Save and Re-Use Your Plastic Garden Supply Bags as Soaking Containers

When I buy bare root daylilies, I soak them (usually for longer than I should) in plastic tubs or painter buckets. (For less evaporation, I find that the buckets work better than the tubs, though it is easier to get the plants into and out of the tubs.)



Sometimes my plant lust (and my time/energy/ability to pot the incoming plants) results in my tubs and buckets getting full, with no space to soak the most recent arrivals.

One substitute is to use a L or XL Ziploc bag, the ones that are marketed for carrying or storing all sorts of non-food stuff (though not, explicitly, plants). I put the bag into a large nursery pot (don't we all have a hoard of pots?), put my bare root daylilies in, and then add water (or a transplant solution) to cover the roots.

The Ziploc bags cost money, though, and I may not always have them on hand. It just occurred to me the other day (when I had another box of bare root daylilies arrive, with no place to put them) that there is another (and arguably better) way to do the same thing.

Almost all of us buy garden supplies in bags during the course of the year. We buy fertilizer, potting soil, seed starting mix, mulch, or other things that may come in waterproof plastic bags. Instead of throwing these emptied bags out (or putting them into the recycle bin, if they have a recycle code), we can instead save them and cut them down to a suitable height for use inside a nursery pot as an expedient soaking tub.

The bigger the bag, the more plants you can put in it. This mulch bag is holding 4 tetraploid daylilies:



Even smaller bags can be useful; this 10 lb Osmocote fertilizer bag holds 2 bare root daylilies easily:



Be sure to test the bags first by filling them with water and making sure there are no leaks. Also check on the bags at least daily, in case there is a slow leak. You don't want your plants to dry out!

Once your plants have finally found a home (whether in a pot or in the ground), you may be able to save and re-use the bags. Or if they are no longer usable (due to tears or leaks), you can always cut down the bags from the next load of fertilizer, potting soil, mulch, etc. An added benefit: The empty, cut-down bags take a lot less space to store in the winter than a stack of buckets or tubs. The only other things you need are some empty pots (which you probably have anyway), and you are ready for the next batch of incoming plants!