger plants I'd start from cuttings.

I took three of the three gallon bags and transplanted peppers into them and moved them to an overflowing greenhouse filled with caladiums, cucumbers, tomatoes, container grown basil, and a few houseplants. Space and, with all the growth from the above mentioned cucumbers, light was at a premium. Results have not been spectacular and I'd like to move the pepper plants to a shaded area in the garden. Unfortunately, in my garden, pepper plants are the targets for leaf cutter ants and leaf cutter bees. The ants can strip the pepper plants down to their stems in a single moon lit night. The bees also whittle away at the leaves by making circular cuts. After the attacks, the plants have trouble recovering and often don't, so the peppers are staying in the greenhouse until I can figure out what else to do with them.

Overall I like the white easi-lift bags and will be experimenting with them in the future. One concern was how easily I could empty the bag once the plant was ready for the compost bin. I've discarded a couple of the Container Choice tomato plants once all the tomatoes were harvested and the bags were not difficult to empty.

The final verdict on the black grow bags hasn't yet come in although the black plastic seems to have far less rigidity in warm temperature causing in to flop over and can make it a little more difficult to water.

I found the assortment of black or white grow bags in the Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply catalog that promotes organic growing principles. (2005)