Tomato Grow bags

[brumbly]

I bought 4 large Levington Tomato bags this year, only to have all healthy tomato plants in them die. Other tomatoes planted in my own mix continue to thrive. I contacted Scotts who make the bags and was told that the bags I used must have been old stock and that the nitrogen has become "locked" in the bark chippings. In any event I have lost almost a whole years tomatoes at a cost to me of £20.00.
Does this excuse sound genuine and has anyone else had a problem?

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Brumbly, sorry about your Tomato plants dying, but could you tell us how the Tom plants went down hill, did they just get yellow leaves and look as they needed a feed, or were the symptoms unusual in some way? I ask because, when i got my Levington grow bags a few weeks ago, a bloke said to me, that he wouldn't use them, as all his plants had died last year.

I planted mine up Saturday, and all is fine at the moment.

[brumbly]

I do hope yours continue to thrive! The plants went gradually yellow, and the side shoots turned upright, very close to the main stem. I planted some straight into the bags and others into ring pots on top of the bags. Those planted into the bags died first, the ones in the ring pots thrived but now they've reached the compost in the bag itself they aren't looking too good either.
The lady I spoke to at Scotts also said they had had several changes of formula- so maybe there has been more of a problem than just me and old stock. Found it hard to believe the old stock bit as I bought this Spring from Focus which I'd have thought has a good turnover.

[Johnboy]

Hi Brumbly,
You will never get a straight answer from Scott's. At a horticultural show (commercial) a few years ago I put the same question to three different representatives and got three entirely different answers. None of which turned out to be correct!
It is really best to make your own grow bags and then you know exactly what you are dealing with. The use of wood chips is not a good thing unless they are 100% composted. If these are processed too early and the composting has not been fully completed then the chips will remove all traces of nitrogen and this really sounds like what has happened to yours. By removing the nitrogen it puts all the other ingredients out of kilter. You will never get Scott's to admit to that!
I should definitely make your own in future or at least do not buy Levingtons again.
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Morning Brumbly, i would get back onto the company, tell them that you are a member of a worldwide gardening forum and tell them that you have been advised to follow your complaint up further.

I would suggest you ask for a refund as a gesture of good_will, as even if it were old stock from focus and not a formula change, they should have a dating system on the bags in progress to stop this happening.

It might pay to speak to focus first, just to see if they can tell you if it's old stock, you might be able to get a refund there if Scotts are not forthcoming.

Please let us all know how you get on.

[Geoff]

I haven't been able to find the specification online but I suspect these are not a peat grow bag but one of these cobbled together new formulations with bits of this and that in them. If Council compost or even manure are part of the mix I would guess they have a contaminated batch. Stick to old fashioned peat based bags or as JB says make your own. Get glallotments on the job, she'll get to the bottom of it!

[Cider Boys]

I think that the suggestion of Johnboy of making your own mix is interesting. I remember all the different mixes being chalked up on a wall when as a 'Greenhorn' being asked to mix up different composts. We used to cut and stack turf and let it stand and then riddle it for the base loam then add all the other ingredients. Perhaps someone knowlegible like Johnboy could recommend a mix for growing tomatoes. I always think whatever the compost mix it is better to grow the tomatoes in pots rather than grow bags. I would suggest that if you have some good loamy soil and mix, to make it porous, with a little sharp sand and well rotted manure or compost the Tomatoes will do well in cheap plastic pots with drainage holes.

Barney

[Primrose]

It's interesting, isn't it, that none of the sellers of Tomato Grow Bags ever put a "Best Before" date on them? Perhaps we should be lobbying for this to be done if stale compost-type material has an adverse effect on growing young plants. I wasn't specifically aware of the fact that nitrogen could become 'locked' in any of the bark chipping contents but it may explain why in the past I've had poor germination if I've run out of compost and used material from a partly used growbag to germinate seeds in trays. I never grow plants direct in grow bags but do use this material in pots to grow aubergines, peppers and chillis, always mixing in a little well rotted manure or chicken manure pellets. If you visit any garden centre you will always see unused grow bags stacked up during the winter months so it's possible that this 'staleness' could account for a lot of gardeners not having success with their plants. Would the same problem apply to half-used bags of other types of compost which I'm sure a lot of us veggie growers accumulate and store over winter for use the following spring?

[Monika]

I bought a bag of Levingtons potting compost earlier this year (not growbags) and wasn't happy with the proportion of unrotted wood chippings in it, so I have bought Arthur Bowers compost and growbags since then. I really like the look and feel of Arthur Bowers' stuff and, so far, everything seems to be growing ok. Having tried peatless compost last year, I woldn't go for that again, either.

Unfortunately, I don't think we produce enough rotted compost ourselves to make home-made growing media.

[glallotments]

Hello Geoff,
I thought my ears were burning today.

[naturediva]

Brumbly - I also feel you should have you money back - so good luck with that one.
Last year I bought some general all purpose bags of compost and as I potted on some very healthy looking plants and tomatoes I thought this looks and feels awful as if there is nothing in it - it all looked grey and 'dead'; anyway sure enough after a 'settling in' period my newly potted plants - all started to look sick and had not shown any signs of growth. So I bought some Arthur Bowers and repotted everything and even within a few days everything perked up! and had a great season.
Must say that Arthur Bowers this year seems different from last year and I've had a batch which appears more fibrous, so time will tell - think I may be trying a different tack next year.
Its good that there are large grow bags on the market now - hopefully there are not all causing disasterous problems - I used to feel that the smaller ones were barely enough for the roots and so used inexpensive black buckets as tubs and drilled holes in the bottom and tipped part of a growbag in them the give greater depth for the tomatoes etc. to grow in, with successful results.

[Elaine]

Hi all. Year before last, we bought several bag of general purpose compost from B & Q and it was dreadful stuff. Nothing thrived in it and little survived. Healthy seedlings transplanted into it turned yellow and wilted within a very short time and we had to re-sow everything. Needless to say, we haven't bought it again. We might have known though as there was alot of twigs and stuff not completely rotted down in it....even shredded plastic!!
Last year we tried some compost from Lidels - £1.49 for a 60 litre bag - and it was excellent stuff.
We like JA Bowers and Westlands but I do make my own too, which normally goes in the Runner bean trench and my greenhouse borders. Cheers.

[Colin Miles]

I am using Homebase grow bags for my tomatoes and cucumbers, with growpots on top and both plants are doing extremely well. Having read what Johnboy said regarding peat I have gone back to the peat-based ones although the Westland non-peat I used seemed to work well.

[Colin_M]

I suspect these are not a peat grow bag but one of these cobbled together new formulations with bits of this and that in them.

I'm interested in Geoff's comment. I usually buy Westland West+ compost and it's generally ok. However this year's stuff seems full of large pieces of woody material or bark. It also seems to behave differently when water is added.

They've obviously changed their forumlation - is this a sign of suppliers desperately trying to keep their prices the same, or other factors like being told to use less peat etc etc

[mike1964]

I have always used Levingtons ( the yellow ones with the 50p Tomorite voucher on them) grow bag soil in my pots of Tomatoes etc and found the soil dark and rich . This year I had trouble finding them and when I did they were on sale at £1 off the normal price. I thought I had found a bargain but when I opened them they too were full of woody material /bark ! I planted the tomatos etc in the pots about two weeks ago -they still look healthy but I don't think they are growing on as quickly as normal . Also potting compost bags I have bought seem to have a higher percentage of woody material or are 70 litres instead of last years 80 litres for the same price !

Mike