I ordered my Earthbox staking system and caster set two months ago. Casters arrived a couple of weeks ago. I still have not received my staking system. I have sent them two emails and have gotten no response. Anybody else have similar issues?
Earthbox
Have you checked out the comments on Garden Watchdog? That's probably the quickest and most complete source of the info you need.
http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/1754/
Thanks! I see I am not alone. I am really annoyed. Last night we had 2 inches of rain and between the rain and the wind some of my plants are starting to lean over. I didn't put stakes in the boxes because I spent the money for the staking system and God only knows when or if it will be coming. Other than that the plants are doing very well in the boxes.
I ordered my staking system on 5/1 and had yet to receive it. I did get a response to one email a week and a half ago saying it was in the shipping dept. When it didn't show up I called earlier this week and was told it was sent to shipping on 5/30 and would ship out this week. I posted a complaint on the earthbox forum and got a private message from a manager there who checked in to the problem and upgraded me to overnight shipping. It will supposedly get here on Monday. My recommendation is to post a note over at the EB forum. They do read them!
I ordered my system and 1 wk later rec'd the staking system, then 2 days later the ebox. Those people never could find my order or any record of my placing it. I ordered 2 times before I finally got one.
I discovered they have made a major change to their PR dept and it is definetly for the best. If you have any questions contact Steve Lott at the Earthbox Forum. He is really great at solving any problem and is sincerely concerned with you as an individual. His e-mail address is at the forum and he will contact you the same day or no later than the next day and will solve your problem. I've got to know him well and he is sincere. Speak to him only at the Pa.office. The rest of them don't seem to know up from down.
PS -- Tell him Tplant told you to e-mail him.
Ted
This message was edited Jun 4, 2006 12:55 PM
Thank you Tplant!!! They should put you on their payroll or give you free boxes. I had one EB but after reading all your posts, I got inspired to order 3 more.
Nice to know you Crazy4Tomatoes. The EBs really work as you soon will discover. By the way, some really think I am on the payroll but I just want to share my experience as we are supposed to do on DG. Please keep in touch and when your EBs arrive and if you need any advice just ask.
I got my staking system today thanks to help from the EB forum.
If you don't want to purchase from Earthbox, you can get a very similar product from http://www.agardenpatch.com
I'm curious about the fertilizer patch that they include with the box. Unfortunately, I didn't notice a staking system with this one, but it's an option for you if you get too frustrated with Earthbox. However, it seems as though Tplant may have resolved the EB problems by getting the name of the "right person" to call.
In my opinion the Garden Patch is very similiar to EBs but without the cover it can not be weed free. Weeds will grow in the exposed spaces and anywhere you have exposed dirt your plants are subject to splash-back. They are about the same price
but I think the cover is essential...
The Garden Patch doesn't use a cover? I didn't realize that. Well, I suppose if you purchased a Garden Patch, you could either make your own cover or purchase one from EB. Both boxes are the same size, so the covers should work for either one. Then again, I guess that defeats the whole purpose of buying from another company anyway. Has anyone tried the Garden Patch? I really would like to see how they use the fertilizer patch. I am concerned about my fertilizer possibly moving under my cover, and was wondering if I could create a "pillow case" for the fertilizer. It would be about 2" wide, and as long as the EB, and would be made out of landscaping fabric, so I think that the fertilizer would still be able to get into the soil. Does this make sense?
If you go to the "proven the best" link on their website it says they do use a cover:
"The patented cover stops weeds, properly spaces your plants, keeps the correct temperature, and allows entry of pure rainwater"
I guess the pictures that I saw were misleading. As far as EBs are concerned and the use of fertilizer, all one needs to do is lay down two cups in a 2" line on the opposite side of the box. Pat it down lightly and wet it and forget it !! Just follow diagram.
I've toyed with the idea of trying one of those Garden Patch units but I just don't have the room for any more pots with my 13 EB's and many other misc. self watering pots and as Tplant has already stated the EB's work very well indeed. As an illustration here's a pic of 4 grape tomatoes in 2 EB's. They were planted out on May 11 and they already have 3/4" green fruit that I am thinking will start ripening before the end of the month. Here in NJ ripe tomatoes of any kind in June is pretty good performance.
Rich
That's the way I feel ritchh. I'm more than happy with my EBs and am now growing melons of all types du-ring our hot summer.
I just received my first 3 Earthboxes on Saturday, I THINK I ordered them 5/22 (but it may have been a week earlier,I was billed 5/23)-I have set them up, using instructions from this group-I used lt. wt. potting soil (which is heavy on the peat), Espoma Garden-tone, Lime, & Kelp meal. My only concern is since I received them so late in the season (I only just heard about them) is the plants I moved into them were purchased 3-5 weeks ago, & have been growing in 5 gallon blk nursery pots. I think my potting mix, which was pine fines, peat, & perlite, was pretty fast draining, so I've been watering alot. The plants are large & I don't want to mess up my covers, so I'm going to jury-rig some blk plastic garbage bag covers w/ bungies-I know this won't allow rain penetration, should I poke some holes?
I moved 5 tomatoes-Brandywine, Purple Cherokee, Black Krim, Lemon Boy, & Sungold (which is the largest) in, & I'm putting in 4 Biker Billy jalapenos on the end of the Sungold container. I'm looking forward to seeing how they do...(I've learned alot from this forum, this is where I first heard of Earthboxes)...Thistle
Thistle ---- I don't understand? Are you trying to transplant your 5wk old tomatos in an EB or are you going to leave them in their individual containers? Also are you an organic grower? If you are ritchh will help you on that subject.
Yes, that's right, I'm moving the tomatoes out of the containers they were in & placing them (2 each) in the Earthbox. I decided to try the organic fertilizers, using ritchh's guidelines, because they already have decent sized rootballs & I didn't want to take the chance of 'burning' them w/ the fert strip. Are the diagrams for spacing included w/ the EB accurate? Do you really stick the tomatoes right up against the sides?
If you're going with organic fertilizers incorporated throughout, then moving the plants to the side is less of an issue - I beleive that was required when using the fertilizer strip, to prevent burning. This is the way EB used to recommend organic fertilizers be used, and Ritch and I have had good success with this.
They now recommend that organic growers use a granular organic fertilizer on top, to facilitate the 'gradient exchange'. Rather than embarass myself trying to explain, I will share this link: http://www.earthbox.co.uk/NewEarthBox/UofFInfo.asp
I beleive the current thinking is that by mixing in the organic fertilizer to the soil, you lose this 'gradient equilibruim zone/range' aspect of the earthbox, essentially turning it into an overpriced self-watering container. Next year I am going to try 1/2 of my EB's with organic mixed throughout, and 1/2 organic fertilizer strips, if I can find anything organic thats even close to 10-10-10. Keep us posted on which way you go!
Chris
Just wanted to say that thanks to Tplant, my Earthbox problems are solved. I can't wait for my staking system. The plants are going crazy. What a difference that fertilizer band makes. Last year when I only had one EB I didn't do the band because I thought the MG would be enough. Boy was I wrong. I am so glad I joined DG! : )
You are most welcome! Glad to see you enjoying your EB. You can grow a lot more. For the hot summer months here in So Fl it is too hot for tomatos so I now grow melons of all types and come Oct will set out my tomato seedlings. You can't go wrong with EBs as long as you follow directions or ask questions. Always happy to help fellow gardeners...
Chris , thanks for that link. It cleared up something that I have always wondered about and that is the position of the drain hole. Even though I have earthboxes (and agree wholeheartedly with tplant--they are great) I did not realize the hole was 1/2 inch below the shelf to create an airspace--that info. helps when you build home-made ones.