Container gardening is a great way to garden in small spaces, improve your existing soil, or garden where there is no soil at all. Grow bags are a great alternative to containers. They are easy to make, inexpensive, and, unlike containers, grow bags are made of breathable fabric which means superior drainage and aeration.
You can buy ready-made Grow Bags
Material needed to sew a grow bag
Weed-Shield Premium Landscape Fabric. Go for good quality, the thicker the better.
Nylon Sewing Thread. We used upholstery extra strong thread. Experts suggest polyester thread is better. Do your research on what your machine can handle.
To cut the grow bags
You can make grow bags any size you want, depending on what you will be growing in them. A square foot is a good size. To make a square foot grow bag you will need 4 feet (1.22 m) plus an inch for the seam. For the height, we just divided the fabric in half and it worked great.
To sew the grow bag
1. Fold the material and sew the bottom and the side, making a bag.
2. Fold the corners of the bag and secure them.
3. Draw two lines to make an inner square, you can make yourself a template to do this. If your bag is a square foot you will have to go 6 inches (ca. 15 cm) from each corner and have 12 inches (ca. 30 cm) in the middle.
4. Sew along the corner lines
5. Finish the top of the bag by folding it over once or twice, as you prefer.
6. Take a break, all the sewing can make one tired 😉
7. Turn the bags right sides out. We got some help from two amazing helpers :).
8. Fill the grow bags with Mel’s Mix from the All New Square Foot Gardening
9. Grow a container garden. Container gardens are also great for Growing Food Without Owning a Speck of Land. Read also How to grow in grow bags.
Not a sewer? Order your Grow Bags ready-made for you.
FANTASTIC!! Sharing tomorrow am! 🙂
Thank you, Isis! You have a beautiful blog!
I never thought to sew my own grow bags. Great idea!
Thank you, and its fairly easy to do, too.
can we use cotton fabric.. the landscape fabric is very costly in my country so i am trying to find an alternative route
You can use whatever you want and you think would hold up to the task.
I have seen these in use and just assumed they were probably very expensive. How awesome to simply make your own! Pinning to my Yard & Garden board. You are so very resourceful.
Thank you Shirley! Yes, they can be pricey, but homemade its just about a dollar a bag.
I bought a 100′ roll of fabric AND a new machine It turns out that the 15-20 gallon bags are costing me about $3-$4 each including the thread and the machine. The neighbors think they look just as good as store bought and one neighbor is now ready to make her own.
I have made quite a few sizes and even experimented trying to make a “square” bag but they still round out once filled with dirt:) But I do have a couple of small ones that are being used to start seeds. I’m hooked!
My fabric store had about 15 different colors to choose from so I grabbed some deep blue and sewed a top hem. I didn’t bother with pins and just eyed it as I went. I thought about getting crazy and making a strawberry bag by simply cutting a hole in the side and attaching a “pocket” to it and see what happens.
Well, I’ll be darned. I never thought about doing something along these lines…only just buying more pots and containers!
The difference is that plants get root-bound in pots, but do not in bags, well worth the work!
What a great idea! I never knew you could sew your own grow bags. I’ve never even heard of grow bags. 🙂 Now, if only I could sew.
If you have great garden soil, you do not need grow bags.
You do if you are disabled and can’t get down on the ground and back up again. I have great garden soil in my new location, but will have to garden from my wheelchair. Thus bags will save money and time to build raised beds!
Alli, I don’t sew either. But I’m thinking that a hole punch (or the tip of some sharp scissors), some garden twine or fishing line would make it as easy as lacing my shoes. (I CAN do THAT, lol.) Anna: wish I had good garden soil. After 6 years of drought here I finally stumbled on the no till garden method and will probably use it next year after building things up over the winter. This year it’s Larry Hall’s kiddie pool method (see Rain Gutter Grow System on FB) because it’s so easy.
Rain Gutter growing system AND grow bag would be the ideal combination, I think. Just have to figure out how.
I will teach alli how to sew any time
Will this work well with other types of fabrics as well? Has anyone tried this with other types of material? I have tons of fabric drop cloths (heavy duty and still in the packaging) and burlap can be versatile too. I was wondering how well it would work if I used one of them?
I did make one bag with a lower grade weed cloth and it did not stand up as well, I did not like it all that much. But really, if you have the fabric, try it and you will know.
I grow potatoes in burlap sacks then compost the sacks when they break down.
If it works, why not!
yes, we use burlap bags for just about all growing… sometimes we line paper boxes with the burlap
Where do you get the thread? I just have a little home machine, will that work? I would love to make a bunch of these. 🙂
I am limited in my gardening abilities and i think this would work great!!!
I think I got the thread at Walmart. Otherwise I have an Amazon link in there, you can order it from them if you do not find it. I only have a home machine, too. It worked great.
I found an outdoor fabric store in town and they had polyester, UV resistant thread in about 15 different colors for just a little over $5 a spool. I know that Coats and Clark makes a similar thread because I have seen people use it in videos.
I have a little Brother sewing machine and have no problem using the DeWitt 12 year weed barrier fabric and the thread. For me the most difficult part of this project was learning how to thread the machine.
I paid $27 for a 100′ roll of 36″ tall fabric. I measured out a 4′ length of material, cut the material into two giving me two 18″ by 4′ pieces and made two bags that are a little over 12″ in height and fairly big ( I gave BIG seam allowance). It took over 10 gallons of dirt to fill and they will make those pepper plants happy!!
$100 for a brand new machine
$27 for fabric
$5 for each spool
And at this rate, I can get 50 of these large bags for less than $3 each bag.
My next project will be to make a square bag about 16″ across and 16″ deep with side pockets about 8″ by 8″ for strawberries. And I am thinking of making a big tall bag for potatoes that I can roll down to about 12″ to start the potatoes and as they grow, roll up the sides and add more dirt until we get up to around 3′ tall.
I like your idea re potato pot!! Thank you for sharing
Use polyester not Nylon!
Great tutorial. I did a container garden last year because we were renting our house. Now we own and I don’t want to till up any of our yard. I think I’ll try some of these grow bags instead!
Sure, if you want lots of containers, this is a great way to go. However, plants do better in the soil then in containers – if you have a choice.
Amanda,
Have you heard of lasagne gardening? Just put down card board to keep the weeds from growing then heap your soil and or compost on the cardboard then plant, it’s that simple, no digging involved! I love the handmade bags for growing things in, weed fabric is a wonderful idea.
Marie
We do have a post about lasagne gardening here.
Congratulations on your new home. I’ll be making some of these bags soon, (what a great idea! thanks to Anna!) for the new green house my husband built this winter. We don’t have a yard now, the kids are grown and we have come to despise grass and it’s upkeep as we feel if we put that much work and money into it we should be able to eat it! Yes, we are in the minority we know, but we are happy. Only the grumpy neighbors moved so it was even more positive! This is our yard now: https://www.instagram.com/farmer_brown_dirt_candy/?hl=en
So happy to hear, Kathy! Enjoy your beautiful greenhouse and garden!
That is great way to make those bags, but the one you buy have loops for yours hands, can you sew those someway on there.
Yes, you are right, some of them that I would call ‘fancy’ grow bags have loops, but we didn’t find it necessary for our bags because we don’t move them around a lot. You certainly can make the loops from the same fabric and sew them on there. How to do it? I’ll leave it to your creative mind.
Happy ‘grow bagging’! 🙂
Okay I now how want to sew grow bags! Have you found anything that may not grow well in a grow bag. I would love to make these to grow snow peas and lettuce. Would that be a problem?
Peas and lettuce would do great. Generally I find that heavy feeder plants do not do as good in containers. For example I had planted Bull’s Heart tomatoes (those are big plants) and had to give up on them. I could have fertilized a lot, but preferred not to. Peppers and small tomato varieties did very well. Happy growing and check out my post on how to grow in grow bags.
What a great idea! I love it! Thanks for sharing at the Homestead Blog Hop!
I absolutely love this! I can’t wait to try my hand at making these….thanks for the tutorial!
Thanks for linking up with Green Thumb Thursday last week! I’ve chosen this as my featured post for the week! Please stop by and get a I’ve Been Featured button for your blog.
I’d love it if you’d stop by and link up again this week!
~Lisa
Would making a bag out a nylon type cord, either by crocheting or macrame, be o.k. to do, or it make it harder for the plant to grow?
Sure, I do not see why not, if you have fun making them. Important is that the material is breathable and the finished product can stand up to hold the soil in.
Love your site! This is a really nice piece of information. Even though I have gardening beds, sometimes I want to grow something on my porch. After all, you can never have enough veggies! This is a nice way of doing it. Thank you.
Thank you Julie for your kind words. Porch, deck, driveway and everywhere in between grow veggies!
I didn’t consider using weed fabric. Thanks for the idea.
If the bags are good for more than one growing season, I would suggest polyester thread. Nylon will fall apart if exposed to the sun for very long.
Thank you Lisa for the suggestion.
Do the bags need drainage holes?
No Heather, they made out of breathable fabric.
Just a heads-up to anyone else planning to try this, I ordered the landscape fabric linked to on Amazon and it didn’t seem nearly sturdy enough for this–it felt more like a coated paper and I could tear it by hand (I’m worried the force of wet soil would bust the seams). Does anyone have a landscape fabric they would recommend for this? Or Anna, where did you get your fabric–what I received from Amazon didn’t look like what was in your photos?
Melissa thank you so much for the heads-up. I am sorry the link is not to a good quality landscape fabric. We got ours from a local garden center. It was thick and sturdy. The best way would be to find it locally and to see if it is a thick fabric. But not everyone has a local garden center, so I thought a amazon link would be nice. I will remove it till I find a better link. And if anyone knows of one, please let me know.
I use the 25 year landscape fabric fromYardworks…Duraweb weed control landscape fabric that I found at Menards. I’ve made transplant bags for myself and to sell. Later will make bigger ones. Be sure the material allows air and water to penetrate. Some of the rolls of landscape fabric do not.
Good point Nancy, thank you!
I am thinking of using some inexpensive landscape fabric, but using double thickness and perhaps hand-sewing it with a back stitch or chain stitch with a darning needle and some crochet cotton. (Since I have reams of crochet cotton) Shouldn’t take too long to put them together??
Anna, thanks for this post. A friend from the RGGS FB page sent me over. I don’t sew, but I’m thinking even a craft-challenged person like me can punch some holes and thread some twine or fishing line through them, now that I have the outline you shared. (Much easier for those of us who have arthritis and such.) This is great–you not only had the cat on the bag, now you’ve let the cat out of the bag on grow bags! 😉 Love the kitty.
Thank you, we love our kitty too :). If you do not sew, you can also use something like a laundry basket with holes and lay it out with weed barrier fabric, and you have a growing container that lets air through. It will be more costly, but also a bit more stable and no sewing required.
These look awesome! Approximately what was the final dimensions of the bags?
Thank you! About a square foot, great size for many plants.
Love this idea, we have limited sun so I can grow my garden in different areas where the sun is best. What is the height for your pattern, you said 4ft and an inch for length so was your height around 2 ft or less? I bought some weed control fabric today but don’t want to screw up with trial and error on the first bags! The size you made seem perfect! Thank you!
I just cut the fabric length wise in half. It ends up to be about 2 feet, but when you fill the bags with sol, it is less in height, just a good size. Hope this helps.
I don’t own a sewing machine anymore, could you use heat bonded seam tape?
I do not know, sorry. The best way is to try one and see.
Landscape fabric will melt if you heat it up. So, I suggest hand sewing it over heat bonding.
Thanks so much for this excellent tutorial! I needed 10 bags for overplanting of tomato seeds (others made it into garden) and your instructions were exactly what I needed. Now 10 proud tomato plants on the deck to welcome the summer! Thanks again!!!
So happy to hear it was helpful, thank you for sharing. Hope your tomatoes grow well.
I was wondering about stawberries,carrots & cucumbers will they do good,& what about using these in a green house,{ just a small green house built with 4 old windows & the top all way down on the back is clear plastic panels.} If the matrial is thin couldn’t you just double it? I’m new to doing a green house so any help would be apreciated.Thanks
You can use the grow bags in a greenhouse, and grow all those things. We have used them in a greenhouse, too. Not sure if you can double the material, you will have to try and see how it works.
What a brilliant idea! I was just thinking the other day that I need to buy more pots. But I would much rather use the sewing machine. Thanks for sharing 😉
So glad I found your blog!
It is a lot cheaper to make your own. happy sewing and growing!
Has anyone here ever used plastic dog-food sacks in lieu of landscape fabric? I have lots of these plastic feed sacks and would love to use them for grow bags, but suspect that they wouldn’t work as well because they’re essentially waterproof. Might have to jab a lot of holes in the sides with a nail or something. Otherwise, I think they would sew up just like this, and I could use two 2-inch strips cut off the top, doubled over and stitched for strength, and sewn onto the bag for the handles. The bags are white inside and printed outside – either way would work, with white reflecting light and heat, and the color absorbing it. What do you think?
I have not, but you will never know if you do not try. However, any grow beg needs to be breathable, otherwise it misses the point.
Hi there,
If you are going to use dog food bags. leave the printing on the outside. The ink used in the printing and pictures may be toxic in some way and could leach into the root system of whatever veggie you are growing. Unless, of course, you are able to verify with the dog food company that the ink is not toxic.
Just a beware thought for you.
Suzanne
As a time saver, maybe finish off the top edge on the whole strip before cutting to 4 ft. lengths?
Also, for those who don’t sew, check with feed stores, pet stores for empty plastic feed bags. They are instant grow bags. I get the bags from several local pet stores who have a bulk kitty litter bin. They empty bags into the bin and are happy to save them for me.
Thank you for sharing Belinda, this might be very helpful for someone. Just always make sure the material the bags are made off allows air and water through.
How many seasons will you get out of these?
Depends on your climate. We have used ours 2 seasons now, and most of them are still good for another one.
I have been making my own grow bags for about 7 years. I finally found a great felt-like material like the store bought ones. It is the pond underlay that landscapers use to go under the waterproof plastic used to make decretive fish ponds to use for bank erosion (sp?) it is UV resistant and made to be used on top of soil. I buy 8 oz the thickest in 5×20 feet for $37.00. With your measurements you can get 10 bags. If you use 4′ x 20″ you can get 15 bags out of 5″ x 20″ –that make them $ 2.50 each. You end up with a bag 12″ width by 14″ high which makes the a generous 5gal container. A ready made one I found was 1 I use the left over strips I make small seed starting cups that I use for the first transplant. This year I plan to make handles out of webbing. Your directions are great and very helpful. The hardest part of bag making is the measurements. The first year I mad them I ended up with 14″ x16″ . They were way too large and took way too much soil .
Thank you for sharing Holly, Your material seems to be a great choice!
The I my good source of geotextile I had is now closed so time to find another solution. I’m building a garden for my mom’s townhouse and this would be much easier than building wooden raised beds. I live above an upholstery shop so I’m running down to find fabric in stock. They do have garden cloth but I think I’ll get something more sturdy.
Sure, any fabric should work, happy growing!
Hi Anna. I want to say thank you for your post I was able to make mine. But the landscape fabric I have is so flimsy. The one you linnked up above, is that the one you used? I want to use something thicker that will stand on their own. What brand can you recommend? Thanks
No, I do not have a link for the one we used. We went to a local garden center and looked for the thickest available. It really does make a difference. I wish I knew what brand it was. But than again, we are in Canada, so that might not be of any help to you.
i can not thank you enough. i have been looking at grow bags for months and wondering how i could afford the amount i would like/need. i never once thought of sewing my own. i will be going out today to buy the fabric and hopefully i can find the thread locally too. love your helper. we have four rescue cats:)
Happy to hear it was helpful. Most of our bags are still going strong for the third growing season. Hope yours will do great for you too.
What do you think about using the Oli Fun Fabric sold at Hobby Lobby and JoAnnes? Do you think that would work?
Hi Colleen, not sure what fabric you refer too. But generally any fabric that is air-permeable and not toxic works. It also needs to have some stability to stand up, but other than that you can get really creative with your choices. Hope this helps.
If you finish the top first, you would work with a flat piece of fabric. Easier and quicker. Then you can proceed as explained.
Would it not be stronger to use a surger sewing stich?
Thank,you!
I couldn’t find a link to buy the fabric… Doing a search just throws out a bunch of different kinds and I know they are not all the same. I bought some at Westlake, took it home and it was basically just a plastic sheet – tried sewing it anyway – nope, didn’t work out well at all!!!!
I really can’t tell from the online pictures what the product really is…SO, if you don’t mind tell me where you purchased yours I’d be delight!!!
Nicole, sorry for your struggle to find the fabric. If I had a link, I would share it. I bought my at a local garden center. I will try to find it again this spring and share the brand with you, so check back again.
Finally found some at Lowe’s…Sta-Green Ultimate weed barrier 30’x50′. about $20. I had an employee there open up the package to make sure it was the right kind. I’ve sewn up several bags in different sizes – Thank you for a great tutorial!!!
Great to hear. Thank you for sharing!
One of the ladies suggested going to a pond shop for the landscape fabric they lay on the soil underneath. 5 x 20 for 37.00 she paid and made 10 bags
I u s e feed bags . You can just us them or sew corners like done her. Works great.
Wow!! I sew, I have a machine, have a big roll of weed barrier fabric, but never thought of doing this!! Thanks so much for this post, and your “thinking out of the bag (box)” if you will. 🙂
Have you ever tried garlic in grw bags?
Thanks
Hope the bags work well for you! We are in zone 3, it gets really cold here. Garlic would freeze in bags completely, I think. If you winters are milder you can try it, I can’t see why it would not work.
I was pricing grow bags and wondered if I couldn’t just buy some of the material and make my own. That’s when I stumbled upon your site and your homemade grow bags. Landscape/weedstop fabric! Who knew? You did, apparently. Going to make some for sure. I read that polyester thread will hold up outdoors but am wondering what size needle you used and size of the thread. Thanks!
We used upholstery extra strong thread (Not sure what size that would be, since it only says extra strong) and a normal needle. Hope this helps.
I’ve wanted to add grow bags to my garden for a while, but they are so hard to find where I am and very expensive when I do. I will have to get my hands on these materials and make a bunch of them. Can’t wait to make and use these.
I want to raise my garden beds as the tree roots take up a lot of space but can’t afford the options. Is it possible to use the fabric to make a structure to raise my gardens?
Yes it is. We did that in our raised window protected garden. If you do not need protection, you can build just the box. In our case we used weed control fabric because the bed is on our drive way. But you can also do the same to prevent tree roots from getting into your garden.
Hi Anna,
I’ve just discovered your site and want to thank you for your article on making your own grow bags! Here I am, 82, have been sewing nearly all of my life. I was getting ready to buy some burlap to make grow bags . After reading your article will definitely use the landscape material.
Also read your article on growing tomatoes. I have to tell you that tomatoes and peppers are my two favorite veggies to grow. Because I’ve only had small spaces in which to grow a garden, I’ve used grow bags(which were very expensive to buy), as well as 5 gallon buckets and anything else I could find to use. I normally grow heirlooms. I saw that you had grown Bull Heart which I love and have grown in the past. Would you tell me your source for the Bull Heart seeds? I have ordered seeds from several sources for the ones that I want this year, but can’t find anyone that had Bull Heart.
Thanks again for your article on grow bags. Hope that you have a great gardening season this year.
Suzanne
Love hearing how you still enjoy gardening. Bull’s Heart is also called Cuor di Bue, here is where we get them from http://caseysheirloomtomatoes.ca/seeds/seeds–online–heart.html
To grow tomatoes, I have been happy with the patio pickers (or city pickers) system as there is a reservoir underneath which wicks up to the roots to simplify watering. Do beware that grow bags can dry out fast, so you may need something underneath the bag to hold a little bit of water … and the water will wick up to the roots..
How long do your homemade grow bags last? Is it comparable to store-bought?
I have never had any store-bought, so I can’t compare.
Being an upholsterer for over 20 years i can say with certainy, Nylon is not appropriate for outdoor use. A qiuck Google search will provide the proper thread type. Or consulting a professional. Very few home machines can use truly heavy duty outdoor thread. Thickness and strength that feels substantial in our hands means nothing to uv rays and rot. Something Nylon will succumb to easily. When passing on information to others it is best to continually update it as you learn. I recommend updating your tips. Good luck.
Thank you, Wes, for sharing your knowledge. We share how we do things, not claiming to be exported. In our experience, the thread outlived the bag material. But I can add the information.
I bought used nursery pots on Craigslist for $1/5 gal pot, cheaper for smaller pots. I made multiple holes around the pot walls with tip of a knife, or a hot nail, or hot soldering gun. Much faster and cheaper than sewing fabric pots. Can reuse pots for multiple seasons. They are stable and good looking.
There is nothing wrong with using pots, the difference is the aeration. Enjoy your container garden!
Great Site and by the many responses, a lot of other people also think so.
My question is not about above ground planting, but using the landscape fabric for making pond planting bags. Will they hold up for a couple of years? I so dislike having the pots show in the water or stick out because I can’t get a even height of water and pot.
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Thank you for your kind words. We have no experience with water, but since the bags are simple to make, why don’t you try them?