My Proof About EBs

This season I made a control to see just how good EBs are and the results are totally undeniable? I never bothered to do this before as I knew from experience that EBs were simply fantastic and if set up properly would out produce any other form of gardening. I showed this once before with strawberries but now with watermelons. On the left side of the picture you see a Crimson Sweet planted in loamy-sandy soil enriched with Miracle-Gro container mix. (six large bags plus two bags of Black Cow manure set three years ago) Originally I was going to set an 8x8 dirt garden for melons in this spot because I was told that melons would not do well in EBs but never got around to planting them in-ground. This season I did and you can see and judge the results for yourself.

Here is another picture and you can see the other melons started from seed at the exact same time as the one in-ground. They are to the right.

Better picture of EB growing melons! Two EBs side by side. Couldn't get it all in one frame for proper clarity. The growth so far is completely undeniable by any standards.

This is the results of last seasons melons. Small melon is Sugar Baby. Large 15 lb'er unknown as seed was not true to package but they sure were delicious and sweet. Best I ever had and am looking forward to this crop...

Here is the unknown cut open! All from EBs.

Plant. Iam about 90 percent certain that your unknown is a Mickylee.

Farmer -- Where can I get the seeds? Would you know as it was truly the best melon I ever tasted.. Hope the Crimsons taste half as well?

Its not quite a s good as Crimson Sweet, but almost and it is an icebox melon which will be more manageable in an earthbox. It bigger than Sugar baby but does not take up a lot more space. They were on the Ferry Morse seed racks in Lowes this spring which was added evidence that that is what you have. It is not rare, there are several vendors, Willhite among them.

Thanks for the info. We don't have seeds for sale just yet because of our down time but I'l look for them next month for winter-spring season.

Those look great. But one question. What is an EB?

Try www.earthbox.com for a complete explanation!

Hi TPlant,

After all the talk on EB's, I bought 10 and I am FLOORED at the results. Everything is so huge compared to my raised beds. I have Rutgers and Golden Marconi in 2 of the EB's and I also have them in my raised beds and the plants in the EB's are well over twice the size of the plants in my raised garden. I want to get more, but I have to think of where I can put them ha ha!!

lafkoO6 -- Originally I ordered just one EB but they mistakenly sent three? Glad they did as the price was a lot less back then. I now have twenty - two and will probably get more in the future to use as additional foundation planting. Makes it a lot easier for me to garden. Glad they came out with colors as white is my preference for the heat down here and will match my white background in my foundation planting.
I am truly amazed at the watermelon comparison. The soil in the ground is a sandy-loam mix which I originally set up for a watermelon patch. My meters register a perfect fertilization mix.They are all provided with the same amount of water? Boy! What a difference? They were all pretty equal at one time but then the EB melons really took off and I can actually see the amazing growth on a daily basis. You have to have one to believe the difference! Wish I could get Carolyn interested in one? It would put her back in the garden without the grueling up keep. They can be worked from a wheelchair or like I do with a garden scooter. Anyone with most any disability that will not allow them to do any in-ground planting and bending and weeding would enjoy the results.

Hey TP - those melons look real nice. Great job!
I didn't grow any this year - letting my dirt rest. But you know I have to tell you that my vines and melons grown in the dirt looked just like your eb'ers....you know me.... :-)
Flip

But Flip, I planted both at the same time. They germinated almost at the same time! The in-ground seed took about a week longer but still there is an amazing difference in growth. Three years ago my son roto-tilled this area of approx 10'x8' and I added two bags of manure and five bags of Miracle-Gro plus lime as our soil was (Loam) was very high in acid. But before I could work it my arthritis acted up and I had to forgoe my experiment and stay with the EBs. I have meters that tell me the fertility of my soil, as I also grow grapes and they like a fertile mix so I know the soil is healthy. I was truly amazed at the difference and it is for real. No foolin! I must admit I do take excellent care of my EBs and have always followed directions to the letter but even these results are undeniable even for a "Dirt Boy?" LOL Love ya buddy!!!

Plant, dirt planted, stage 2 drought all summer, no irrigation. Still had some in the 40 lb range. This one is 42 lbs. None of my watermelons get anything but rain, and it has been very sparse this year.

They are amazing to contain so much water without demanding so much water! Where does all the water come from? Were you, Farmer, the one that mentioned that they were originally a desert plant and flourished in the deserts of Africa? Don't recall where I recieved this information as since my retirement ten years ago I no longer am very technical after being that way most my working career. Now I just go with the flow and enjoy!

You know how we are about store bought tomatos? Well now I'm that way about watermelons. Won't buy any store bought after discovering what my home grown taste like! Big difference!!!

Farmer,
I was very pleased with a trial watermelon this year...Sweet Dakota Rose. A guy in North Dakota developed it. It was very early with decent size... 2 melons grew against each other like peas in a pod. They weighed about 21 pounds and were good eating...looked inside just like Royal Sweet. but the outside was lighter colored.







no camera

sounds good, Indy. My trial melons this year were subpar. The worst was Matador, a hybrid Peacock type. Erratic growing, and poor taste and texture. Summer Gold was so, so. Jubilee cranked nice big attractive melons, but taste is nothing to write home about. Head and shoulders above Matador tho. Best tasting of the trials was the icebox type Mickylee.

Still one of my best, a 42 lb AU Sweet Scarlet.

This was taken on July 24!

This is todays picture! They are doing beautifully and do have tiny watermelons just starting to show.

Hi TPlant,

Here's some pictures to add for your proof.

Thanks for "selling" Earthboxes here on Dave's Garden, if it were not for you and others posting your wonderful pictures of how things thrive in Earthboxes I would not have 10 of them right now.

Here's how the Garrison is coming along. Bigger than any I have in the ground.

and one last one

essentialplanet. We don't have photos of this old timer in Plantfiles. Would love to have your photos and comments. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/60125/

Farmerdill,

Thanks for letting me know! I will be sure to post photos - and comments once I have actually tried one!

100 degrees here today, the hottest ever and that is in the shade of my deck umbrella and no rain insight. The melons love it!!

essentialplanet
how many days does it take for garrison to mature? and how big are your containers?
i am only growing small melons because of the cool weather here but i didnt know others could make it here
pamsue

Hi Pamsue,

Garrison is about 85 - 95 days, about the same as Georgia Rattlesnake, which I grew last year.

I am growing the Rattlesnake again this year (in the ground) The Garrison is in an Earthbox (if you don't know what an earthbox is, see Tplant's link above)

I grow my melons in southern exposure and close to the wall of the house, so they get as much heat as possible. The Rattlesnake did fantastic last year - grew very large and was one of the best tasting melons I eaten (several guests who sampled it agreed).

By the way, I have four watermelons in one earthbox - the one in the picture has the Garrison, plus one Yellow Doll, and two Moon & Stars.

essential --- What kind of fertilizer do you use in your EBs and how much? I use two cups of 8-8-8. Seems to work well. For everything else I use 10-10-10. I know there is not much difference but I try to cut back on nitrogen for my melons. I will experiment with my next crop by comparing with 15-35-15 and see what happens. I'll also have a 10-10-10 and an 8-8-8 as a comparison. Which fertilizer will do best? What do you think Farmerdill?

I grow in the ground and use 10-10-10. any thing with a higher ratio of nitrogen leads to white hearts in watermelon. 15- 35-15 should work fine if you use it judiciously . It is concentrated, but works the same as 5-10-5, which I use to use in the olden days. can't find it anymore, but 1-2-1 NPK ratio is best for most flowering vegetables.

I too have been looking for 5-10-5 . I used it on my lawns many years ago along with 10-6-4. Back then, in the 60's, that was about the only combo available for home growers with the exception of Scotts fertilizer.

i used fertilizer the alaska vegetable dried one and theres not enough cover for the watermelons that are growing so i repeat the fertilization with liquid fish...should i cover the growing melons with something else while the cover grows? my soil is hard clay and ive noticed sunscald on my tomatoes so i figured the melons could get burned?

pamsue

Pam, the dark colored watermelons ( don't know what you are growing) will sunscald. I cover mine with pinestraw. The light colored watermelons like the greys, and light greens usually do all right.

Tplant,

I grow organically, so I use an organic ferlizer 5-5-5.

I followed to the earthbox instructions to the letter, and if I recall correctly it was 3 cups per box.

Like you, I am also growing strawberries in earthboxes. Can I leave the boxes out all winter, and the strawberries will come back again next year? When do I apply more fertilizer? Any tips for multiyear use of earthboxes with the same crop?

hi farmerdill

i noticed they are all striped ones light green with dark striping like the yellow dolls, they are all icebox types also theres a bright yellow one called yellow jubilee and these are so easy to spot in a patch as they are yellow from the start. i did noticed that some of the melons did "cook" and did not taste good when i grew them before. Is it because they are small and heat up easily when it gets really hot here or did not have enough cover to shade the melons?

pamsue

essintial --- I really can't answer your question about overwintering strawberries as I don't have a winter problem down here. LOL However I would cut them back when they brown and replace a new cover with the black side up. When there is some sign of new growth under the cover come spring I would remove the cover, re-fertilize and place a new cover and X cut the space above the strawberry plant. Repeat every season.
As far as growing the same crop in the same EB just test the soil for nutrients and add more mix as needed. I don't have a problem growing tomatos in the same EB every year! It doesn't seem to matter with EBs.

Tplant,

Thanks for the tips!