Planting Earth/Grow Boxes
- Thread starter Pinecone
- Start date
You should look into grow bags. Much cheaper per unit. If you don't have soil for planting you can just go ahead and use the soil bag as your pot. A 40 pound bag of potting soil will grow 6 tomato plants. What you do is make 2 6" slashes on the bottom of the bag for drainage. on the top make 6 3" holes evenly spaced. Water with a water soluble fertilizer like Jacks professional weekly. Water daily with clean water about a quart per plant. If you have a garden timer you can automate the daily watering process. A bag like this can be used for 2 years without issue. It's actually becoming a common cheap way to plant greenhouse tomatoes for organic production.
Illini Warrior
Illini Warrior
you're talking about the poly retail bags? - the ones you need to pick thru a pallet load to find bags that aren't busted open - those bags last 2 years?
Well maybe your store is crappy. The plastic on the bag isn't the issue for reuse. With tomatoes you don't want to keep reusing the same soil over and over because they are very susceptible to soil based disease.
Like this for organic
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kellogg...al-Premium-Outdoor-Potting-Mix-6810/206474054
or this for non organic
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Miracle-Gro-25-Qt-Potting-Mix-72781430/206457033
I LOVE mine, and they've lasted 12 years in our tiny greenhouse. They'd likely break down a LOT sooner if left out in the sun year-round, though.
And honestly, I've grown tomatoes in them over and over without replacing the soil... we have blight pretty much no matter what we do here, so we use a copper spray weekly/bi-weekly on all tomatoes and potatoes, indoors or out. I dig out about 1/3 of the soil in each box every spring and replace it with compost or barnyard soil, and mix it in well. Works for us.
They are especially nice for greens, carrots, beets, etc. The "self watering" feature is wonderful, especially in hot summer weather. Keeping regular pots (even really large ones) from drying out too quickly in the heat can be a huge problem. These will go at least 3-4 days even in the driest weather.
Don't go cheap on the container you buy to make them with... the heavier "roughneck" type totes are much sturdier and hold up a lot longer/better, especially if you have to move them around much.
Summerthyme
And honestly, I've grown tomatoes in them over and over without replacing the soil... we have blight pretty much no matter what we do here, so we use a copper spray weekly/bi-weekly on all tomatoes and potatoes, indoors or out. I dig out about 1/3 of the soil in each box every spring and replace it with compost or barnyard soil, and mix it in well. Works for us.
They are especially nice for greens, carrots, beets, etc. The "self watering" feature is wonderful, especially in hot summer weather. Keeping regular pots (even really large ones) from drying out too quickly in the heat can be a huge problem. These will go at least 3-4 days even in the driest weather.
Don't go cheap on the container you buy to make them with... the heavier "roughneck" type totes are much sturdier and hold up a lot longer/better, especially if you have to move them around much.
Summerthyme
Pinecone... depends on what you're comparing it to! I've never found anything that beats good quality garden soil and a good year for moisture for production, in any vegetable. My tomato plants in the garden regularly get as tall as 7 feet, and often 5 feet in diameter (we use 4"x4" fencing and make 24" diameter by 5' tall cages). Even using a trellis or some sort of cage in an earthbox, they aren't going to get that large.
BUT... in a wet (especially!) or dry year, the self regulating moisture/drainage in an Earthbox is hard to beat. Too much water simply drains through the soil (and if it starts overfilling the reservoir in the EarthBox, it just drains out the hole you drill for that purpose). Too little water doesn't matter... you keep it supplied by filling the reservoir once or twice a week. In a really wet year, if you have the boxes outdoors, you will need to fertilize more often, and I'd suggest considering using a foliar fertilizer some of the time, to make sure the plants don't go "hungry"
If you live in a really hot climate, I'd either wrap the earthbox in white plastic or aluminum foil (to keep the temperatures from "cooking" the roots, especially if you used a dark colored plastic container for the base)... or you could probably also paint them with some of the spray paints now being sold for use on plastic.
One huge benefit is that if you do end up with pests in the soil- like wireworms, the bane of my carrot crops!- you can simply toss the soil and start fresh, or if it's only a year old, you could probably sift it through a fairly fine hardware cloth and find most of the worms or grubs on top of the mesh after the soil has gone through. If you put a lid on them as soon as you're done harvesting, it will prevent various insect pests from laying eggs in the soil, as well.
You could also design accessories for the boxes, such as a "hoop house" frame for over the top so you can extend the season, especially for very early or late greens. When I grew peas in several boxes in my greenhouse, I set them against a plastic lattice panel from Home Depot... it looks like the wood lattice, but comes in dark green or white, and doesn't require painting. My chicken yard has been made of these for over 15 years, and while they're showing some age, they've held up very well.
Summerthyme
BUT... in a wet (especially!) or dry year, the self regulating moisture/drainage in an Earthbox is hard to beat. Too much water simply drains through the soil (and if it starts overfilling the reservoir in the EarthBox, it just drains out the hole you drill for that purpose). Too little water doesn't matter... you keep it supplied by filling the reservoir once or twice a week. In a really wet year, if you have the boxes outdoors, you will need to fertilize more often, and I'd suggest considering using a foliar fertilizer some of the time, to make sure the plants don't go "hungry"
If you live in a really hot climate, I'd either wrap the earthbox in white plastic or aluminum foil (to keep the temperatures from "cooking" the roots, especially if you used a dark colored plastic container for the base)... or you could probably also paint them with some of the spray paints now being sold for use on plastic.
One huge benefit is that if you do end up with pests in the soil- like wireworms, the bane of my carrot crops!- you can simply toss the soil and start fresh, or if it's only a year old, you could probably sift it through a fairly fine hardware cloth and find most of the worms or grubs on top of the mesh after the soil has gone through. If you put a lid on them as soon as you're done harvesting, it will prevent various insect pests from laying eggs in the soil, as well.
You could also design accessories for the boxes, such as a "hoop house" frame for over the top so you can extend the season, especially for very early or late greens. When I grew peas in several boxes in my greenhouse, I set them against a plastic lattice panel from Home Depot... it looks like the wood lattice, but comes in dark green or white, and doesn't require painting. My chicken yard has been made of these for over 15 years, and while they're showing some age, they've held up very well.
Summerthyme
Bubble Head
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I am making a grow box now. It has been slow because of weather issues. It is from salvaged material from a windstorm on a neighbors grow box. If it comes out correctly I should have about 3' by 8' growing area with a light gather at 45 degrees. I am going to try it with 3 tomato plants. We shall see.