Garden Planning

I just tried some "alternative" container gardens last year, and I think it worked out pretty well!

Some online digging suggested that Ikea bags are made from a non-leaching plastic, so I used them to grow greens, tomatoes, potatoes.

Here's what went well, and what was troublesome, about gardening in Ikea shopping bags, in case you'd like to try it yourself. 

Ikea Garden Pros

Ikea Garden Cons

• the bags are super lightweight, and durable
• they hold water really well, you need to punch holes in the bottom for drainage
• ideal for small gardens, each bag hold one or two plants
• it's easy to weave a soaker hose around plants when the surface is up off the ground like this
• each bag held 1/2 to 3/4 of a large bag of organic potting soil I got at the local warehouse/bulk store
• they are reusable- I plan to add compost and/or worm castings to revamp soil and use tomato/potato bags for more greens
• they kept the potatoes together, making harvesting very easy
• they are very cheap
• I had very little damage from squirrels or rabbits, perhaps because the bags were noisy and difficult to climb

• one bag set in the sun from early in the season began to break down and rip at the handles
• they are difficult to move when full, and REALLY difficult to move after plants are established. I chased the sun by placing them on racks and moving them with another person
• the potting soil I used came from a warehouse store that stopped selling it well before Spring was over, and even before they started selling their own plants! Need to buy extra next time
• filling them too far meant large tomato plants started to lean and push soil out of the top of the bag
• it became difficult to gradually add soil to potato bags as they leafed out