Hi All -- Rookie Gardener who's made some mistakes & looking for help / advice on how to right things 
I rent an apartment in a heavily wooded area (sun & shade that shifts throughout the day - re: no spot of straight sunlight for more than 4ish hours, maybe 5). B/c I can't put down anything permanent, & b/c we have a plethora of bugs & animals in the yard at all times, I'm trying to grow veggies & herbs in grow bags inside a cheap plastic greenhouse (for pest protection?). The greenhouse has 3 tiny screened windows & a screen door, which helps a bit for ventilation & keeping things from being crazy humid.
That said, I may have made some mistakes regarding moisture. Firstly, I read that grow bags dry out easily, so I mulched about 1.5 inches in the bottom, and about an inch around the sides before adding Lowe's Organic Garden Soil - thinking that would slow moisture loss. I think the humidity in the greenhouse tent remains fairly high & thus I may have kept things too wet with the mulch (several days after watering it is still wet an inch into the containers). Also, I think from only using this soil, I may be experiencing some compacting. Even though it isn't dry, its settled quite a bit from how it looked the first week or so. & maybe too much organic material?
All of my plants have sprouted (except celery) but they seem to be staying fairly small. My mizuna is at a decent size, as are my green beans, basil, and cilantro. But my arugula (the third picture below) is small, spindly, and yellowish. My radishes (second picture below) got very leggy & pale & spotted, and my cucumber leaves seem to have stopped growing & are now getting pale on the edges (not pictured here).
I have seen tiny black flying bugs, which I believe are fungus gnats. I've treated the plants with an organic fungicide/insecticide & they're greatly reduced but not gone completely. I'm afraid to water even though the top layer has dried out (its been over a week). The bags still seem to be holding moisture & I don't want to make the gnats worse or breed fungus in my grow bags.
Gah! Please help. Totally knew to containers, grow bags, & green houses. Only gardened once before (last year) and it was at my job's raised beds.
Thank you!!
mustard greens
radishes:
arugula:
I rent an apartment in a heavily wooded area (sun & shade that shifts throughout the day - re: no spot of straight sunlight for more than 4ish hours, maybe 5). B/c I can't put down anything permanent, & b/c we have a plethora of bugs & animals in the yard at all times, I'm trying to grow veggies & herbs in grow bags inside a cheap plastic greenhouse (for pest protection?). The greenhouse has 3 tiny screened windows & a screen door, which helps a bit for ventilation & keeping things from being crazy humid.
That said, I may have made some mistakes regarding moisture. Firstly, I read that grow bags dry out easily, so I mulched about 1.5 inches in the bottom, and about an inch around the sides before adding Lowe's Organic Garden Soil - thinking that would slow moisture loss. I think the humidity in the greenhouse tent remains fairly high & thus I may have kept things too wet with the mulch (several days after watering it is still wet an inch into the containers). Also, I think from only using this soil, I may be experiencing some compacting. Even though it isn't dry, its settled quite a bit from how it looked the first week or so. & maybe too much organic material?
All of my plants have sprouted (except celery) but they seem to be staying fairly small. My mizuna is at a decent size, as are my green beans, basil, and cilantro. But my arugula (the third picture below) is small, spindly, and yellowish. My radishes (second picture below) got very leggy & pale & spotted, and my cucumber leaves seem to have stopped growing & are now getting pale on the edges (not pictured here).
I have seen tiny black flying bugs, which I believe are fungus gnats. I've treated the plants with an organic fungicide/insecticide & they're greatly reduced but not gone completely. I'm afraid to water even though the top layer has dried out (its been over a week). The bags still seem to be holding moisture & I don't want to make the gnats worse or breed fungus in my grow bags.
Gah! Please help. Totally knew to containers, grow bags, & green houses. Only gardened once before (last year) and it was at my job's raised beds.
Thank you!!
mustard greens
