TikTok's Wild Pants Planter Hack Has Us Scratching Our Heads

You may have heard of upcycling your old clothes so they become something new to wear, but have you thought about upcycling them for use in your garden? Those who reuse their old jeans to make DIY grow bags have it, and it's a resourceful method, indeed. Grow bags can be used as an alternative to containers, and there are a number of benefits to using fabric grow bags in your garden. They're lightweight, easy to move, and breathable, and they prevent plants from becoming root-bound. 

Typically, the fabric of these grow bags is made from polypropylene, but in the case of jean grow bags, as seen on TikTok, they are made from denim. However, as environmentally friendly as it might be to repurpose your old jeans into grow bags, this hack may not be the most effective way to DIY a grow bag because of how long it takes denim to dry, and its varying degrees of breathability as a fabric, that poses a risk to your plant's root health.

While making grow bags from the pants you want to throw out is a clever way to repurpose old jeans, things get complicated when considering the pitfalls of the denim material itself. If you've stepped in a puddle on a rainy day while wearing your favorite jeans, you may be familiar with how long it took for that single leg to dry. Now, imagine how long it would take for a full pair to dry after being intentionally watered. Grow bags that stay wet are susceptible to developing mold and mildew, so using a slow-drying material like denim can make this a more likely occurrence for your denim grow bags.

Meanwhile, the breathability of denim isn't reliable, since large amounts of the material are actually a blend of cotton and synthetic fibers typical of recently popular stretchier jeans, as opposed to the traditional all-cotton jean. Synthetic materials are known to provide less airflow to the roots of the plant and can suffocate the roots, affecting the quality of your plant. Instead of using denim, you may want to consider burlap or cotton, as long as they are 100%, to avoid the issues presented with synthetic cotton blends. While not as eco-friendly, another alternative is soil bag planting for a quick and easy no-dig garden.