How to Sew a Grow Bag

Monek Marie

I just read this and I know many would like to make their own grow bags. They are expensive to buy.

These can be used for many years. Just make sure they are cleaned so they don't collect bugs and disease

https://northernhomestead.com/sew-grow-bag/

Monek Marie

For transplanting small trees and shrubs a smaller version of this works well. I will dig up "displaced" trees and shrubs or take cutting off branches and root them in a bag like this. Once they get a decent size they go in plastic one gallon containers I have foraged.

I would like to start about 200 trees for this spring and maybe 200 or 300 shrubs. I start them in the spring and most are ready for fall sales.

Trees I dig up can be sold after a month or so in a container. I like to make sure they will grow well. Usually for such a new transplant I will place them in a paper pot that will break down. This way the plant will not suffer one more shock for roots being disturbed.

Shock really takes a toll on plants of all kinds.

Gail H

@Denise Grant Thank you for sharing this! I saw a video on this last year and really wanted to make some.

I am also wondering if my trusty, old wool sweaters could be fashioned into grow bags. The only reason that I've been thinking about it, is because I am pretty sure that wool would be grounded if it was on bare earth.

Monek Marie

@Gail H I would try it. If you do let me know how it works

solarnoon.aspen

great idea. I wonder how long they last. And, once filled, I suspect one might not be able to move them.

JennyT Upstate South Carolina

@Denise Grant This is great. Thanks for sharing. I've been wanting to start doing more propagating however the lack of pots has been my drawback.

ltwickey

Thank you for the link! These will give me extra alternatives in my future green house!!

Michelle D

Thank you for the link! I absolutely love using grow bags. I have a few that I purchased, but they are far to expensive to buy as many as I could use. This will make it much more reasonable for me.

Monek Marie

@solarnoon.aspen If you use a heavier landscape material they would last a long time and yes, once filled they wouldf be heavy. I have a plant dolly I use for heavy pots to move them from place to place. I'll have to look up and see if one of those cold be made for little to nothing. I picked mine up at a sale for 50 cents

Monek Marie

@JennyT These would be easy to store too if you emptied them and folded them once dry. I feel they are more earth friendly too but like many here, the cost of buying grow bags has stopped me from using them much

I forage pots to reuse. Friends, sales where they are often free, some greenhouses toss them especially at the end of growing season, and along curb sides. I also have friends that know I need such things and I will find a pile by my mail box.

An educational institution here gives away pots of all sized evey other year. I find their announcement on their facebook page. One year i picked up over 1000 large pots, 500 or soo 4 inch pots, 200 heavy duty plant trays and a bunch of cells. If they were not picked up they would have been tossed.

Tave

My plants that are in grow bags always seem to be a little healthier than the ones in plastic pots.

Monek Marie

@Tave I think the soil breaths better in a soil bag. I am also not fond of any plastic but it takes a bit to get away from it.

I love terra cotta pots but they cost more and will dry out faster. I get all my terra cotta at sales or roadside finds.

I just started making hypertufa. I will see how I like growing things in them

Tave

What a good idea! I'm going to look into making that.

shllnzl

I like the grow bags and the idea that the blog is sharing such specific information. I subscribed to their newsletter.

Lisa K

Thanks @Denise Grant for the link and I also subscribed to their newsletter!

Monek Marie

Frugal tip: Once in a while if a landscaper has just finished a job or there is new construction or road work in your area, they will have high quality landscape fabric left. If its small piece to them or an end of a roll they will toss it. I ask road crews and construction site to look in their dumpster or see what they have left over.

Any money saved or one less item in a dump is a good thing

Lisa K

I have now put a sewing machine on my list for 2021, haha.