Earth boxes

Wow....here is a photo of my Earth boxes just 3 weeks after planting them up! Compare the photo to the one posted with the first entry so you can see how much everything has grown. There are about a dozen green tomatoes hidden in there and 5 or 6 peppers also. Lots of flowers and buds forming so I'm sure there will be a bounteous harvest down the line. I've never seen such growth and very large leaves on the peppers and tomatoes. So far, the Earth boxes have lived up to everything they claim to be. You have to be sure to add water everyday...or at least every other day to keep them moist. No signs of insects or disease on any of the plants. So far, this is the easiest crop of tomatoes I've ever grown. If any of you have struggled with gardening, I'd surely recommend that you try gardening in an Earth box...It certainly has been easy for me!

Thanks for visiting. Come back often to see new posts.

Take care,

Ron, the Plant Man

Earth boxes

Wow....so far very impressed with the performance of the Earth box planters. The only work necessary each day is to add water to the reservoir. The plants are doing great. I don't think I've ever grown any better looking tomato and pepper plants! Nice strong looking plants, healthy and full foliage, and they are growing everyday. I think it helped to start with healthy and strong plants to begin with, as they have just continued on without ever even slowing down. I'm glad that I gave the Earth boxes a try.

Will keep you posted in a few days and will include photos as the plants get bigger.

Thanks for reading.

Take care,

Ron, the Plant Man

A Summer Without Sunshine!

It’s been cool, cloudy, and drippy for months now, and we are well into July! This is the first time our once lovely Muskogee Crape Myrtle has ever had mildew on it! I said 'once lovely' because last summer the city contractor 'trimmed' it, and I use the term 'trimmed' very lightly as they really butchered the daylights out of it, but that is another story for another day. Just the other day I remarked to my wife that I was thinking about writing a book called “The Summer Without Sunshine….a true saga of Southern California”....so here is a blog entry with the same title! Anyhow, can anyone tell me when the “global warming” is supposed to start?????? Look on the bright side though, we are saving tons of $‘s not running the air conditioner and not having to water the plants and lawn (oops, a dirty word anymore) so much this summer. My controller is still set at 30% of the normal summer watering times!

Oh, and another benefit of the cool weather…our Avocado tree doesn't have any Persica mites on it this year! Probably the first time in about 10 years that there are no mites on the foliage. Also, the orange tree doesn’t have any of that ugly leaf miner yet this summer. Maybe they come a little later in the season. They are fairly new so I don’t have their schedule down pat yet.

A downer however are the gorgeous Plumerias. They don’t have ANY flowers yet. They usually start blooming about mid June in my back yard, but all the flower buds are still very small and tight. Even if we get a sudden rush of normal summer weather, it looks like it will take the buds about 2 to 4 weeks to grow enough to make some beautiful flowers! Bummer!!!!

See you next time,

Ron, the Plant Man

Earth boxes

Every morning I add water to the Earth boxes...decided to measure how much they use every day, so this morning I added 40 ounces of water to each box, or about 1 quart and an additional 3/4 cup. That took care of filling the reservoirs. Then, just to be on the safe side I also added some water around each of the tomatoes and peppers that are planted. The potting soil seemed to still be moist around the plants, but I just wanted to make sure they still had enough water. The tomatoes and peppers are all looking really good. Strong and healthy with a fair amount of new growth showing at the tips of the plants. As the old adage goes, so far, so good!

Bye for now,

Ron, the Plant Man

Earth boxes

In reading the garden blog, 'Dirt Du Jour' from my friend (although I've never met her) Cindy McNatt, several months ago, she wrote about an interesting item that I looked into. They were planters you can make yourself called "Earthtainers". They are built out of Rubbermaid storage containers that turn into self contained garden containers. I went to the website and watched the video and downloaded the instructions. Cindy's comment was that they are big and ugly...which they are, but they are also very practical, and would work for me to grow a few tomatoes and peppers as I have no place in my yard where they would get enough sunshine. However, after seriously thinking about it, I decided that I probably just didn't have the right tools to build these things, nor the desire to go to the several stores to gather all the necessary parts to get them assembled! For those interested, here is the link to the Earthtainer website: http://www.tomatofest.com/

In another post by Cindy, she mentioned that she had a friend who had grown tomatoes in a product that was purchased ready to go. They are called "Earthboxes". Out of curiosity, I went to the website, http://www.earthbox.com to see just what they were. I was a little hesitant about what I saw...I thought they looked too small to grow large tomato plants in, but Cindy said they were doing well for her friend, so I asked my wife, Bonnie, to get 3 of them for my birthday. Well, being that my birthday is in mid June, I seriously thought that it might just be too late in the season to start tomatoes but after visiting a local nursery and seeing some really nice looking tomato plants, I thought I would go ahead and give it a try.

The "Earthboxes" were ordered from the website and it took a few days for them to get here, and when they arrived there were a few time constraints so I didn't get them planted until until last Monday and Tuesday...right after the 4th of July! Will I ever get tomatoes planting them so late in the season???? Well, we will see as the summer progresses.

A few points that I noticed about setting up the "Earthboxes". The set that I got contained everything you needed to get started....planter mix, fertilizer, dolomite, and casters so the boxes can be moved around fairly easy. They are built so there is a reservoir of water in the very bottom, with a tube that you add water to keep the reservoir full. On top of that is a grid to keep the planter mix slightly above the water, however in two corners the planter mix goes down into the reservoir so that the water can 'wick' up to moisten the rest of the planter mix. Now, the instructions said to mix the dolomite into the top 4 inches of the planter mix, so I did, but wondered if this was really necessary as our Western waters are so alkaline that I really thought I could have left this out. In hindsight, I should have done one planter with the dolomite, one with only half the dolomite, and the third with no dolomite, just to see if my observations were correct. Oh well, maybe when I replant next time.

After filling the box with the planter mix, you add the water to the reservoir. They conveniently build them so you can't add too much water. When it reaches the proper level, the excess water runs out of an overflow in the bottom to the planter. I finished two of the boxes and set them in place and then filled them with water. I put off planting them until the next day hoping that by then the planter mix would be moist. Much to my surprise, the planter mix as not very moist the next day, although I had added water to them twice on the previous day. Oh well, I just had to get the tomato plants in....couldn't wait any longer so I went ahead and planted them up. Although the instructions didn't say to do this, I added water to the top around the young plants after they were planted, just because the mix seemed to be too dry and I was afraid the newly planted tomatoes and peppers would dry out if I didn't!

The whole planter is topped of with a plastic cover...you cut holes in it so you can put the plants into the planter mix. Sounds easy, but I guess I'm just not very coordinated as the holes I cut look too big. You only want to make them large enough to insert the rootball through and into the planter mix underneath, then fold the flaps back down around the stem...mine look pretty messy but I suppose it will still work.
Well, here is a photo of the finished planters...I have 2 tomato plants in two of the boxes and 4 pepper plants in the third box. Come back often to see updates on the progress they are making.

Take care, and have a nice day!

Thanks for visiting.

Ron, the Plant Man

My Blog is Carbon Neutral!

Planet Green says we can make our blogs carbon neutral by including this button in our sidebars. What happens is, The Arbor Day Foundation plants a tree in the Plumas National Forest in northern California, that was damaged so badly by forest fires last year. They will plant a tree for every domain where the button lives!

Pretty neat, here's how it works:

How does a tree neutralize your blog’s carbon footprint?

How much carbon dioxide does your blog create?

How much carbon dioxide does a tree absorb?

Unfortunately, no precise answer is possible. The carbon dioxide absorption of a tree can differ a lot. The amount of carbon dioxide that a tree can absorb depends on the type of tree, light exposure, length of the vegetation period, latitude, water balance, and the soil conditions.

There are many different calculations for the saving potential of a tree. The assumed values vary between 10 and 30kg (20 and 70lb.) for a tree each year. It is certain however, that in its first two to three years a tree absorbs relatively little carbon dioxide. In the growth phase following this, the absorption rate increases rapidly. During this time, the tree saves a considerable amount of carbon dioxide. The absorption rate decrease again from the age of 18.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) assumes a yearly absorption of one tree of approximately 10kg (20lb.) carbon dioxide emissions. “Make it green”, the environmental program of kaufDA, is using a yearly absorption value of 5kg (11lb.) for its “My blog is carbon neutral” initiative. This is a very conservative calculation, ensuring that the neutralization of each blog is achieved.

One tree neutralizes the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog

As demonstrated in the above calculation, the atmosphere can be relieved by an average of 5kg (11lb.) carbon dioxide every year by planting one tree. An average blog causes 3.6kg (8lb.) of carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, a tree neutralizes the carbon dioxide emissions of a blog. Since a tree lives for an average of 50 years, carbon dioxide emissions of your blog can be completely neutralized for this time period!

Thanks for reading my blog!

Take care,

Ron, the Plant Man