rivershah•2mo agoMost Upvoted

Wasted $60 on those mesh balcony planters

Thought those self-watering mesh pots would be perfect for my cherry tomatoes. After 3 weeks the roots grew through and snapped when I tried to move them. Anybody else have bad luck with those fabric or mesh grow bags?

3 comments

3 Comments

beth_stone2mo ago

My 3 year old strawberry mesh bags are still going strong and I've moved them 4 times now, no root snapping at all. The trick is cutting the bottom of the bag open before you plant so the roots can air prune instead of circling inside. I actually had worse luck with hard plastic pots where my pepper plants got rootbound and stunted. Those mesh bags let way more oxygen to the roots compared to regular containers. What kind of soil mix did you use in yours?

the_wesley2mo ago

Air pruning is the real game changer, I've had roots explode after cutting the bottom slits.

jason738d ago

So you're saying cutting the bottom of the bag open before planting fixed everything for you? Because that sounds like a workaround for a design flaw, not a feature. I used regular potting mix with some perlite, not sure if that matters when the roots just punch through like they're hunting for water. What kind of soil do people actually use to stop this from happening in the first place?