I’m trying out the Hozelock growbag waterer. Whilst I’m not a great fan of growbags, they can give terrific results. Hopefully this waterer will make growbags easier to water and give better results than other bag watering systems,
As you may know, I’ve found my Quadgrow and Chilligrows really give excellent results. The compost in the pots is kept fed and watered by means of a wick running up from the reservoir below. Feeding is easy too. The feed is added to the water and taken up at the same time as required.
Why They Work
The reason they work so well is that the compost always has enough water for the plants but isn’t so wet that there is no oxygen available for them. Normal watering in pots tends to be flood and drought. The tomatoes and so on can handle that but they do better when they don’t have to struggle. I’m not a subscriber to the keep them dry and hungry method!
The other big benefit to wick based systems with a fluid reservoir is that you don’t spend so long watering. On a hot summer’s day you really should water pots twice or even three times. Not that we get too many hot summer days, can but hope.
Growing bags can be really painful to keep watered properly. Getting water into the bag even with special watering inserts gets tricky when the plants are grown. Judging when they need watering on hot days can be a bit hit and miss too.
Growbag Watering System
So when I saw Hozelock had brought out a specific wick watering system for growbags I thought I’d give it a try. I’m not growing tomatoes or peppers in the bag, I wanted to try strawberries. I’ve grown strawberries with good results in hanging baskets in the polytunnel but I was reading how you can get great results from bags.
It’s robust with 4 watering wicks which are held in blades that push into the bag. There’s a small entry for water which is a bit tricky with a large can of water to fill through although you can connect a hosepipe. There is an indicator so you know when it needs refilling. It takes a full size growbag and has 3 cane support holes for tomatoes or peppers etc. Putting it together is simple and quick.
The only problem is you need to be careful pushing the growbag down onto the watering blades. I was a bit too forceful and grazed by a watering blade that semi penetrated the top. Must be more gentle handed! I then cut crosses and planted up with 10 strawberry plants.
Comparison Planting
There’s space behind the growbag on the bench so I’ve put a planter on there with 4 strawberry plants. It doesn’t waste the bench space and will give me a direct comparison on performance which I’ll report on at the end of the season.
Nearly fell off my perch when I saw the price. you need to grow a hell of a lot to get your money back, great idea though.
Like anything, it depends on how long it is of service for. Over 10 years, pretty cheap I think.
Depends if I live long enough, I’m sure the plastic will last for millennia. stay safe
I have had one for a few years works well on the balcony at home and had some good crops of “Sungold & Sweet Million” two plants to the bag.
Can’t think of anything much better than just siting in the sun and picking warm toms right off the plant.
I have used 3 of the Hoselock growbag waterers for 3 years and have found them great !!! the tomatoes and cumbers were well watered and thrived.
With regard to growbag waterer. I would be great interested if any member has a diy method . Growbags are great if space is an issue!.
Thanks Richard
Was it successful growing strawberries in the Hozelock growbag waterer?
Basically yes. I’m not a huge fan of growbags but the Hozelock watering system is the best way to grow with them.
I used this method on 12 growbags of strawberries this year (!) but didn’t have a lot of success. They are in full sun but I can’t help feeling that they make the soil too wet for strawberries. I will try this method again this season but interested to hear your thoughts on whether it makes the soil too wet or not? I have photos of my set up if that would help?
I doubt it was the compost in the growbag being overly wet – this year has been unusual with the weather and that hasn’t helped anything. Did you provide feed after the initial period when the growbag would have used up its nutrients?