Gardener's Supply Grow Bag with Bulb Fennel

Have you been seeing grow bags all over the place? I think they are a great idea -especially with so many people growing urban gardens.

For years gardeners have been slitting open bags of soil and using them as a small garden beds, and they worked very well. Appearance-wise they lean to the far side of ugly, but they work!

Then someone got smart. They invented growing bags. They are much more attractive than a ratty old bag of potting soil, and are said to have other benefits as well.

The only concern I have heard is that the bags are made from polypropylene. The idea of growing in plastic was unappealing to a few people, but in my humble opinion, if you are an urban gardener you are probably growing in plastic containers and 5 gallon buckets anyway!

It seems that fresh food grown in a Grow Bag has to be better than NOT having fresh, and I would imagine there would be less plastic chemical leaching into my herbs and veggies from a Grow Bag than with a 5 gallon bucket. I could be very wrong, but since the bags are breathable it makes sense in my head. Does anyone know of any studies out there on this?

Well, in the spirit of experimentation I thought I would try a few Grow Bags myself and post my findings here and on our Growing Herbs for Beginners Facebook page.

I bought three different Grow Bags from Gardeners Supply Company (and no, they did not pay me for this!)

Gardener's Supply Grow Bags

I got the herb bag in basic black. It’s a square affair measuring 13″ W x 10″ L x 7″ H. I got it because it said HERB BAG. It was a no brainer. It’s currently planted with a mixed group of herbs.

I also purchased a carrot bag. In blue because it was pretty  It measures 14″ diameter x 12″ tall.

I wanted to try a few larger herbs that people generally don’t grow in containers to see how they fare in the Grow Bags. My pretty blue carrot bag is planted with a few Florence or bulb fennel plants.

Blue Grow Bag from Gardeners Supply

There is also a potato bag…it’s huge and as of this moment not fully planted. I already have potatoes planted in the kitchen garden, so I’m going with big herbs…

I’m thinking we’ll test it with some of the larger herbs like Echinacea or Marshmallow. I want to try marshmallow because I’m thinking rather than wrestling and digging the coveted roots it might easier to retrieve them from a grow bag.

This could be great for those with poor soil or limited garden space and gardeners with disabilites…but we’ll see how my theory tests.

I’ll keep track and take pictures along the way and let you know how it goes!

Growing Herbs In Containers

I love growing herbs in pots and containers.

For me they are handy, and right outside the back door which means I don’t have to work to get at them. Lazy? Nope. Just getting smarter in my old age!

Container or potted herbs are certainly easy enough to keep up, but watering in the summer can be an issue- which is why self watering pots are terrific! The only time they are a problem is when it rains too much. Then you may need to go dump some of the water out of the pot bases to prevent root disease and rot.

Some of the easier herbs to grow in pots and containers are the mints.

They like lots of water anyway, but you really have to keep them hydrated when they are in pots. The other issue with mints is that they grow out of their pots quickly and will stop producing leaves as they become root bound. Re-pot or root prune them often!

Another easy container herb is Rosemary.

Potted Rosemary plants kept outdoors should not be allowed to dry out completely. You will want to keep rosemary watered, but don’t go overboard or you may have problems with rotting roots.

When you water your rosemary check to make sure the leaves look plump, and watch for yellowing or browning on the tips. Over watering or standing water produces droopy, limp, yellow leaves. Many people see this as a sign that the plant needs water.

Guess what happens next?

Yep, you got it. They water the plant some more and it dies. An easy fix is to simply poke the soil. If it’s wet an inch or more down into the pot, allow the plant to dry out. Moist soil is what you want, just like a wrung out sponge.

Rosemary that has dried out can die without so much as a gasp. This is one plant that can’t produce new leaves fast enough to make a fast come back- particularly if you toast it.

In the heat of summer I give all of my potted rosemary herbs some light afternoon shade and they seem very happy!

Rosemary in Pot

Chives.  ‘The Super Easy No-Brainer, Nearly Carefree Wherever You Grow Them’ herb.

Potted chives will need a weak fertilizer once every 4-6 weeks (I use an organic compost tea) and occasional re-potting to be happiest. If possible, they also like a chilling period, so you can leave potted chives outdoors all winter.

Just make sure they aren’t in one of your beautiful ceramic or terra cotta pots that will weaken and shatter in the ice and snow.

Chives

Chives will spread quickly become root bound in small pots.

You can pull the roots apart and  divide them when re-potting to make more room for yours, and you’ll have extra to share with a friend!

I love bringing pots of herbs indoors for the winter

In the late summer and early Autumn I start getting pots of herbs ready for the house. This includes re-potting, clipping back and setting them in a partly shaded area for a few weeks. This allows them to adjust to the lower light in the house. Do not just bring your herbs (especially Rosemary) indoors without having either acclimated them first or having bright supplemental lighting available. Rosemary has a tendency to drop all it’s leaves when going from a high light to a low light situation. It often doesn’t recover.

Let There Be Supplemental Light!

On dark winter days all the herbs indoors get supplemental light, but even grow lights can’t compete with  full summer sun!  Here in Illinois a minimum of 8 -10 hours under grow lights will give most herbs enough light to keep them producing leaves.

Some herbs just seem to barely hold on through the winter, and that’s about all you can ask of them. If they survive, they are likely to come back better than ever when you set them out in the Springtime.

Re-potting, clipping back and lowering light is a good idea for any herbs that you plan to bring inside for winter or at any other time of the year.

While you’re at it, check for insect infestations and eggs. That way you can take care of any big problems before you move them indoors!

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raised bed out front in the medicinal herb garden. During the warm months this particular raised bed houses lots of Marshmallow and Comfrey.

Marshmallow and Comfrey in Raised Bed

Here you can see the grass and Comfrey in the bed coming back after a long winter…and see how the concrete bed has heaved and moved around from the ice and snow? Ick.

Comfrey is not taken or used internally now, but is still used externally for wounds and healing. I make salves and ointments with the leaves and root. This stuff will reseed and spread like CRAZY and the smallest bit of root will grow a whole new plant. Or twenty.

Comfrey Sprouting!

Yes, the grass has miraculously turned green in the time it took you to scroll down and you can see that last years dried Marshmallow stems or stalks are still standing.

Don’t worry, they will magically have been cut back by the next picture! Marshmallows produce their seeds in a wheel or “cheese” and they have a tendency to reseed all over the place. I use the root and sometimes the leaves for teas…

Marshmallow Stalks Magically Gone

Well, here it is all magically cleaned out and naked. Well mostly…and yes, I know I need to mow now. I also had to go eat some lunch before I finished so you get to see the picture of the bed at about 75% complete. You can see some wayward Comfrey plants that jumped out of the bed and have taken up residence just outside it…

And finally-

Marshmallow Emerging

When you whack down last year’s marshmallow stalks, you find this!

New growth.

It’s so exciting it’s almost overwhelming.  I think I may faint.

OK, I just had to get outside today.

This morning it seemed every time I stuck my head out it rained on me. Hard. In between thunderstorms it was absolutely gorgeous though!

Doubt me? Here is the sky

Gorgeous Sky!

When it cleared off I spent a little time harvesting some young nettles for sauteing and soup-and set some in the shed to dry.

Young Nettles

Nettle is my favorite herb for hay fever season…

Then I went and checked on some little herb seedlings in the greenhouse.

A Few Herb Seedlings

Herb Seedlings in the Lean-to Greenhouse

Everything looked absolutely peachy so I headed back to the house…just in time to get drenched again.

It LIVES! Sage in the Snow

A few weeks ago I posted a bit about leaving some pots of Sage out all winter in the snow.

 Several kind and well meaning emails suggested that by leaving my sage outside in pots IN THE SNOW I was  murdering poor innocent plants. I can only surmise they live in warmer climates.

For all the Nay-sayers…See? It did come back!

 I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.  I’ve never even been on a turnip truck.

 At any rate, you can see that the Sage is back and although it needs a good trim, it’s doing quite well.

The key to overwintering herbs is to know the hardiness zones of both your herbs and your  location before you neglectfully leave your herbs naked in several feet of snow. Admittedly not all herbs can tolerate the kind of abuse I occasionally dish out- but I know which of my herbs will hang tough around here.

So don’t worry.

For those that worry anyway… in all honestly just the herbs that can take the weather and prairie conditions are the only ones I abuse in this way. The rest are coddled and kept tucked in the greenhouse, potting shed, kitchen window, or strewn around the house.