My EB self watering system isn't keeping up with the heat and the boxes do not stay filled, anyone else have this problem?
EB Self Watering System Not Keeping Up
Wow! what a beautiful harvest!
Araness,
How many cycles per day does your timer handle and for how long at a time? You May need to go to more cycles/day for longer periods of time at each cycle to ensure the boxes are totally filled each time.
nope the radial cracking is pretty much due to weather here...some are more prone than others but when we has such swings in temp as well as the high heats and humidity.
Linda I don't use BB's system I use the true EB one so it's on 24/7 not on a timer
If it's one 24/7, somebody's stealing your water!
lol no but the EB system doesn't have a nozzle so it stays on but lord it only dribbles. It's fine for the morning cause it has time when it's cooler at night to catch up but during the day it just doesn't have a chance to stay filled. So we've been watering in the evenings but that defeats the purpose of spending this kind of cash on the watering system
wow, on your harvest, and too bad the EB SWS cannot keep up with the texas heat.
i'm here in nothern california and i'm hand-watering my EBs 1.5 gallons per day and it's not even hot hot yet. looks like i have to finish the drip system before i go away for the weekend.
Araness: Thanks for letting us know that, I had thoughts of buying an EB self watering system for at least 20 EBs; but, now am thinking it over again. I'm watering here twice daily.
joy
Just out of curiosity, how much water does an earthbox reservoir hold. I built mine from a modified desigh with a 6 gallon water reservoir using 30 gallon boxes. Claud
I'm new at this I have one EB with 2 tomato plants I live in pittsburgh pa and planted after mothers day my plants are growing ery well but I only have 3 tomatoes on 1 plant what am I doing wrong
Kweb2,
What type of tomatoes are you growing? What're your average daytime temps? Do you have blossoms forming? Are there BEES buzzing around your tomato blossoms?
How often are you feeding your plants (fertilizer, fish emulsion, etc.)?
I can't imagine that the EB AWS isn't keeping up. I'm on a roof where the temps get to the 100+ range and I'm not having a problem. Besides, I would find it very difficult to imagine that the plants are drinking more/faster than the EB AWS can drip. I'm guessing your have the box covers (shower caps) on? There's adequate water pressure and your regulator is positioned higher than your boxes (ensuring the proper water pressure for the system)? All the lines are working properly (test by filling the box manually then insert the pressure tube in the fill tube - when you raise the individual pressure cap, it should drip water)? Your potting mix is of the proper ratio (80% peat/coir 20% vermiculite/perlite)?
If all the answers here are yes, then I'm baffled. I would reach out to some of the EB experts on their forum and ask if this has ever happened to them. I've never heard of it and actually, I think it's the best AWS out there (for sub-irrigated planters).
I've searched the EB forum and found others with this problem, and to answer your questions above, yes to all.
saint, my EBs are still drying out even after running 3 cycles (3.5 gallons every 8 hours). is it because my EB tomatoes got so big?
annapet
I'm not sure, tech support at EB is not the best but I'm going to try and shorten the tubes and see if this helps, if not the AWS will be useless for me since it's not keeping up.
yes I have this problem and I am in central texas.