Grow bags: what to grow this winter

 
Like many keen gardeners, you may dislike the winter and the limitations it brings. While you can potter around and tidy your garden, there is little opportunity to flex your green fingers. However, as spring creeps ever-nearer, there are plenty of tasks we can be getting on with to boost our crops come springtime.
While there might still be frost on the ground, grow bags offer great potential if you’re planning on growing vegetables in the coming year. You can start some of them off indoors before moving them outdoors once the spring arrives.
Here, grow bag retailer Compost Direct explains what you can start growing in your grow bags:

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a great option to grow yourself, as they’re a tasty vegetable that work well in lots of recipes, whether it’s for a salad or spaghetti bolognaise. If you’re growing yours from seed, you can start sowing in late February/early March. Grow bags work well if you want to grow a few of the plants; if not, pots may be better for you.
Sow the seeds roughly an even distance apart to ensure they aren’t too cramped. Place the grow bag indoors in a sunny spot — like near a patio door or in a conservatory, for example — and make sure they are kept moist but not over watered. Once the frost has passed and your seedlings are strong enough, you can plant them in a sunny spot in your garden. This is usually around June.

Sweet Peppers

Sweet peppers can be grown from late February to early March if you’re growing them directly from seed. Planning on eventually growing them in your vegetable patch? Start them in a grow bag placed in a warm, sunny position. Make sure you sow the seeds thinly and keep each variety separate to make harvesting easier.
Germination will usually take between seven and ten days. Once the seedlings have developed two or more leaves each, they can be removed from the growbags and planted in pots before being planted in the ground by mid-May.

Courgettes

Courgettes are another vegetable that you can start getting ready to grow in winter. Starting around March, plant the seeds in small pots, making sure the seeds are roughly one-inch deep. Gradually increase the pot size as the plants grow — if the roots can be seen from the bottom of the pot, it is a good indicator that it needs to be changed.
The seedlings will be ready to plant in grow bags come late spring or early summer. Alternatively, you can plant them directly into your vegetable patch.
There are a host of vegetables you can start growing this winter with a little help from a grow bag, so get out there and get gardening!
 
 

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