New Ebucket thread (we continue) PART III

Digger,
I'm about to set up 40+ ebuckets. Still tweaking my mix, but last season was the 1st time I used Tapla's 5:1:1 container mix, and had the healthiest tomato plants and best harvest (modest) ever, since I've been veggie gardening!

I definitely came out ahead $$$ by using the pine bark as the base of the mix.

Linda

I'll go back and read up some more on it . Sounds like the best way to beat that drought , and my boy worked so hard on his first garden ever this last summer . I sure don't want him discouraged .He watered every evening , and kept things going , but want him to enjoy more and work less . So glad I found this thread .

OK , I bought the last five collanders at Dollar Tree yesterday that were strong . They had a bunch more that seemed a little flimsy and had narrow slits for drainage . Has anyone seen them , and are they strong enough ? Will be looking for more in other D T 's in the area . I want to get all my stuff together .

Long as you lean on them and they don't collapse easily, you're good to go! How many eBuckets are you putting together?

Total of twenty . I want to leave ten with my kid for next spring , maybe three for him to plant now for cold weather stuff .I'll keep them at the coast , spinach , something that grows fast , to get him hooked .(Mothers are so devious )

Ok. That IS devious!

Where do you get Tapla ? Don't think I've heard of it . And does H D sell the small pine bark ?

Digger!
Tapla (Al) is the soil and composting guru over on that thread. The container recipe is his.

I'll semd you my cellphone number so you can call me tomorrow and I can explain further. Ezier to talk than type.

Linda

WAH!!! I want Gym Girl's cell phone number.
Just kidding.

I happened upon a thread and ultimately his profile page on GardenWeb too. I'm still getting some jellybean tomatoes and the others are growing slowly. Nights here dipping into mid to upper 40s and 50s. Next week looks like we'll be dropping more steadily.

Linda - I have a Omar's Lebanese which a friend gave me and I planted VERY LATE. It has the most glorious foliage I've ever seen - beautiful green and the fuzzy tomato hairs are GOLD! It has had flowers but too late to expect any fruit. I saw someone post somewhere asking about taking cuttings of tomatoes. Whaddya think of me bringing some of this inside as a foliage plant so it can go gangbusters in the spring?

Tapla , DUH ! Sent dmail . I agree , typing takes too long .If you get there , (hopefully ) I'll see you Sun . pm on the 30Th .
Amanda I have several Beef master volunteers and plan to take suckers , re pot and transport to south Texas . They grow 15' , so plan on pruning back as they grow . If I have any success , I'll post it .They will be outside mostly , but have brought inside for short periods in the past . Heat , sun, is the key .

Digger - I've been meaning to mention that I've been to Dahlonega. My BF and I started the AT in N. Georgia and enjoyed the scenery! ;)

When are you moving to TX? Do keep me posted. I looked at the tomato plant again this morning and said hello to the gold glinting off of it's leaves.

What is the AT? I'm not "moving " to Tex , but it seems like it every year . I sold a house in Arkansas and turned the money into a mobile home N. of Rockport , with two lots , bought previously , across from my sons weekend place .We used to take over his place in the winter , then got this good deal, so I see him often when he comes down to fish the coast .He lives in central Tex .
Just dawned on me what A T is .That would be one of my wanna do's . Hips and knees won't allow it. If I took a coupla days , I might do a five mile section . How far did y'all go ?

We did it in sections - not the whole thing - we stopped road tripping when we got this green iguana. Cats and dogs are sort of easy to find people to come in and watch, but with exotics it's like having kids. When I had my mom's parrot it was even more so. They are like little people and need constant interaction.

Anywho, we started at the southern terminous and have gone all the way up to the Shenandoah Nat'l park. That would have been the next 'leg' of our trip. It is quite another world - we would go for a week or ten days at a time. Really really loved it. Not sure about my joints now either. A little out of shape to be carrying a 50 lb pack.

A part time spot in sunny TX is probably just the thing when you need to get away. I wish the iguana could travel. :D

I'm taking supplies with me to put together the e buckets . Have five so far . Looking for more colanders .
How big is the iguana ?
I have a 50 lb pack wrapped around my body . Don't think I could manage a separate one . lol

:D

I have been thinking about my own pack and wondering why I started to carry it...

The iguana is almost 4' long from nose to tip of tail. She doesn't weigh more than 10 lbs. She's probably 7 or 8 years old. Last year she laid her first clutch of eggs - over 50! That mess will start up again in January. Not looking forward to it. Good thing she's an herbivore. Going to start some greens in my buckets I guess.

Have fun out there. Signing off so I will get more stuff done today. ha ha ah

Please tell me the AT is the Appalachian Trail...

Yes , Linda , you snapped to it but not much conversation 'bout it round here , so it went right over my head .
Talk to you Sun , after you get home , or when it's convenient , let me know .
These pots have been used but they came out of an inspected nursury , so no boogers , I've had them several years . Too many to wash

Ok, Digger. I know how to wash nursery pots, and will put that on my "to do" list, too!!

Sweetie !

VVMan,
Eat those leaves! In fact, the smaller, more tender outer leaves make great cabbage rolls!

Check with Bubba_MoCity for his wife's recipe!

Yum!!!

Linda

Hey , we like cabbage rolls too !

Can someone tell me where I saw the cheap DIY automatic watering setup for the e-buckets or earthboxes .If I remember correctly it was a timer at the facet and 1/4 inch tubing running to each e-bucket to the fill tube and you could put it together for under $75.00. for up to 10 buckets and just a few bucks more for additional buckets. It showed how to set it up and gave the name of the parts used and also the price of each part. I also think they got all the parts at either Lowes or Home depot. Any help would be great. Don

Hi donlaclair.
I use a garden hose electric water timer, $26 - 40. http://www.nextag.com/Watering-Equipment--zz2700479zB4z5---html
Then I build a manifold with 1/4" tube so I have an outlet at each site. http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogDisplay?Ntt=raindrip&storeId=10151&N=0&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&rpp=24
I suggest raindrip becaue you can get replacement fittings. You can get other Raindrip fitings at Lowes, such as; tees. and L fittings and pressure reducers.
DO NOT USE ANY DRIP SYSTEM FROM HARBOR FREIGHT because you will only get maybe one season out of it.
I don't have fill tubes in my buckets so I use 1/4" soaker hose curled around the top of my bucket on the end of 2 or 4 hr end drippers I get from Raindrip.
Hope this helps.

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Thanks Lone,
I'm thinking of the Orbit single dial faucet timer ($29.97) to start. I have so many different e-buckets with different water requirements that I think instead of buying a kit I'll do better by buying piece meal.
I'm creating a compact structure that will hold between 24 and 32 e-buckets. I'm trying to make it 8 feet long and about 4 feet wide and approx 6 to 7 feet tall. It will be able to be covered with a plastic tarp(without touching foliage ) when weather and temps are going to effect tomatoes and peppers. It will be able to be heated with a $25 cermamic heater.It will be able to be cover within minutes and when weather improves back to growing temps ,cover rolled back up in minutes. It will be watered on a timer system so once complete and the e-buckets planted up I'll just have to worry about tying the tomatoes and vineing veggies and watching for a overfill tube being plugged and pest and sick plants. My concern right now is being a tad top heavy and once the foligage is completely fill in it acting as a sail and blowing over. I believe with 16 e-buckets planted up that will give me enough weight at the base to make it pretty stable. I may have to leave the braces on that will keep the cover off the foliage during cold weather. I will take pictures while I construct it and probably post them here. Thanks again Don
PS I guess I'll call it an e-bucket cold frame.

This message was edited Dec 2, 2011 5:13 PM

That sounds like a great project, Don. Can't wait to see the pictures. :)

Yeah, Don,
Post construction pics, please!

Oh yea , the tomato suckers I brought from Georgia have got blooms now .Have cilentro seeded in a bucket yesterday .

Hi donlaclair,
If you scroll down the page below the drip kits, you will see individual drip components, as well as timers.
These are raindrip components from Lowes. You can Google raindrip and order online if you don't want to go to Lowes.
Paul.

Here's my first day putting together the e-bucket cold frame. All made to this point with 8 foot landscaping timbers,3 inch screws and liquid nail. Don

another angle

just give an update! Look at the cabbage in the buckets!!

last few days on the e-bucket cold frame

Luvcats,
Those look great! Congratulations on taking that eBucket plunge!

BTW,
I made a strawberry eBucket, and planted 25 bare root plants over the weekend. I'd totally forgotten they were sent in a sealed plastic bag, and when I opened it, some of the new shoots were getting mushy! Fortunately, most had at least two shoots growing, so I trimmed off the mushy ones. Today, the remaining shoots look like miniature butterflies, and I can see new shoot unfurling within the branches!

I just have one question................

Who invented such a thing as a strawberry pot/bucket? It is #$%(@ to lay those plants down sideways, plug up the holes so the dirt won't fall out, and not break off any sprawling shoots, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!

Lane,
we've got to invent a better strawberry bucket!!! Or, at least, a better planting method!

Hugs!

latest add 7 2 X 6 X 4 feet ends cut to your own design. Bamboo poles. 2 - 1X 3 with 3/4 inch holes drill every 6 inches to let ends of bamboo poles to slip into for support. Next will be the 1/2 inch pvc pipe to hold the plastic tarp from touching the foliage.. Right now it looks like the e-buckets may be to close to each other and may hamper the fruit from maturing due lack of light. I had orginally thought about making a shelf 2/3 the way up ,but now i realize that would really block the sun. I could go wider with another row of buckets on each side but would be hard to get to the inside fill tubes.
where we stand right now
7 landscape timber @ 1.99 = 14.00
4 PT 2X6X 8 ft. @ 3.00=12.00
2 PT 1X3X 8ft. @ 2.00=4.00
3inch screws 1 lb @ 4.00
3 tubes of liquid nail @2.99 = 9.00

This message was edited Dec 7, 2011 2:40 PM

Oh I forgot the bamboo poles and jute twine. I got the bamboo for free so I honestly don't know how much it would cost.

Don,
Your eBucket pergola looks great! Fantastic job there!

Hey Linda - you are making me hungry for strawberries. :)

Do you still need the knot tying info? I haven't gotten my info off of that computer yet - still hanging on with my old laptop here. I am the queen of procrastination this year.

Uh, Ms. Barrister,
Yeah, I do! But, not until mid-February when I put out the tomato seedlings. I'll need to know how to tie the knots for the trellises, so, don't procrastinate too much longer. I'd say you can stall until right up until the New Year, when I'll be sowing the tomato seeds....

I understand pro-cras-ti-na-tion!

P.S. Those strawberries are taking off in that eBerry Bucket! I hope I'm not damaging them by keeping them in the house until a few more sprouts pop out. Then, it's "out you go!" We had morning temps of 30 degrees, but that's the last of the freezing dips for awhile. Good thing is the sun is out and it warms up to the mid-50s during the day.

My bucket garden is staging their "Winter Olympics" right now! The broccoli are taking the gold with no competition, and the cabbages have the most silver medals! The Brussels Sprouts are working hard for the bronze, and the cauliflowers showed up to late to enter the games!

^^_^^