I'm in the city so space is at a premium, not to mention it is not recommended to plant directly in city soil as the land is likely contaminated.
I picked up a bunch of these containers to grow veggies in this year. They are kind of an earthbox knock off.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/CITY-PICKERS-24-5-in-x-20-5-in-Patio-Raised-Garden-Bed-Kit-with-Watering-System-and-Casters-in-Terra-Cotta-2340D/202563845
Things seem to be going well, but I wondered if anyone has used these or can share any horror/success stories; or if any one has any tips or tricks that might be useful.
Thanks,
PT7
City Pickers - Home Depot
I have something similar called the GrowBox that I used last year. Things grew well and I had only a few complaints -anything that required a lot of moisture like tomatoes required refilling almost every day in hot weather (and it was a 4 gallon reservoir, only 2 tomato plants per box). And since the water sat long enough to acquire mosquito larvae, you would come out of the garden with a lot of itchy ankle bites.
I don't see any outside watering access for the container you have so maybe you will not have the mosquito problem but if you can't see the water level be careful, if the tomatoes dry out too often, your tomatoes will get blossom end rot from inconsistent water supply. I know it wasn't a calcium deficiency in itself because I not only used my compost that had a lot of eggshells but Growbox also provided a continuous release fertilizer.
Quote from dragonfly53 :
I have something similar called the GrowBox that I used last year. Things grew well and I had only a few complaints -anything that required a lot of moisture like tomatoes required refilling almost every day in hot weather (and it was a 4 gallon reservoir, only 2 tomato plants per box). And since the water sat long enough to acquire mosquito larvae, you would come out of the garden with a lot of itchy ankle bites.
I don't see any outside watering access for the container you have so maybe you will not have the mosquito problem but if you can't see the water level be careful, if the tomatoes dry out too often, your tomatoes will get blossom end rot from inconsistent water supply. I know it wasn't a calcium deficiency in itself because I not only used my compost that had a lot of eggshells but Growbox also provided a continuous release fertilizer.
Hi Dragonfly,
This is usefull. I hadnt thought of creating a mosquito problem. These boxes have a pvc type of fill tube that sticks up out of the bed which is used to fill the watering tray which holds at least 2-3 gallons. It may be possible to acquire mosquito larvae becuase of that opening. Maybe I could wrap a sock of fine mesh netting around the tube to help prevent that.
Thanks,
PT7
I have a planter that has an opening.I used some nylon window screening to cover it.
I always freak out when I ever spot mosquito larva,
I'll dump out the water while yelling, "Die! Die!"
Very dramatic. LOL!
gabagoo,
I know aren't mosquito larvae creepy, the way they swim upside down? And you just know they will all hatch into bloodsuckers, lol!
How do you keep the screening on the opening?
Hi PT7 and Welcome to Dave's Garden!
I would think there might be lots of members who frequent the "Self-Contained Box Gardens" forum that have run into problems with mosquito larva. It's possible some of them have found good solutions since many of them grow veggies this way every year.
That forum is open to both subscribers and non-subscribers.
Although I've grown a lot of veggies in regular containers, mosquitos weren't a problem. I have also collected supplies to make Self-Watering "eBuckets" (see the forum lists), but I haven't gotten around to actually using them.
I bet a question about Mosquito larva or any other issues, would get some good responses. Here is the link to that forum.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/boxgardens/all/
This message was edited Jun 14, 2014 3:42 PM