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