Pretty bummed. First timer with no experiential knowledge. Did everything by the books and everything was progressing very nicely. Then last weekend I was in a hurry for multiple reason, but one was because of several days of forecasted rain. I realized after seeing a post on here that I used the wrong fill in my 15 gal.’s
Now I am torn between leaving them as-is or exchanging all the soil this weekend. Basically, what I have read is what I filed was less than ideal – ok, lesson learned, but, curious to see what the Tomato SME’s think will happen and what you would do in the same situation. Let it ride or invest the time, $’s & energy to exchange soil?
by MoxNixnd901
30 Comments
Wym? The part where the bag says in ground use? They also say not to cram as many plants in a box together as you can…but anyways it’ll be fine if that’s what you’re talking about.
Also unsure what the issue is
Fabric pots are notorious for drying out too quickly. And in-ground soil is heavy and can be waterlogged. I think these two might sorta cancel each other out. What if you took some perlite and mixed it into the perimeter? Lighten up the outermost soil as much as you can without messing with the immediate root zone. you might have just discovered how to keep full grown plants happy and well watered in the depths of summer!
You should be totally fine. I’ve used potting soil in my raised garden beds and still have tomato’s from last years harvest on 2 plants. As long as you feed, water and fertilize as needed it should be okay. Keep an eye on soil being too wet and if your leaves start to turn yellow you’ve got issues to sort.
It should be fine. It has perlite in it, which will help with drainage (the main thing you are probably concerned about). If you want to mess with it, the sooner the better. Once the roots get established, you don’t really want to mess with them.
In ground soil in a bag isn’t ideal but you’re not screwed. Generally the problem would be the outside would dry while the moisture would stay in the middle which just leads to uneven moisture, perhaps being too waterlogged in the root zone and too dry for them too grow outside of that well. You’ll want to mulch and be more careful about watering but can still be successful.
If you literally just put them in the bags I might carefully remove and dig in some perlite. If they’ve been in there a week+ I’d prob leave them to not cause damage. However If you’re in a place where it rains a lot and constantly waterlogging your plants…then I’d consider amending the soil after all.
If it helps any I once accidentally used cactus soil in a grow bag. So soil that don’t hold moisture in bags that dry out haha. I still got healthy tomatoes but I had to water a lot more. In ground soil isn’t nearly as bad of a scenario.
In ground just isn’t as fast draining; there’s usually not as much filler, like perlite, to fluff it up. But, as Top Housing said, fabric pots dry fast (which is good for roots to breathe), but definitely need more watering. I think you’ll be okay, but if you find they are still retaining too much moisture, add some perlite.
Two other bits of advice, since you’re newer to the tomato world: as they keep growing, remove all branches about a foot from the soil. Also, add some straw/mulch to each pot. These things will help keep dirt off leaves and avoid fungal and bacterial issues, like blight. Happy growing!
It’s not ideal, but you’re not screwed though. A potting mix would be much better for fabric pots, but that bagged garden soil looks acceptable. You’ll need to adjust your watering for it.
It can still provide fairly good results. Not worth the trouble of changing out at this point IMHO. Just remember to replace it for the next plant. You’ll know which one it is because it’ll be the really heavy bag.
Don’t worry so much. Let it grow.
Consider it an experiment and update us all as the summer moves along!
If you water sufficiently mesh pots do amazing for lots of plants…plants love to dry out a little and stretch their roots …just not too dry
You would do more damage messing with them. Transplant shock for a second time would slow the growth.
It’s fine. You’ll just want to switch it out next year is all.
You have plants in them already, so I would leave it. But next season I would swap it out. After a season or so that soil will become super compacted
Meh…. Tomatoes are nigh indestructible. Sure blight hornworms n disease but soil wise you can’t kill em easily. I don’t do anything special. I put seeds in whatever dirt. Put in window. Plant in ground. Barely even harden them. Look like death for a week after planting. Rarely lose any. Usually have 95% germination too.
Last year I had a plant I was going to give away and that person moved on from my work. So decided to abuse it. No water, direct sun inside. Pot too small. Took 2 months before it finally kicked the bucket. Even started fruiting a little. I felt bad about not giving it a chance but was a learning experience!
I double layer my 25 gallon grow bags , better structural integrity. 3 plants & 2 @ 54” tomato cages in each . Pro mix & tomato tone for the win !
You are overthinking it. They look good, keep it up
It looks fine(what can see)in the grow bags? But I understand what you’re saying. I did this one time years ago. I mixed this with potting soil to make my money go further. You might could get some good potting soil, ease out some of the garden soil, and mix it around the outsides of the bag? Or get some Black Kow manure/soil conditioner, and work some of that in. The perlite idea is fine but I can see some perlite in it already.
it’s in a bag, I’d say let it ride
I see not tho nothing wrong here. Leave alone or you might inadvertently cause an issue.
I use unground for my containers all the time. If you want it to be unground get a screen and screen out the larger barn chunks. You’ll be fine as is.
You are not only not screwed, you are doing a great job.
On the soil, you can’t trust a thing on packaging anymore. I have used that brand and was stricken by the fact that the container and in ground stuff like you have feels exactly the same. You don’t really start to see any difference until you get up into the more expensive brands.
Watch the plants, watch YouTube established gardeners, (Epic Gardening is so good and they show you not just tell).
And stay in positive spaces. Sending virtual garden hugs.
Real talk man, I did the same thing, and I wouldn’t sweat it lmao. My premiere grow bag cherry tomato plant is stuck in a bunch of garden soil with a couple marigolds shoved in there and it’s about 8ft tall now with a couple hundred tomatoes on there about another two weeks away from my first harvest. Let it ride.
I use this in 60% veg soil / 40% potting mix in my bags and my plants love it. You need to get a moisture stick and monitor the inside moisture of your bags with this soil and wait for the inside to actually dry out before deep watering again.
I know what I would actually do in your place and I also know what I probably should do if this were an ideal world.
It would be real nice if those plants could be carefully lifted out and the soil in those grow bags mixed with about 30% by volume of perlite. Since the tomatoes were only transplanted a few days ago, it would not be all that disruptive to the roots and would provide much better drainage and likely improve plant health over the course of the season.
BTW, good on you for using those 15-gallon containers instead of trying to squeak by with stingy 5-gallon ones.
Footnote for what it might be worth: When I mix soil with an amendment like perlite, I find it easy to do in a cheap plastic kiddie wading pool. I buy one or two from Walmart every spring for under 10 dollars.
I think you will be fine
My biggest cooncern for you is that later in the season that will all get VERY compacted and dense. It’s going to be a challenge to get water deep into the soil as opposed to running down the sides of the bag. If it’s in the budget to purchase or make some watering stakes, do it now before you have too much root to work one in. Otherwise you will either need to put them in a trough, or water SLOWLY with either drip irrigation, a soaker hose, or watering in small amounts many times.
All I see is a beautiful garden area with good healthy tomatoes and a nice chair. Wishing you a happy harvest and peace 😊
Last year I did every mistake possible and still had full jungle until autumn and a respectable crop. Let plants to their thing and dont worry.
I think you are fine here, I would mulch the top to retain water, and maybe shade the black fabric from summer sun, both to prevent drying out too quickly and blossom end rot from lack of water