Earth Boxes

Hi all!

First time with my three new EB's this year too. I'm using the organic fertilizers recommended by richh and everything seems to be doing pretty good. The boxes were planted up about 3 weeks ago.

My husband made some creeper-like platforms w/wheels for mobility and added some PVC piping for support on the tomato EB. The bar at the top can be removed and lifted as the plants get bigger. I've got 2 Delicious tomato plants in there that I started from seed and transplanted. The pepper EB has 4 sweet peppers and the cuke EB has 2 Dillicious pickles and 2 Muncher cucumbers. I'm curious to see how the EB's will perform.

Here's some pics:

These are the peppers:

And the cukes!

Ahh I'm gonna just borrow your DH for a few days...*G*

He's all mine araness!!! He's a good one. Indulges me with all my crazy ideas!

Your veggies look great...and I love those bases with wheels! Any chance your DH would give us some instructions on making them?

Here is my 3 cherry tomato plants in one EB (sweet million). Next year, I will only plant 2 of those plants in one EB since they get so bushy. (I wasn't sure if I should do this or not but since they got so bushy I trimmed off a bunch of branches a couple of weeks ago but they are bushy again.)

Here is the closeup on fruit on those cherry tomato plants. There are tons of flowers and fruit on them.

Thanks picturelady. The bases are pretty easy to make. DH used extra thick decking board and 3" wheels. Made them extra strong (and big) so "we can use them as furniture movers some day when we move." LOL! The trellis on the cuke wagon can be removed once the season's over and the PVC piping for the tomato support can also be removed for easy storage. I plan on staining the bases once the wood dries out some.

I'll have DH take a few pictures top and bottom w/o the EB so you can get a better idea. You can adjust the size to your liking and needs.

Will post later when DH gets home and after he's fed!

Toni

Here is a snap pea and bush bean combo in one EB. We had a windy day a couple of weeks back and the cage fell and damaged a few snap pea plants (I had to cut them out) so they look a little puny, but the bush beans have a few dozen pods on them.

Hi tmm99!

Your tomatoes look fantastic! How long ago were they planted? I'm hoping my maters do good in the EB. I have 7 tomatoes in the ground and 2 in an EB. It will be interesting to see the difference.

Toni

Toni,

I wish I kept a journal so I can tell you the exact date, but I think it's been about 2 months since I planted them (got the seedlings from a local nursery). Where the plants are get the most direct sun out of my whole backyard - probably 7+ hours (other areas get dappled sun due to a tree) so that's one of the reasons these plants are growing really well. But I have to tell you. Last year I had a sweet million in a regular container at another house that got full sun pretty much all day long and it didn't fare nearly as well as this year's cherry tomato plants.

I have only done container gardening (veggy wise) so I would also be interested in knowing how EBs compare with in-ground plants.

tmm

Hey everyone! I don't get on here much due to not being home. I just wanted to share my experience so far. This is a picture taken about two weeks ago. On the left is Roma and on the right is BetterBoy. I took some pix on Sat. but haven't uploaded them yet. I transplanted these on/around May 4. They were only about 6 inches tall then now they're growing like mad. I found a little roma on Saturday that was approx. 1/2" long. Today it's about 1" long. To my surprise I found a teeny tiny little BetterBoy. It's only about 1/4" wide if that. I wanted to get pix of them today but the batteries in cam were dead. I can't wait!!! I'm like the rest of the EB newbies, you see the veggies and your mouth waters.

I also have pepers in another EB that each plant has fruit and another with cukes. The cukes have little cute cukes on it.

Cukes soon after transplant.

Peppers and yellow tomato. I had to move the two pepper plants out of the middle and put them in the ground. I think the tomato was overpowering the peppers. They seem to be doing just fine in the ground with our herbs.

Wow all the Pictures look great, I have a couple of better boys that are almost ready to pick up, as soon as they are red enough I'll take a picture.

toni 5735, I really like your plantforms I wish my DH had enough time to build me one too hopefully next year I'll convince him to build me some.

Everyone has beautiful plants while my EBs are being cleaned out as my season is over until late Sept. so it's my turn to sit in my easy chair turn up the a/c and watch your results and go thru my catalogs.

Tplant do ya'll ever get a frost? Or can you pretty much grow all year long except for these next couple of months?

Saint

We never get a frost and I could grow thru-out the summer but my health will not permit it. Have to go now. Have MD appointment.

MD appointment cancelled by office.

This message was edited Jun 9, 2005 2:36 PM

Tplant,

Is it too hot for these couple of months? Is that why your season is over? (I thought for some veggies, the hotter the better? - I am a novice. Enlighten me :-)

tmm

No ! Too hot ! The veggies will burn from the power of the sun. You forget, this is the Tropic of Cancer and although it very rarely goes over 92 degrees the sun is hot at this time of year. If it's too hot simply sit under a tree. It feels 20 deg. cooler as there seems to be always an offshore breeze. The farmers get a break at this time as all fields are empty.

You know it just hit me..does the cover come with the EB or do you have to order it along with it? I just figured the first one came with the box..was I wrong?

Hi araness!

I got the three box special and each box came with two covers.

Toni

Wow...great to see all the pictures...keep 'em coming. I've seen this asked a few times here and this pic is a perfect example of EB vs In Ground tomatoes planted within a few days of each other about 3½ weeks ago. Our cold damp spring turned into summer overnight and it's been 90 or above since Monday with no end in sight. My garden has grown more in the past 4 or 5 days than in the previousl 4 weeks.

Rich

thanks..was afraid I was going to have to order them.

Saint

While I'm at it, here's a pic of my 12 Cayenne plants in EBs with a bunch of other hot peppers behind them. Many of these plants were a sickly yellow just last week from the 45 degree nights but have rebounded very quickly. Unfortunately I lost a bunch of basil and just finished re-potting with new plants yesterday. I have 1 EB planted with Nufar Hybrid basil (8 plants) and when it starts to fill in will put a pic up.

Rich

Rich,

WOW WOW WOW! Amazing difference between the in-ground and EB tomato plants! I knew a regular container didn't even compare with EB's but it looks like in-ground plants don't either.

I still have one EB left (thinking of using it for flowers) but I am really tempted to use it for one pepper plant left in a regular container that looks dwarfed compared to everything else happening in my yard.

I have a question about the last photo you posted. Are those non-EB containers (square and round ones) self-watering like EBs? (I see holes on the side of the containers) Do they fare as well as EBs?

tmm

Both the round terracotta colored ones and the green square ones are self watering. The round ones work similar to an EB with an internal screen insert keeping the soil above the side drainage/fill slot with a single spike of soil going all the way to the bottom and the square ones have a fabric wick that exits the pot via two slots and hangs down into the saucer below that is filled with water. Both work great and I use them for peppers, cucumbers, squash, basil, parsley, etc. In some I use the same organic mix as I do in the EB while in others I use Osmocote. I have 11 round ones and 9 square ones. When it comes to planting in pots I really don't know when to stop. Despite telling myself last fall I was going to cut back because of my bad back, at last count including flowers I have 54 pots 14" and larger planted.

Rich

Thank you Rich,

Interesting that other self-watering containers work as well as EBs. I guess the internal screen is the key.

It sounds like you have tons of pots to plant everything in. Sorry to hear your basils got damaged. I'm sure you will grow these in no time. Your basil photos from last summer were very impressive.

I have another question. You said in your old post
"it's galvanized fencing with a 2" x 4" opening size" used for cucumber plants. I can see the green poles and all, and from another side photo of cuke plants, it looks like green poles are free-standing (on the concrete)? How did you do that? I got a trellis for my cuke plants but the holes are too big and today I added wires between the trellis grids, but next year, I would like to get something like you got - galvanized fencing, but my problem is I will have to put it on the concrete, and I was wondering how you managed to put up those green poles on the concrete.

Also this question is to everyone - do tomatoes in EBs taste as well as tomatoes grown in ground? A friend of mine insists that less water makes tomatoes have more flavor and he thinks tomatoes grown in water readily available containers such as EBs will produce watery, less flavorful tomatoes. He tells me that because of this, although he put together a drip system for all vegetable plants, he hand waters the tomato plants instead and try to be very careful as to how much water he gives them. What do ya all think?

tmm

Well I've heard Tplant rave over some of his maters and he EB's. And I really don't think he's the type to give false praise.

Saint

I never really made a comparison ! Tomatos grown in EBs versus earth grown ? Sounds like another challenge. Though I would imagine they would have about the same flavor and the only difference would be quality and quantity. The EBs definetly out produce the in-ground.
The soil in EBs stays moist but not wet and is not subject to dry and wet times so the plants do not make gluttons of themselves but do take the water as needed and you can see this with their rapid growth and quality of production. I guess you can say it is their way of saying Thanks.

For the fall season, I am going to grow my tomatoes in EBs. I haven't gardened in years, so I had forgotten how tomatoes tend to get cracked fruit here. It is so hot it is challenging to keep the soil evenly moist. The result is beautiful tomatoes until the fruit ripens. Then the fruit cracks. I expect that the EBs would alleviate that problem. I planted cucs, melons, and squash in EBs and they are doing better than anything I ever planted in soil. In fact, I think I will order more EBs today! =D

Don't know what pic you are referring to tmm99 but from this pic I think you can see better that the posts are hammered into dirt. All my posts are except for one EB I use for tomatoes that has posts going into a layer of stone chips that sits on landscaping cloth on dirt and the posts easily go thru the stone and into the dirt underneath. Cages I use for tomato EBs on my patio just sit on the concrete with no posts.

Rich

The EBs will not prevent tomatos from cracking. Cracking is caused by thin skinned tomatos remaining on the vine too long after ripening. Best way to prevent this from happenning is to pick them just before they get fully ripe and don't worry, it doesn't take away from the taste.

P.S. I hate sitting here writing about and not out there growing them but it's my turn to sit and watch !!!

LOL...well I've told ya Mr. T your welcome to come and help me with mine, I'll throw in room and board for you and the baby.

Saint

Rich,

Thanks. I was looking at this other photo you had posted. Since the whole thing was covered with red tarp, I just assumed it was concrete underneath. My bad.
I have a trellis in dirt this year, but I have a feeling it's too small, so I am thinking of extending the trellis (or wire mesh like yours) next year. if I extend it though, a part of it will be on concrete and I was trying to see how I can set up something like your wire mesh studded in concrete. I guess I will look for some other options.

Thanks again,

tmm

I totally see that the quantity of tomatoes in EBs outperforms the quantity of tomatoes in ground; I can see that just by looking at photos Rich posted. (Big difference in size) I didn't think anybody gave false praise about EBs creating great numbers of good tasting tomatoes at all. That's really not the point. I have 7 tomato plants growing in EBs myself and they are thriving. I just wanted to see if anybody thought water readily available to a tomato plant affected the flavor. My friend thinks the less water the tomatoes use while growing, the more intense the flavor. I don't know if that's true or not, since I have no room (sunny spot) to grow tomato plants in ground to experiment with. I just wanted to see what other people thought of the flavor of tomatoes in EBs, in comparison to in-ground. Maybe someone who plants tomatoes in ground and in EBs can give us a report!

tmm

I'll keep that in mind when they start to ripen but honestly I would almost guarantee I won't be able to see a difference in taste. The grape tomatoes I grew in an EB last year were delicious and sweet as sugar and no-one complained about the Roma plums either nor the Sweet 100's. This year it seems I have some regular tomatoes in EB's only because they were mislabeled from the nursery. Labeled as Juliet but I can see now that they aren't. Don't you just love when that happens. I have heard the same type of thing regarding hot peppers with people saying they must be grown hot and dry to get the full amount of heat from them. I have been growing all types of hot peppers in self watering pots and EB's for 6 years and trust me, the Cayennes were hot, the Tobascos and Thai Dragons were very hot and the Red Savinas were off the scale.

Rich

Thank you Saint ! Wish Scooter and me could take you up on that offer but this is a good down-time for me to plan my garden with some seeds I've recieved from some of you and am excited and very anxious to try. It's also a good time to check the soil in my EBs for fertility and perhaps add some of ritchh's concoctions such as gypsum for BER. Although I don't have a serious problem my Enchantments and Polish Linguisa have the strongest tendencies for BER. Also ordered nine extra covers for the EBs and will check the soil for any clumps and break them up though I haven't found any. My soil is like a fine mulch after three years of use. I use "Jungle Growth" potting mix and also "Miracle Gro" but never noticed any difference in quality and production.

Hey Tplant:
I had no idea that you have to stop production in the summer where you live, over here in Pcola we are usually in the high 80's a couple of weeks ago we even reached 100's, I thought I was going to die. It is very hot and humid here and the mosqitoes are horrible, I love to pick up tomatoes and cuckes but sometimes it is so hot I have to wait until almost night.

By the way my cucumber is doing great I just picked 2 more big ones.