Using grow bags grants exceptional convenience to growers with limited space. It’s also suited to those who wish to grow single crops at a time without committing to the space requirements of a full garden.
Carrots can be grown in bags because bags give you a way to custom-make deep soil. They let you plant almost anywhere, and with a variety of benefits that suit specific needs.
This article will show five reasons carrots grow well in bags and several bag options to decide what fits your lifestyle.
Why Growing Carrots in Bags Works Well
For carrots to grow, look, and taste their best, they need the right environment. Carrots depend on nutritious soil and plenty of space around and above them to grow.
1. Bags Let You Customize Your Soil
Carrot tap roots prefer nutrient-rich, well-draining soil that isn’t too packed. Packed soil, clay soil, and rocky soil impede smooth growth for the tap root.
Growing bags also allow for some flex in the container walls that hard-walled containers don’t give, forcing all accommodating shifts upward toward the top of the container.
If a carrot cannot grow free from obstructions in its path, it will result in more twists and turns in the final product. Also, soil with these types of defects does not drain well either. Down the road, your carrot could come out split or bumpy.
If you grow carrots in bags, you have complete control over what kind of soil to use. Using pre-packaged soil almost guarantees the soil won’t include rocks or clumps that could hinder full growth.
2. Bags Provide the Right Height and Depth
Carrots need plenty of room to grow both above and below the surface.
Above the ground, the carrot plant produces foliage to collect vital sunlight and gasses. Then, from amidst the foliage sprout dense bunches of flowers, which produce the seeds. Tap roots can grow to a foot (30.48 cm) long, while the carrot plant can grow well past that—vertically and horizontally.
The sweet, crunchy orange part we love so much grows downward into the growing medium. From the sides of the carrot, lateral roots grow that stabilize the carrot plant and absorb nutrients and water.
Lateral roots need horizontal growing space to reach as many water and nutrient sources as possible, and tap roots need as much vertical growing space as possible.
While that may sound like a lot of room for a bag, most carrots don’t grow to that size because growers harvest them before they can grow too long. You can do the same thing they do: let the carrots grow to your preferred length before harvesting them.
Note that while irregular-shaped carrots might not look like pre-sorted store-bought varieties, you can still eat them because they have nothing wrong with them.
3. Bags Make It Easy to Select a Growing Site
You can save lots of space and gain growth site flexibility by growing carrots in bags. Inclement weather, pests, or unfavorable seasons to carrot growth no longer inhibit gardening when you can transfer your garden to favorable conditions.
Since bags come in a variety of sizes and materials, they simplify the difficult task of site selection. If you want to harvest a small number of carrots, you can use smaller or fewer bags.
Alternatively, larger bags provide ample room for significantly more harvest, giving you the opportunity to increase your output.
As the carrot plant branches out, you can prune it, bind it up, or let it spread. If you let the foliage spread out, you may want to grow the carrots in smaller bags to make maneuvering easier.
4. Bags Simplify Watering Needs
You need to keep carrots moist but not too moist, and you will need special equipment to regulate in-ground soil drainage. Carrots grown in clear bags give a window into watering needs. You can check the depth to which you watered to ensure accuracy.
In drier climates, plastic bags guard against dehydration because they do not drain, and moisture does not escape through the material because of plastic’s nonporous character. The soil can still dry fast due to other conditions though, so keep a close eye on it.
In more humid climates, moisture does not escape through the top of the soil as fast, posing the threat of mildew and rot. Checking the soil’s moisture before watering saves time, water, and plant stress from overwatering.
If you grow carrots in plastic bags without drainage, ensure you do not overwater.
5. Bags Come in Different Materials and Sizes
Since the bags cannot hold up to indefinite use, they will need replacing. Some bags compost, biodegrade, or recycle. Different materials survive longer than others. And some bags drain better than others.
Growing bags come in two main materials: plastic and fabric.
Plastic Bags
The walls of a plastic bag act as a vapor barrier between the soil and outside air. By preventing water from evaporating too fast, this impermeability can help retain more water and prevent dehydrating your carrots if you live in a dry climate or can’t water as much.
Plastic bags move and stretch well, allowing for the shifts in the soil when your carrots grow, provided you don’t overcrowd them. Take care to select sturdy enough bags to survive the strain of several pounds’ worth of dirt and growing crops.
They are also readily available. Though they usually have low toxicity and minimal leaching, you should still check the type of plastic used in the bag to see how safe it is and whether it can leach into your soil or, worse, your carrots.
Some plastic bags for plant growing come with holes already in them to promote efficient drainage. These also stand up to longer use periods and more seasons, reducing replacement frequency.
If you choose to transplant the carrots after growing them in a plastic bag, you will have to remove the plastic unless it is biodegradable.
Fabric Bags
Fabric bags mimic well-draining soil because they allow moisture to pass through the material, much like water spreads throughout the ground.
Like their plastic peers, fabric bags flex well. That flexibility translates to better pressure alleviation when the soil swells and the carrots grow.
Fabric bags often come with handles attached to them, making transport a snap.
The fabric is safe, so you don’t have to figure out what chemicals it has and whether it will leach into the soil. Many fabric grow bags transplant or compost well without you having to remove them first because manufacturers make them from biodegradable materials.
When they break down in the soil, they don’t release any harmful chemicals or substances into the ground or your carrots.
Fabric bags made from biodegradable materials don’t last as long as some plastic bags, so you’ll have to replace them more often. If you choose natural fabric bags, you can compost them to reduce their contribution to the waste cycle.
However, not all fabric bags biodegrade into the ground. Some don’t biodegrade or compost and must go into the trash.
Bag Sizes
Both plastic and fabric growing bags come in a variety of sizes. For carrots, consider how many you want to grow. Even after thinning, a small one-gallon (3.78-liter) bag can grow half a dozen carrots, while a large ten-gallon (37.8-liter) bag can grow over two dozen.
Because we fill growing bags with moist soil and growing vegetables become heavy quickly, the number of carrots plus your lifting capabilities come into play. Dragging the bags around can compromise their structural integrity, rendering them useless or tearing holes in them, altering drainage.
Determining bag size helps you avoid overcrowding the carrots. Too many carrots can cause twisting, branching, and excessive root growth when resource competition increases.
Conclusion
Plastic and fabric grow bags make great containers for growing carrots. Whether you want to grow carrots outdoors or indoors, bags give you a convenient way to save space and time.
You can continue growing carrots in bags or move biodegradable bags straight into the ground to start an outdoor garden.
