Grow Bag Question

[asaump]

I grow exclusively in grow bags on a hybrid rain gutter grow system. I have tried several different brands over the last 3-4 years. I use a 10 gal bag for toms. I was wondering what would be best for tomatoes. A bag that is shallower with a larger diameter or a tall bag with a smaller diameter. Is a taller bag better for the roots of a tom or do the tom's roots like to spread out more.

[PlainJane]

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I’ve used them for 6 years now and wouldn’t be without them. My soil here in N. Florida is lousy; it would take years of amending and I’d still probably have nematodes.
I started with 25 gallon Smart Pots and some of those are still in service. The last batch I got from 247garden are not quite as substantive as the Smart Pot brand but they’re considerably cheaper and they’re holding up well.
I’m using the 25 gal. sizes for general veggie growing and for the more rampant tomatoes (1tomato per bag). They’re 16 inches high and 21 inches across.
The 30 gallon size is 15 inches deep and 24 across and will get 2 tomato plants, each pruned to 2 or 3 stems.
I fill to within about 2 inches from the top. When I pull tomato plants at the end of the season the roots are all through soil mix.

From my observation tomatoes like having depth of soil. I plant very deep.
Another benefit is that the cages have more support.
Top pic is 2 weeks after planting out. Bottom is at 4 weeks.

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[Cole_Robbie]

I think I have those same 25 gallon bags. I bought them for hemp. I think they would be fine for tomatoes. They do get heavy. I mixed a lot of perlite into my media. My experience with tomatoes has been that the roots just take the path of least resistance. In the ground, roots wont grow into my subsoil because it is too dense, so they go downward until they run out of top soil and then go sideways.

[SQWIB]

Wow, your grow bag setup is very impressive!

[SpookyShoe]

I use 20 gallon grow bags for my tomato plants because of nematodes and fungal diseases in my soil. I also use the grow bags for just about anything else...bulbs and a wide variety of other flowers.

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[Barb_FL]

Spooky - what brand are the light color ones?

Mine get way more gross than any of these shown here.

[PlainJane]

Mine get way more gross than any of these shown here.

[mention]Barb_FL[/mention] - mine get gross. Before planting tomatoes each spring I dump them out, scrape the clingons with my farmers weeder, soak in a tub with bleach solution for 30 minutes, then finally dry in the sun.
Yes, it’s a lot of work but I’m theorizing it helps delay the appearance of foliage diseases. Plus I hate looking at the moss and white streaking from fertilizer leaching.

[Barb_FL]

I pressure wash mine with the deck type pressure washer; sometime during the season with the plants in it. This year so far I just did the jet setting from the hose. My tomato plants do so great in them.

It makes me want to find one time biodegradable one time use ones although next season I am growing way fewer plants.

[SpookyShoe]

Spooky - what brand are the light color ones?

Mine get way more gross than any of these shown here.

I got mine on Amazon. The brand was iPower 5 pack 20 gal. growbags.

I have a couple that have the green moss stains, but I don't care. I also prefer clay pots that are chipped or cracked and show their age.....and prefer rusty, peeling- paint garden gates, trellises, and similar items to those that are shiny and brand new. The beauty is in the flaw.

[Texgal]

I use the Root pouch brand on my RGGS here at home. Ive had good success with the cherries in 15 gallon and a friend of mine uses the 20 gallon for her Cherokee purples, but I think you could do fine with 10 gallon size. They are supposed to last at least 4-5 years and mine have held up in the heat now for 3 years. The first year on Larry's system I did a kiddie pool and grew tomatoes in a Walmart bag which is 7 gallons and they did fabulously, but at the end of the season, there was no getting those roots out of those bags, LOL! I had to toss the plant and all. It's remarkable what air pruning does for plants. I'm on gutters now but the mosquitoes have beaten me down, so I'll be setting up some pipes this summer.