This Big Bag Bed, is it a bunch of baloney?

I just got this GreenDeals offer on the "quickest" way to build your raised bed....instantly!

Big Bag Bed
"Just Unfold, Fill, & Plant!"

It's some kind of revolutionary fabric, called a Smart Pot that, unlike our good ol' wood beds, will release extra heat in the summer and air prune the roots. Even at the discount offered, I'm not buying what they're selling! LOL. Anybody ever heard of a Smart Pot before?

This looks like ground fabric that has been sewen into the shape of a bag that sells for $33. I had to laugh when I read this reason to buy one

"Discourages ground pets such as gophers and moles"

Never had a pet gopher or mole before, lol. I think for the money, I'd either sew my own, or just do the Mel's method of building a box.

Love it! Have to get a 'pet' for my dogs! The only thing that will keep out a gopher or a mole, is hardware cloth or plywood. They'd eat that material for lunch!

Jo

[quote="trukrebew"... will release extra heat in the summer and air prune the roots. [/quote]

Air prune? WTHeck?!

It said discourage, not stop. LOL. I think it is a great idea. Can they make then square now?

Loads of guys over here in the UK use empty one ton builders bags that used to contain sand or gravels etc.

They are made from heavy duty woven polypropylene and are used as 36 inch raised beds on concrete for all sorts of crops ,they don't stay square very long they slump like a couch potato infront of the TV with a tinnie & a pizza in each hand.
Some people surround them with wooden or plastic pallets to keep them square & bing them secure /inplace with steel or poly propfour industrial banding .

They dry out like mad , after two years the sunlight has degraded to material so much they split apart if they are not encased in the bound up pallets..

Because the bags are nearly three feet high that's a heck of a lot of MM to make and waste.

Those that used well manured garden soil /improved garden soil have to shovel in the one ton and then do something with it once the bags split.

JeanneRamick wrote:

trukrebew wrote:... will release extra heat in the summer and air prune the roots.

Air prune? WTHeck?!

Roots won't grow into the air/light. When the root reaches open space where it can dry out (and/or light) it will die back. That causes the root to ramify and a new root to split and grow. Eventually this leads to lots of the good little feeder roots!


(Much has been made of this method lately (though implemented a little differently) in Bonsai circles as a method of quickly increasing trunk caliper due to the increased capability of water/nutrient uptake of the rootball. It seems to work.)

I have only heard the term air prune when I was reading about bamboo. It is just what bwaynef said. I guess if you are growing something like bamboo it would be useful since I have heard horror stories about removing bamboo.

H_TX_2 wrote:I have only heard the term air prune when I was reading about bamboo. It is just what bwaynef said. I guess if you are growing something like bamboo it would be useful since I have heard horror stories about removing bamboo.

Check out QuiltBea's recent posts on soil blocks. At times, she uses air pruning types of pots when growing from seed for transplanting.

We built 3 4'x4'x8"beds for about the cost of 1 of those...I think I'll pass LOL!

And, googling the phrase "air pruning pot" wasn't one of my finer moments. My poor husband happened to look over at the site I landed on and his face

By the time you support Plantoid's countrymen's bags with palets, you might as well build a SFG!

"they slump like a couch potato infront of the TV with a tinnie & a pizza in each hand" Plant you crack me up!

As a senior citizen living in a very rural area with 400' of raised beds, I still want to garden but have to find easier ways to increase my production and fight the voles. I bought 2 smart pots a couple of years ago and have not been overly pleased with the amount of produce grown in them but the pots themselves are holding up well in the southern sun. Got a big bag bed this year and must admit it was not an issue to fill it by myself; I had anticipated the sides collapsing as I worked. Am growing French marigolds and 2 winter squash in it and have 8 large squash. It sits on pebbles to ensure good drainage. You young folks can build your own raised beds ... wanting to be independent, this is working for me. Hate to disagree with all of the other posts since I am a newbie to the forum, but I am thinking about buying another!!

Good for you, Felicity. Your independence is admirable! Keep up the good work.

I received several smart pots of various sizes this year as a trial for my garden via the store where I work (who sells them). I planted potatoes in one, cherry tomatoes in another, and I have 2 with fennel. I used mostly Lobster Compost as the medium. Most things are growing well, won't know about the potatoes until I get them out of there...

Overall I don't think they're a bad idea for folks with limited space, they can be moved around to follow the sun, and they hold their shape well. I fell like these dry out faster than my beds--perhaps adding a moisture retaining agent could help.

Anyway, my store has them on sale now for $3-4 so I'll probably pick up a few and start thinking of what else I can do with them.....

boffer wrote:Good for you, Felicity. Your independence is admirable! Keep up the good work.

+1 Welcome to the forum Felicity!!!

Welcome Felicity,

Always glad to find another tarheel interested in SFG. Where in Eastern NC are you.

I am using pre made 4x4 kits from a big box store and a lot of 5 gal buckets.

Kay

Felicity wrote:As a senior citizen living in a very rural area with 400' of raised beds, I still want to garden but have to find easier ways to increase my production and fight the voles. I bought 2 smart pots a couple of years ago and have not been overly pleased with the amount of produce grown in them but the pots themselves are holding up well in the southern sun. Got a big bag bed this year and must admit it was not an issue to fill it by myself; I had anticipated the sides collapsing as I worked. Am growing French marigolds and 2 winter squash in it and have 8 large squash. It sits on pebbles to ensure good drainage. You young folks can build your own raised beds ... wanting to be independent, this is working for me. Hate to disagree with all of the other posts since I am a newbie to the forum, but I am thinking about buying another!!

Good for you Felicity!!!

I have never seem one of those pre-made raised beds but am sure they will be on sale mid to late summer. Built mine but it was tough carrying all the material 50 yards and then contructing them and in a couple of years probably would not be able to do as much.

They seem to be doing quite well for you and that is all that counts. How are you doing will all that heat?

Thanks for asking about the heat - garden is suffering despite watering daily and using shade cloth. I have plastic English potato beds and cedar beds in addition to the smart pot fabric pots and really see no difference in one drying out faster than the other. And I do use Mel's method of intensive planting which makes it tougher for everything to survive this heat ... even with lots of peat and compost.

Kay - I am just off interstate 64 in a small rural community called Dardens in Martin County.

walshevak wrote:I am using pre made 4x4 kits from a big box store and a lot of 5 gal buckets.

Kay

Kay, how long have you had the pre-made boxes? I bought one from the "orange" big box store and wondered how long they will last.

Welcome Felicity

Lee

This is my second year. Holding up fine so far.
Putting them together in spring 2011. 3/12 beds


Kay

big bag bed video I think it looks like a great idea. Especially if you can't have a permanent bed.

Felicity , I've just viewed the vid clip of the big bag bed.

I didn't realize they were the culture ring type things , I was expecting a four sided bag ...deeper than the base is across .

They could do well on my patio slabs if they were about a foot or more deep .

What is the depth of yours and how far across is the biggest one , please ?

( The potato bags I used this year were not quite the success implied by the sellers .

Here is a grow bag that has potatos growing in it.



and the harvest I got from it last week.


and one called a salad sack that collapsed on the edges.


I found they dried out quickly.

Kay

Felicity wrote:As a senior citizen living in a very rural area with 400' of raised beds, I still want to garden but have to find easier ways to increase my production and fight the voles. I bought 2 smart pots a couple of years ago and have not been overly pleased with the amount of produce grown in them but the pots themselves are holding up well in the southern sun. Got a big bag bed this year and must admit it was not an issue to fill it by myself; I had anticipated the sides collapsing as I worked. Am growing French marigolds and 2 winter squash in it and have 8 large squash. It sits on pebbles to ensure good drainage. You young folks can build your own raised beds ... wanting to be independent, this is working for me. Hate to disagree with all of the other posts since I am a newbie to the forum, but I am thinking about buying another!!

Felicity sometimes you just have to do what you CAN do and this is what you can do! No one will fault you for that! Some plant in pots and different containers for lots of different reasons! Sounds like your garden is going well!

I use smart pots and geopots and have had great success with them. They are great and thats all I use anymore when I grow in containers. For beginners that tend to over water they are great cause the the whole pot drains. The geo pots are better quality material I think I have used both and perfer geo. My hot pepper plants love them aslo I have grown green beans carrots , tomatoes, and watermelon in them. They also last pretty long if you take care of them Ive had mine for 3 seasons so far and still doing good. I let mine dry out in the sun empty in between plantings and brush out the dead roots and dirt that stick to them.