Two grow bags can look the same on a shelf and behave nothing alike, because the difference is in how the felt is made rather than what it is made of. These are needle punched, which locks the fibre into itself instead of relying on a binder, and the wall runs from 1 to 3 mm depending on the format. A denser wall holds its shape under a full root ball and keeps its structure through repeated lifting, while still breathing enough to pass air and surplus water. Two side pockets take tools, ties or a handful of feed at the point of use.
Grow bags are sold on how they look and bought again on how they last. The part that decides which of those happens is the felt wall, and how it was made rather than what it is called.
Needle punching drives the fibre through itself and locks it in place, so the wall holds together without a binder film to crack or peel away. The result is a felt that keeps its structure through repeated lifting and dragging, in walls that run from 1 up to 3 mm depending on the format the programme needs. It still breathes: air reaches the root zone and surplus water leaves through the wall, so compost drains instead of sitting waterlogged, and roots meet air at the face and stop rather than coiling round the base.
The two side pockets are the detail that gets used every day: ties, a trowel, a handful of feed, or the label that would otherwise be lost under a bench. Tomatoes, onions, spinach and salad crops all run in the same wall, on a nursery bench or on a patio where there is no ground to plant into. Colours run green, black and tan so rows, grades and varieties stay readable at a glance. The wall system is shared across the air pruning pot range.
| Use | Nursery and patio growing |
| Material | Needle punched non-woven felt |
| Wall thickness | 1 to 3 mm |
| Form | Round |
| Colour | Green, black, tan, or customised |
| Handles | Stitched fabric handles |
| Pockets | Two side pockets |
| Packing | Bag, pallet or carton |
A full bag is heavy and it has to be moved on the day it is planted, so the handles are stitched through the wall rather than run along one seam, which spreads the load across the felt. A thicker wall in the larger formats takes that pull without stretching, and the stitched pockets hang outside the growing area so nothing inside the bag is disturbed when they are used. Smaller formats move by hand, larger ones on a trolley. Seed trays and starter pots sit alongside in the seedling and propagation range.
Tell us the diameters, wall thicknesses and volumes your programme works to, since the felt is needled to the weight each format needs, and colours can be matched on programme orders. Orders ship in bags, on pallets or in cartons, and the flat bag stores in a fraction of the space a stack of rigid pots takes. The wider soft container range sits in the planting bag range. Container and growing media supply is covered at HortiDaily and FreshPlaza.
What does needle punched mean for the bag?
The fibre is locked through itself rather than bonded with a film, so the wall does not crack or peel and keeps its structure through repeated handling.
Which wall thickness should we order?
The range runs from 1 to 3 mm. Lighter walls suit small formats, and the heavier ends are built for large bags carrying a full root ball.
How are bulk orders packed?
In bags, on pallets or in cartons, with mixed sizes and colours combined in one load.
Tell us the formats, wall weights and volumes your programme needs, and we will come back with the packing plan, sample and lead time.
Mark Wu, Co-founder & Technical Director, Sichuan Zhifang Net Industry. 15 years manufacturing agricultural nettings for growers in 32 countries.
