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Has anyone used Westland Compost with John Innes for growbags

Willow99Willow99 Posts: 43
in Fruit & veg
Hi, 

Has anyone used Westland Compost with John Innes for Growbags, I cannot access any growbags at present and have some spare bags of the compost. I am going to use them in the same way as Growbags for cucumbers and tomatoes but was wondering whether they will be OK as to the plastic used in the packaging and do they need drain holes at all.

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It would be no different to putting that mix into a pot, although it might be quite a heavy mix, so you may need some grit mixed in.  :)
    That would be much easier than trying to make holes in the existing bag. You'd certainly need plenty of those or the bags would just get waterlogged. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Willow99Willow99 Posts: 43
    edited May 2022
    Thanks Fairygirl, the grit is a good idea. Any idea the size of ideal pot for a tomato or cucumber plant to allow a decent root system, they are going in my plastic greenhouse.
    I have only got 2  cucumber and 3 tomato plants to use up as the others are outside. The cucumber plants that arrived have  yellow first seed  leaves, is it best to leave them or remove.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Sorry - I didn't see this until now @Willow99.
    I don't grow cucumbers, so I can't really help with those, but as to the yellow seed leaves - those will drop by themselves, or you can remove them if they're ready to come off.  :)
    When I grew my toms in pots [I now have them directly into the ground as the growhouse is on a border now] I used to have pots around 10 inches diameter. It was too tight to fit more than three into the growhouse [it's only small]  so I got a couple of rectangular plastic storage boxes, which are around 15 inches long, and about ten inches height and depth. I could fit two into that, and 2 containers into the growhouse, and that was fine. I only grow cherry toms though, so I don't know how well it would work if you grow bigger varieties - they might have bigger root systems.  :)
    I've also grown cherry toms in  clematis pots. Obviously they aren't really big enough to let the toms get to full size, but you can nip them out to keep them smaller. I had too many one year, and I used an old plastic growhouse that was broken, and was smaller in height. It did the job well.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Willow99Willow99 Posts: 43
    Thanks for getting back to me, I really appreciate it and did not expect an immediate reply so thank you again.very useful information to add to my armoury.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I think the cucumbers might need quite big pots too, but you can always start a new thread specifically about them and someone will be able to advise  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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