I received my order of UV-resistant green sandbags produced by DeWitt. I thought that it would be the same polypropylene fabric that they use as a weed barrier; but I now doubt it. In other words, I expected a small hole (for water drainage) at each cross weave (the "thread" is about 1/8 to 1/12 wide, flat, and thin). Water drains quite well through the stitching at the bottom of the bag. In contrast, drainage from the fabric wall is slow. Water leakage through the fabric is best observed if a jet of water from the hose is aimed at the wall; otherwise, leakage from the wall only by gravity is slow and rare. I can't tell if the fabric has a thin film laminated coating. The surface of the fabric is smoother than I expected if there was no lamination, but more water drains out than I expected if there was a laminated coating. In no way is any possible laminated coating present on the DeWitt bag similar to that pictured for the long lasting sandbags offered by Dayton Bag Company. Making pots out of these sandbags would involve folding the bottom, and securing such folds with a few dabs hot melted glue. These would be loose folds to form a more cylindrical bottom, just strong enough to make it easier to fill the bags with dirt. UV-resistant hot glue sticks are available (I don't know where), but since these will be in the bottom of the bag, shielded from UV by dirt, sticks from the Craft section of Wal-Mart should be fine. Since such pots would be too tall given their diameter, the tops could be rolled inside out, to reduce the height. I'll go ahead and make some pots out of a few of these, since I got them anyway. But I can't really recommend them at this point: First, I doubt that any pinholes in the fabric are large enough to cause roots to branch. Second, I don't think that the oxygen diffusion rate through the bag would be that much better than a solid plastic pot. I previously suspected the first, but I was really hoping for a much improved oxygen situation. If you are currently a user of pots made from black plastic film (these have holes in the bottom, otherwise they are similar to normal plastic bags, except that they are sold as nursery pots); these DeWitt sandbags may be competitive. It is possible that if I subjected these sandbags to a small amount of wear and tear (as a transport bag), the fabric will loosen up and become more porous for oxygen. In which case, I would post an update. Here is a link that might be useful: DeWitt Sandbags

Wow, looks like this thread continued without me noticing! It's great to see the interest. Legacy, I think that's a heck of an idea! I'll get to work on it soon. I tried playing around with a few different "molds" tonight, seeing if I could use something such as a tuperware container to form the screen. It partially worked, yet I couldn't get the screen to maintain shape after pulling it out from the tuperware. I used two containers of a few different sizes that were stackable. One container served as the bottom half of the mold and the top container as the top half and also as a compressor. I had mixed results. Ultimately I was attempting to compress a shape without having to make vertical cuts in the sides as you had suggested. I was hoping it would maintain shape while I pulled it out of the mold so I could staple the sides without having to make cuts. But alas, I could never get them to hold shape no matter how much force I applied compressing the two containers together. So I'm going to try the vertical cut technique you had suggested. I'm really exited about it as it should make the process very efficient if I can get the process perfected. Tim, that's a great idea too with the tomato planter. I've got a similar situation in my back yard: lots of concrete, but little soil. If I'm ever struck by the tomato bug, I'll definitely give it a shot. If you decide to try it next year, please let us know how it turns out! James thanks for sharing your experiences too. I'm glad you're having success with the air pots. That drives me even further to try and perfect this DIY attempt. I like your idea of using plastic buckets with holes burned in them, however I am at a loss for spare buckets at this time. But in the long run such a container would definitely be more structurally sound and last nearly forever. If anyone has more ideas, please share them with everyone. Thanks again! -Brandon

I have 3 fig cuttings from last year, they are about 12 inches tall. They dropped their leaves in the fall and I wintered them in the garage. I watered them about once a month in the winter. I just looked at them today and noticed there were some new leave tips at a the very top, which have dried out and the stem is dried out also, Should I water and trim off the dried out stem. Also when is a good time to put the pots outside. I don't plan on planting them in the ground but want to keep in pots for awhile. Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

This is what I do, and I never lose any roses, and it doesn't matter what zone the roses are rated at: I overwinter my 50 roses in large pots in my garage with the 2 cars. LOL Three car garage. Here's what I do: - I keep deadheading until it's time for them to go into the garage. - I keep feeding them and watering well until it's time for them to go into the garage. -Then when the temperature gets to be about -6C I cut all the leaves off at the point they join the heavier stem. I don't cut any height off of the plant. - At this point I water them really, really well and move them by dolly into the garage. - I cover them with thick blankets, layers of flannel sheets or sleeping bags when the outside temp gets colder than -20C. - My garage is insulated. - Then I leave them alone in the dark. Doesn't matter if the garage door is opened and closed. - Around January, I look and see if they're dried out a bit. - If they are, then I water each rose 1/2 cup. - I repeat this every month. - As the weather starts warming up, I take off some blankets - so they don't start making new growth in the heat. - Any new growth should be broken off as you would thorns - just push them to the side, and they'll fall off. - If you have only a few pots - you can start taking them outside during the day when it gets about 5 C outside. Bring them inside until the night temperature doesn't drop below 2C. - Remember to water really well once you take them outside. - If you have a lot - then either wait until night tempreatures are 2C before you take them outside - or cover them with blankets at night. ----------------- This winter was really warm, so I didn't cover them at all. Hope this helps. :) Carol