Growing with Earthbox

I planted two more Earthboxes today. One with 'Brandywine' tomatoes and one with bell peppers. (That's a mirliton in the clay pot).

The third Earthbox is planted with 'Ozark Beauty' strawberries. Two more Earthboxes left to plant.

I planted "Sweet Charlies" strawberry last week and still have three boxes. One box will be hopefully planted today. Difficult for me because I must go to the new home to plant them for the earthboxes are over there. We have been moving as much as possible(boxes) so on the moving day we won't have as much. I have 25 extra plants and don't know what to do with them? Meanwhile, I'm starting honeydew melons and cantaloupe tonight or tomorrow. Wish we were at the new home already!

Tplant, hope you get settled soon. Moving is such a pain. Let us know when you get settled.

What I did with my extra strawberry plants was to plant them in a very small container, to be planted several weeks from now. I thought that since these extras are crowded into a little container, that perhaps they won't grow as quickly and will serve as 'succession' plants. Do you think that will work?

Don't know. I used to use a proceedure called "heeling." You plant them at an angle in the soil and then use them at your convenience.

I had planted three Earthboxes on March 23, 2004: Two Brandywine tomato plants (box on Left), eight Park's 'Whopper' bell pepper plants (middle box), and eight 'Ozark Beauty' strawberry plants (box on Right).

The tomatoes and bell peppers seem to be doing fine. The strawberries aren't doing as well as I'd like, but I think they are getting too much direct sun, so I am going to move that box (here, in coastal Louisiana, it might be too hot for them).

These are the boxes as of April 11, 2004:

This message was edited Apr 12, 2004 12:45 PM

Sweetpea -- I am growing "Sweet Charlie" recommended for hot and humid weather by the state "Aggie's" of Fl. They are doing fine. I purchased them from www.Daisyfarms.com. As far as our moving is concerned we just recieved approval from the school board on 3/15. We could not move until then. POLITICS. All this bull, 4 months, waiting for their approval. This held me back on my tomatoes because the seedlings are too big to plant in earthbox. I was able to start peppers in the box and they are doing very well. I'll try to buy some heirlooms if I can find a nursery that still has some. I am buying one earthbox a month and now have four. I am amazed at the difference in the growth! You can almost watch them grow. Your boxes look great!!!

Say, what do you other Earthbox owners do when the original covers get ratty and the elastic gets stretched out? I never saw an option to buy "covers only" on the flier.

Eileen

On their Web site's order page, there is an option to purchase a set of two covers.

Tplant, I was wondering if you had moved yet. I knew it was to be in April. Have you settled in yet?

T, I am SO thrilled that the plants are growing! I can't seem to start a seed to save my life, and even doubted my ability to grow the tomatoes and peppers from the transplants.

I bought two raised-bed boxes (told about those in another thread in 'Dirt Cheap') and have one planted with seedlings of cucumbers, eggplant, squash, and watermelon.

I can't decide whether to put the corn or the potatoes in the other raised box. I still have two Earthboxes to plant, so I might use those two for the corn. What do you think?

Jean

Jean, thanks for the tip. I never thought of looking on the web site!

Eileen

I would imagine that you would do best to plant corn in your earthbox and potatoes in the raised garden. I have been recovering from the flu and will try to set up another earthbox tomorrow, but not certain. We will move in by the end of the month as our lease is up as of 5/1. I have had the flu before but never as severe as I had this past week. Did you read my advice on the strawberries?

Tplant, yes, I saw what you did with your "extra" strawberry plants. I had stuck mine in a teensy pot for a while and then yesterday, I planted them in a self-watering hanging basket. These little "extras" that have been in that teensy pot look better than the ones in the Earthbox but, as I said, I think those are getting too much sun.

I agree, I think the corn will do better in the Earthboxes and the potatoes elsewhere.

I sure hope you get to feeling better soon. The 'flu can be SO miserable.

Eileen, I only noticed because when I received the boxes, I wondered myself what I'd do if the covers got damaged or worn out. Do you have anything planted in yours right now?

Jean

Yes, I have onion sets in one of the five boxes. But I don't have the cover on because there are 20 or so sets and I didn't want to cut up the cover - I plan to pull them out for green onions in a few weeks. Another box has Early Calabrese broccoli, black side up on the cover, and it's not doing too bad! The temps here are still in the upper 20's at night and 40's-50's in the daytime, so 3 of the boxes are still empty.

Eileen, please help eradicate my ignorance. I don't 'get it' about growing onions. One takes what looks like a slim green onion and that is planted, then it grows for a bit, and then they are harvested young for use as green onions. How do onions make more baby onions? From seed? Or, as they mature, do they produce offshoots or bulblets to multiply themselves? (Can you tell that this former city-girl has never seen onions growing?) LOL.

Sweetpea - Did you put lime in with the soil mix? According to instructions lime is to be used only for tomatoes! I didn't notice the instructions and planted my strawberries in the former tomatoe box that had lime and they are not doing too well. I have a PH gauge and will test my soil but not today for I am still sick and the weather is stormy. I do believe the berrys like a lower Ph but I'm not sure. Will check it out and see what happens. Nice to talk to you again.
HAPPY GARDENING TO ALL

Just checked -out the required PH for strawberries and it is 6.0 - 6.5 This was the setting for the earthbox of strawberry. My problem was that tomatoes were planted in a single forward row and fertilizer was applied in a line at the back of the box. The result was that I burned the back row plants. Lesson learned and passed along.

LOL! Onions: Ok this is all I know about onions - you can buy seeds and they grow into little plants that resemble fat grass, and then you transplant them into your garden (or just thin 'em if they are there already) and over about 3 months they grow into ordinary onions. OR.... you go to the grocery store or WalMart and buy a mesh bag of bulb-looking things called "onion sets" and poke them into the ground in early spring. Over a month or so they grow into "table onions" which are white at the root end and green at the top, and they are meant to be eaten whole, but can be chopped up and are very good in potato salad. I suppose there's a step in there where the "fat grass" stage of the seedling onion becomes the "onion set" but I've never experienced it personally.

Eileen

Tplant, no, I didn't add any lime. The boxes are filled with Miracle-Gro potting soil and a 6-8-8 granular fertilizer that I found at Wal-Mart.

Since the strawberries in the basket are doing MUCH better than the ones in the Earthbox, I can only assume that the ones in the box are getting way too much late-afternoon sun (the basket is in an area partly-shaded from the afternoon sun). I'm going to move the box and will let you know how they do.

You must be getting that line of storms that passed through here yesterday. Take care of yourself and I hope the 'flu passes quickly.

Eileen, thanks for the info. I'll have to plant a few and watch how they grow. Well, I guess I'll have to plant a bunch (no pun intended) because I'll be pulling them up occasionally to see what they are doing underground. ANOTHER "experiment in gardening." LOL.

Yes, and you can eat your experiments too!

Hi Everyone,
Just joined up and I'm sure glad I did. Thanks for the good advice on using Earth Boxes. I have 4 new ones that have Tomatoes and Peppers growing in them. I decided to follow instructions for once and now it seems like the thing to do. You have no idea how hard this was.... LOL
Anyways, I'll post some photos when I can.

A few thoughts on comments in this thread... My plants had a slow period just after transplanting, where my other plants seemed to be doing better. That seemed to be a small case of shock. All have now advanced beyond their brothers and sisters.

I am experimenting with 3 kinds of potting soil, Jungle Growth, MG and Pro Mix. Results are inconclusive so far. The 3 types are definetly different, with Jungle Growth being the most "porous". Is anyone else using Jungle Growth?

Mike

Hi Mike -- I use "Jungle Growth" and I like it because it is pourous. This makes it easy for the roots to reach water and fertilizer and the roots do not have to grow long and wild as they do in the ground reaching for nourishment. However when the mix gets wet its consistency gets a little more solid but not compact. Earthbox people show a list of soil makers and Jungle Growth is on the very top.

Finnally -- we are moving on the 27th of this month! I have been gardening between two homes setting up my earthboxes while still coping with the after effects of the flu.
I have a terrible dry cough. Getting back to my earthboxes, I am really excited. I already set-up four of them and have one more to go.(I buy one a month for now) In the boxes: 1) four honeydew 2( Eight peppers -- against my better judgement, but I will follow their directions to the letter 3) Two mini-orange tomatoes 4) Four cucumbers. The other box (not set-up yet) will be four watermelon and every month as they arrive will be something new. I must say this is real fun and exciting. I have tomatoe seedlings almost ready for transplant and may use the fifth box for them and wait till the next box arrives at my new address to plant my watermelons. I planted the peppers about 2 1/2 weeks ago and for the first week it was slow growth but after the second they developed extra leaves and now they are about ten inches tall and bushy with many leaves. While checking on them every two or three days you can really see the growth and no weeding. Is this not great or what????

Just found out some important info about Dolomite lime -- very important for earthbox as it breaks down slowly while other lime breaks down all at once. This will help keep PH at 6-7. Perhaps some of your problems can be solved by using dolomite. It can be found by searching the net for "Dolomite Lime"

Update: The strawberries in my earthbox, which I forgot to mention, have nice size berries while the others not in the box have just got to the flower stage. I'm growing "Sweet Charlies" for the first time. They were recommended by Fl. Dept. of Agriculture and they sure knew what they were talking about. These are the best berries I have ever grown. They sure beat ozark and earliglow. These are the front row berries that survived my previous goof by planting the back row over the old fertilizer. The box was used earlier for tomatoes.

Tplant, my strawberries (Ozark Beauty) aren't doing much of anything -- just SLOWLY growing. But the tomatoes and bell peppers are doing wonderfully! I have never had them look this healthy.

Hi Sweetpea -- I never had much luck with ozark beauty. You could order Sweet Charlie now or next season. I am sold on this one. The cost was $15 for 50 plants @ Daisy Farm. or $9.00 for 25.
www daisyfarm.com

Just came back from our new home which we will be moving into(finally) tomorrow. My peppers which I haven't seen in three days have shown remarkable growth compared to the others that are not in the earthbox. They are wonderfully healthy with buds and flowers. The honeydew seedlings which did not look to good after the transplant are not doing to well so I will direct seed tomorrow as I should have done in the first place but I thought I'd get a head start. I will also start watermelon in another box. Gotta go now. Still have some packing to do.

I planted 2 tomatoes in my new earthbox. My Godfather recomended that I spray them with "Daconil" when they start setting fruit to stop blossom end rot.

I try to stay away from heavy chemicals and poisons.
From the Ohio State University Extension service:

Blossom-end rot is induced when demand for calcium exceeds supply. This may result from low calcium levels or high amounts of competitive cations in the soil, drought stress, or excessive soil moisture fluctuations which reduce uptake and movement of calcium into the plant, or rapid, vegetative growth due to excessive nitrogen fertilization.
Management

1. Maintain the soil pH around 6.5. Liming will supply calcium and will increase the ratio of calcium ions to other competitive ions in the soil.

2. Use nitrate nitrogen as the fertilizer nitrogen source. Ammoniacal nitrogen may increase blossom-end rot as excess ammonium ions reduce calcium uptake. Avoid over-fertilization as side dressings during early fruiting, especially with ammoniacal forms of nitrogen.

3. Avoid drought stress and wide fluctuations in soil moisture by using mulches and/or irrigation. Plants generally need about one inch of moisture per week from rain or irrigation for proper growth and development.

So it sounds like you can avoid this problem by using the fertilizer per the EB instructions including the lime, and by making sure EB isn't out of water in the reservoir.

Meanwhile, 3 of my EB's are planted:
***in one, 8 broccoli which have been there 2 weeks and have tripled in size despite the nights in the 30's & 40's,
***in one, about 30 onion sets halfway to being good green table onions (didn't use cover on this one - didn't want to hack that many holes in it).
***in one, 4 celery plants and 4 par-cel herb plants. They have been there for a week and are slightly larger than when planted, despite the cold nights.
***one is being used as a plant holding area. I have some mint plants, some jostaberry cuttings and some euonymus cuttings that are rooting/rooted and waiting a permanent home in the yard. It still has last year's "dirt" in it and I hate to waste anything! I still have to decide what to put in this one and the other empty one I have left. Any suggestions (not tomatoes - something not needing staking). Thanks!

Eileen

Hi Everyone: I am in my new home as of 04/27 but my DSL had problems going into service. First the modem was delivered to the wrong home and then the wiring had to be changed for the DSL. Seemed like the alarm system fouled it up. I will now take pictures of the earthbox with the peppers. ( 8 different types ) Initially, I thought 8 plants were to many but again I was wrong. They are doing very well.

Here's the par-cel and parsley in my EB

A OK

This message was edited May 4, 2004 12:39 PM

Hey Nicksgrammy and ritchh, how are you doing with your E-boxes? We haven't heard from you for quite a while! Did you plant them and ,if so, what did you plant? Keep in touch and if you need any help -- just type!

This message was edited May 1, 2004 9:36 PM

Sweetpea, My movers crushed my strawberries that I had in the e-box, but that's O K because they were the one's that I accidently planted over the fertilizer. Fortuneately I had two strawberry jars and one 20in. clay container. They are doing very well. Next time try "Sweet Charlie" for they are real heat lovers and have short shoots. ( Still have a dry cough from the remnants of last months virus. ) How are all your plants doing? I'll have to buy some heirloom tomatoe plants Sunday. I'll go to Home Depot. They usually have some heirlooms. Wish I lived closer to Carolyn! I read she gives away her excess.

Hi Tplant! Sorry you still have that lingering cough, but glad that you are finally settled in your new home (and that you could save those strawberries).

I never did move the strawberries but they seem to be flourishing now. Go figure. Maybe they heard me talking about ripping them up and decided to put on a show to save their lives :D

The tomatoes and peppers seem to be doing well. We had a wind/rainstorm last weekend, which toppled the tomatoes, but I straightened them and placed those old round tomato cages around them. Just a few broken branches.

This picture was taken April 28:

I can see your plants are doing great and they are certainly healthy. Wish I could borrow a couple of your tomotoe plants! By the way, I noticed they have the broadleaf! Are they brandywine?

Yes Tplant. Those two are Brandywine (the first time I've tried heirlooms). In that little bowl in front of the boxes, I have some Park's Whopper and German Pink seedlings to go into more Earthboxes.

I didn't want to plant them all-at-once because I am thinking that if I "stagger" the Earthbox plantings, then perhaps the tomatoes won't all mature at once, and I won't be overwhelmed with too many tomatoes. You think that will work?

I 'd plant them all right now because if it gets too hot they may not be strong enough to bear it. As far as being overwhelmed, we always have neighbors and friends! Another point, the brandies will give you delicious tomatoes but few in volume maybe 6 or seven per plant at one time and then maybe 3 or 4. German Pink takes about 90 or more days while Park's Whopper is about 75 days so you will be OK.

Ack! I had just posted my picture of EB#1 and a virus swooped down and crashed my computer. Thanks to Norton Antivirus,I'm back.


Tplant , whoa....I only did 30 onion sets in EB *temporarily*. In a week or so, I will carefully pull most of the onions as "green table onions" and leave the remainder spaced per EB directions and at that time, carefully lay the strip of fertilizer down the center w/the lime, and then place the cover on with only enough slits cut in it to accomodate the remaining onions.
As you can see, I did place my herbs as per the directions, there is a perfect line of fertilizer under the cover! I do like to experiment at times with my gardening - "can I do this? that? how far can I go?".
I still stand w/my negatives for the squash and tomatoes from last year, they were planted to the letter according to the instructions and I got SQAT instead of SQUASH!! But I decided (on this? or another thread) that the potting soil may have been too cheap, and that this year I would part with some cash and buy EB worthy grow mix.
Hope I can still play the "look at my EB" game with y'all... I promise not to use my experiments as proof for or against EB.

Eileen