Topic: Earthbox, anyone?

[veggiewomble]

Does anyone have one of these?
http://www.earthbox.com

So I'm one of the sad wannabe gardeners here who doesn't have an allotment... ;) I am amazed at the variety of veg they say you can grow in an earthbox. I got mine a couple of weeks ago and planted two tomato plants. The earthbox takes at least 50-60 litres of soil.  :o

Anyway I am curious to see how the tomatoes do, and am wondering about growing brussels sprouts in it next season. :D

veg

[Bionic Wellies]

Yep - they are brill.

I read about these a couple of years ago and thought that I would make a few - so I did and they were so good (with one exception) that I am making 4 more this year (cost about £5.00 per box (excluding dirt + plants)).

I used the largest of the plastic storage boxes from Wilkinsons (just so you stand a change of guessing how big they are).

Planted two toms (shirley) into two boxes and two beef toms into a third.  Had so many tomatos - with virtually no spliting or greenback - and that was with a period of a week when I went on hols and could not water - enough in the reservoir for about a week (maybe not if the weather continue like at present).

Put various peppers and chillies in a couple of boxes (six per box) and have used so many chillies since then and we still have chillies oil/vinegar and layered in the freezer.

Put some basil (6 plants) into another - used loads - kept picking and they kept growing.

Tried lettuce in one - grew wel but the wind kept blowing them onto their side - don't really understand that - but that is what happened.

Finally - tried a pumpkin - thought that the constant supply of water/feed would be advantageous - obviously thought wrong - did grow and did produce a couple of pumpkins but the plant in the ground did much better.

I guess that you could say that I am a keen supporter of these boxes - they're GREAT!.

(I have some photos of how I made them if anyone is interested)

[veggiewomble]

Pictures would be great! Happy to read of someone elses success with these boxes. I did think briefly of making my own but thought I'd get an EB first to see how it fared (I'm not terribly handy and my DIY toolbox is woefully underequipped ;)).

What granular fertiliser do you use with these boxes? I could only come up with J Arthur Bower's fish/bone meal granules.

veg

[sutton girl]

pictures please as i would like to make one.

[Bionic Wellies]

(this is first attempt at puting a piccie in here ...

I got hold of some discarded drain pipe (on a skip) and cut it into lengths of about 4 inches.  I then drilled holes about 1/4 inch from the top & used cable ties through the holes to attach to wire mesh platform  - these were the supporting legs.

Two of the pipes I drilled with manyh more holes and used these as the wick (filled with compost).

I used wire mesh on most of the boxes that I made - but that's because I could get hold of some from the DIY place - I used rigid plastic for one and manically drilled holes all over it (some were carefully placed to accept the drain-pipe legs - (Do these first and mark them)
(Wire mesh can be turned up at the side to provide some additional rigidity - or tie a stick to it!)

The drain holes are simple drilled just below the underside of the mexh/plastic platfrom (anout 4.75 inches from the bottom - stops the underside of the dirt coming into direct contact with the water/feed and prevents the box from completely filling with water.



This is a view from the top of the completed box ....




This is what the inside looks like ....




The drain holes ...



In use (tomatos)





Hope these help!

[gordonsveg]

I dont have a lottie either, but im lucky to have a garden, i also grow stuff in pots, window boxes,and a 6x8 cold greenhouse its suprising how much can be grown in a small area.
                    Best of luck with it all. ::) ;D

[saddad]

Would have thought sprouts were too large... need a box each!
 ???

[Barnowl]

Seriously impressive handiwork bionic :)

[Marymary]

Very impressive handiwork.   :)  An interesting idea - I'm always on the lookout for new ways of getting crops from my small area.

[miniroots]

It's genius!!  And for the price you'd pay for an actual Earthbox you could buy tomatoes all year round - from Waitrose!

[Barnowl]

Bionic,

You should set up in competition to Earthbox - the ones on sale here don't seem to have wheels - pretty hard to move around for many folks

[Old bird]

Hi I had never heard of these until I saw yours - Looks impressive.  I would have thought though that sprouts which like a firm footing would not like it too much.  As  you know they "blow" I think the expression is which means that the sprouts don't make tight little sprouts they are just loose and inedible!  I think - someone else told me this - that their roots need to be held firmly in place otherwise they "blow"

I generally don't grow sprouts - too many bugs for me!

I might try to make a couple of these though - they look pretty useful!

Old Bird

 ;D

[greenstar]

These look great - think I'm going to have to have a go at one.

I have one question though, and please excuse me if I'm just being a bit dense, but do you put something on top of the wire mesh or is it a lot finer than it looks on the photo?  I would have thought the compost would fall through.  Or am I missing something?

[Belinda]

Great minds think alike Greenstar, I was just about to ask the same question.

I wondered if a few layers of newspaper were the answer, make holes through it into the wicks in the same way as Bionic did to the mesh, then by the time the paper rots away the roots would be holding the compost together.

I also noticed in the final picture that it looks a though the boxes came with lids, and that the centres have been cut out and then used to secure weed suppressant fabric in place.

Would it be worth putting the fabric slightly below the top level of the box and then feeding from the top and watering from the bottom? like you do with ring culture in gow-bags?

I also wondered about attaching a cane/stick to the wick tubes for the tomato to be tied in to.

My other half is going to love trying to make one of these - NOT  ;D ;D ::)

[Bionic Wellies]

I didn't bother to put anything onto the mesh - just dumped the compost straight in (having first filled the wicks).  The mesh is about 1/2 cm and when I emptied them out at the end of the year there was very little compost underneath the mesh.

As for the lids - yep, the one in the photo did have a lid, from which I hacked out the centre (which I then used as the platform in one that I made a little later).  However the lids are almost the same price as the box - so for the latest ones that I have made I didn't bother - just used some string to hold down the weed fabric - worked just as well - just not as pretty!

I didn't get boxes with wheels - the holes where the axils went in would just let the water out - no reservoir.  Dont try to move them - they are heavy and when I tried to drag one along I nearly ripped the lip off of the top of the box - they are not made of very strong plastic!  Also - I did make one out of a blue box - it also grew algae - so I guess that black/grey is best - mind you it was pretty algae!

I agree about the sprouts - I doubt that you could make the soil firm enough - and you wouldn't get that many into each box)


Another view of the inside (more detail) ...

[mc55]

wow, what a simple idea - so only the holey drainpipes were filled with compost ? 

Will definitely try and make some of these for my tomatoes, auberines. cucumbers and peppers this year.  Why didn't I think of putting drain holes in the side of the boxes last year, instead of underneath ...

[veggiewomble]

Thanks for the great pictures. I bought my EB because I wanted to see how it worked, to see if I could make my own. I don't even own a drill  :o so hmmm, making one might be more trouble than I thought. Maybe you could make them to sell, bionic. ;) You have at least one willing customer here.  ;D

[Bionic Wellies]

Thought that I would bung in a few photos of how things are doing with some of my earth boxes ....

Aubergines ... first time I've tried these




Tomatoes ... Note blue box - the water level can be seen.




Right to left,  Hot chillies, very hot chillies, rainbow chillies, tomatoes .... rubble

[STHLMgreen]

I found something like an earthbox (only no drain holes, so you have to eye the water level through the pipes at the top) at the start of last summer in my recycling room. I love it! And whatever I grow in it always fares the best, especially during travels in the summer when it is warm out.

Last year I got 10 huge leeks and this year my paris market carrots are growing like mad, even though I planted them late.

I'd like to make/buy more!

[Emagggie]

Any chance of a photo STHMgreen? I don't understand the pipe bit ::)
Glad it does a good job though.