Thank you, Cricket!
Home made Earthbox
Finished a week later. Fertilized and plastic on top and in the sunroom
Ok,
Looks great! Now look up my address in the file and send me some tomatoes! Tee Hee hee!
I had never heard of Earthboxes until I saw this thread today. Sounds intruiging. What is the fertilizer "strip" you refer to?
happy_macomb,
Go take a look here. Cricket came up with a novel variation to the design that's even easier than Josho's EBs...
http://www.josho.com/Earthbox.htm
The link you gave me is to josho's, not cricket's -- am I missing something?
To get the idea go to www.earthbox.com There you will find the entire principle behind EBs and what and how to grow most anything.
tplant et all,
I put Cricket's design on one page in Microsoft Word. How do I save it as a webpage link that I can post to DG for her?
This message was edited Sep 27, 2006 6:27 PM
I never used an earth box yet but have two items that would improve on your project. First place a PVC pipe (drilled full of holes) through the bottom of the soil area and through the sides of the box.
The soil and roots must have air and with a plastic cover they may not get enough. Or use weed block so it will breath and let the rain through. Just a thought.
Also tomatoes like a lot of red light. Make the plastic sheet out of a red material for reflecting the red spectrum. Or buy the ones sold to use under the plant.
You make a trench many inches away from the plant and fill it with fertilizer like 10-10-10 or 13-13-13. Normally 2 cups of fertilizer. I did not want to buy a whole bag of lime for calcium cause I already had calcium nitrate, so I just added 2 teaspoons of calcium nitrate to my ferlizer and hoping it will not burn the plant. We shall see.
I received one of those packets you get in the mail full of little index advertising cards. In the packet was a small brochure of the Earthbox. I just read it and made my own. I just couldn't make myself buy an EB for $30 plus shipping when I could make one for $5+.
TARogers,
does that pvc pipe go vertically in the box, like the fill tube, or horizontally through the outer wall and into the soil? Are we simply poking a pvc tube into the dirt to draw air from the outside?
This message was edited Sep 28, 2006 11:30 AM
This message was edited Sep 28, 2006 3:32 PM
Gymgirl: I think that's just a link to your harddrive, rather than an attachment. I'd love to see it . . . . Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing attachments on DG -- maybe it is only possible to link, but not to attach. Does anyone know?
This message was edited Sep 28, 2006 1:41 PM
Cricket,
Did you get the attachment? I think I finally made a link happen but it doesn't work for me here.
You might be able to put an attachment in dmail but I know it doesn't work here. You either have to upload it to a web page or site and put a link to it. You can't link to your computer unless it is a web server. (at least I think that is right)
renatelynne,
My IT guy just told me exactly what you said....you're good...you should come work for Compaq...
Earth to Cricket. Come in Cricket...
I will keep it as a backup plan! *giggle I've been here 25 years... don't think I will move soon.
Gymgirl. Horizontal
View is marking the side of the tub to cut holes with hole saw.
I have the instructions but do not know the web site I got them from.
They covered it with a plastic screen.
The "Tomato Saver" and "The Red Ground Cover" will both help retain moisture around the root zone, and also suppress weeds. Their bright red color has even been proven to boost tomato production by as much as 20%.
Quote taken from a catalog. Key them into a net search and you will get several hits.
TARogers,
Great diagram! I'll add this step to Cricket's design and send her the suggested revision.
I do now have a web page. All I have is yahoo 360* and cannot figure out how to list the eb design on that blog.
Hello all,
I found the link below quite interesting. It is basically all about EB, how-to, functions of its components, planting instructions etc. It is a PDF file, rather long, 37 pages long. The how-to part consists of 5 EB designs: the first one using one box, rather like CricketsGarden's design. The second one using 2 boxes, like "Josho". The third using two 5Gal pails, the 4th is a small system and the 5th is a hybrid.
There is another design,called "Extreme Design", which is up your alley, CricketsGarden. It is using 8' long water storage tank, so it is horizontal, instead of vertical as in your 55Gal drum. Maybe it could help you with your design. Please post your design when you get it done. The nice thing about 55Gal. drums is that they can be used as thermal mass in the greenhouse.
This is the link:http://www.hometown.aol.com/jmalt31/myhomepage/Earthbox.PDF
Sita Brothers
This message was edited Oct 19, 2006 1:36 PM
I sure hate we can't figure out how to post a link to Cricket's EB Design!
I've been following this thread and want you to know a little something about the EB people. A while back(4 mos.) I had a problem with eleven of my factory bought EBs. This was an additional order that I placed after receiving my first three as they did so well. However after a year or more I noticed the sides of the EBs were bowing out while the original three were fine? I went on the EB forum and e-mailed Steve Lott their very helpful representative and told him my problem. He replied and told me he would get back to me in a couple of days. He did and told me they are sending out eleven of the original EBs to compensate for their mistake. I was very grateful but also told him that I had just planted my summer crop of melons and could not return them for at least three or four months. He sent them out anyway. I returned the old ones last week.
Now after hearing all the complaints he also told me it was a new regime that took over the company and they are trying to make-up for the past ill mannerisms. Keep in mind I had my EBs well over a year possibly two and they replaced them on my word and told me to send the others back whenever! I don't know how many companies would do this after such a long period of time but they did! No! I do not represent them in anyway but just admire them for their new found integrity and will certainly continue to do business with them and encourage you to speak to Steve Lott if you have any gripes as his job is to make you happy.
As far as the homemade earthboxes, which I wish you would refer to as HEB so as not to make it confusing as to which is which, are concerned and using rubbermaid containers and moisture control potting soil DON"T.
The rubbermaid sides are not rigid enough and slowly but surely they will bow and the soil will fall to the bottom absorbing excess water and drown the roots. This will not happen right away but will happen when the roots grow and fruit starts to form and it will cause severe BER. The same goes for the moisture control potting soil. The soil will absorb too much water and the roots will rot. You will have beautiful plants at first but the purpose is to have beautiful tomatos also. I have tried both ways and in the long run paying $30 per box that will last almost indefinetly without problems is well worth my while. There is a reason for the EB to be patented and if the rubbermaid containers worked -- Don't you think they would have adapted a similiar product? There are many years of research involved in EBs and being that I have tried all ways and never, ever, seen or heard of any success of a healthy crop using rubbermaid containers makes me stop and think!! Don't you? We can build them but show me the end results and if successful show me how please??? I'd like to save money also.....
ok, TPlant. I hear you. YOu do have a point. HOwever, I reserve my comments (being the newbie about to either build HEBs or buy EBs) until I hear from those using their HEBs.
Did ya'll notice how I fell right on in to that request for HEBs = Homemade Earthboxes...
Right on Gymgirl! It was you that I had in mind. I didn't want you to jump into something and become discouraged being that you are new to our forum.
Thanks, Dad.
Just a quick comment on the different designs... TARogers, you're right about the plant needing air down around its roots, which your drilled pipes definitely provide, but if you look at the other designs you'll see many small holes in the platform that supports the soil. I believe these holes provide the same function, since they provide access to the airspace above the water reservoir, and that air is refreshed via the overflow hole if I understand the design properly.
TPlant, good point about the rigidity of the "real deal" EBs as opposed to the HEBs... I seem to remember some folks having trouble with that this past growing season. I'm also glad to hear they've improved customer service again. All the hype in their little brochures aside, like many things, I'm guessing you get what you pay for. And nobody can argue with the results you've had from your EBs!
Gymgirl, since DH is a welder, you may be able to solve the bowing problem in a way the rest of us can't readily do... what about making a rigid frame to support the sides and prevent them from bowing out? Horizontal elements could run along the sides of the HEB, and be attached to vertical supports at the corners... better yet, the vertical supports could be extended into a trellis "cage" to surround the HEB... when you first mentioned DH in this thread, I thought, ooooh, tomato cage!
I also wonder if you could guard against the effects of minor bowing by sealing around the edge of whatever you're using for a soil platform, maybe with a strip of that tape for repairing pond liners... might stop minor gaps, anyway.
Critter --- I used duct tape when I had the defective EBs. Eleven of them but now that the EB people have replaced them with the proper EBs I am very happy. The new regime are really great people. I honestly never expected this but am quite happy. As a matter of fact I am preparing the last six of them for planting today and will show some pics. Strange but when I first ordered my three EBs they were the proper ones but the next eleven were not? Glad for the replacements. I see by their website that they send the EBs all over the world to poverty stricken areas so they can grow their own food. This is the results of the new regime and I think it is terrific to help those in need instead of destroying the defective ones although they work just as well if you tape them. It's good to know that somewhere in the world some needy people will be using my old EBs as they last forever...
I did wonder if simple strapping with duct tape would help... didn't know if the tape would be enough reinforcement or if it would just bow out with the container. That's a good idea for the HEB's!
I actually appreciate that the EB folks offer a complete kit, and now that they seem to be doing it "right" again I think I'll order one for an older friend (garden buddy who moved to Irving, TX). I guess I'd better check over in the Texas forum to see when people plant tomatoes there!
Critter et al,
Could ya'll put that "tomato cage"concept on paper in a sketch and email it to me or post it here? DH works with steel, so I'm feelin' yah in terms of an all-in-one cage/trellis idea. Just need to visualize it. Thanks!
Sorry, that was just off the top of my head. Your DH can probably design a better one than I can... I was envisioning a rectangle in the dimensions to fit the HEB, welded to 8 foot tall uprights (like a 4 poster bedframe that you could drop the HEB into). You could then weld additional connectors like ladder rungs to the uprights to make the cage.
Basically, you need something to reinforce the sides so they keep their shape, and then something to give your monster tomato plant(s) some support. I think somebody else posted pictures of frames/cages they made from PVC pipes for their EB tomatoes.... maybe it was kingedking?
Critter,
I can see it! The four-poster bed translated. Yep, DH can definitely do that. And, using steel will ensure the maters have sturdy support. It'd take a 'KILLER' MATER to pull down a steel cage!
Yep. I've got it!
Greetings,
I don't know if anyone's still reading this thread, but I'm the "josho" who posted the original instructions referred to throughout the thread.
It's true that the sides of most of the rubbermaid-type totes will bow out from the weight of the damp soil. However, since the insert has its SIDES INTACT, forming a double wall, the soil that falls -- if any -- falls into the space between the insert and the outer box, NOT into the water reservoir.
I've made dozens and dozens of these boxes over the years...for myself and for friends. I also own an original Earthbox (which I bought before designing my own). I see no quantitative difference whatsoever in the yields I get from the homemade boxes and the yields I get from the Earthbox. In addition, some of the homemade boxes I use are years and years old and haven't had their soil changed in two or three years (I just do as Earthbox suggests and dig up the old fertilizer strip and replace it). If TPlant's theory was correct about homemade earthboxes, all my plants would die. In fact, I've never had a single one die, or even fail to thrive.
As for TPlant's assertion that (s)he's never had any success with "HEBs", I can only shake my head and wonder. I have hundreds of emails from people who tried my version and report the same success that they have with regulation EBs.
--Josh
heya Josh, Yup still watching.
I will for sure be making a few of them after we move to our new place in S.E.TN , a notorious clay soil area ;-P
Thanks again,
~S ♥
This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 1:36 PM
Congratulations Josh! With the exception of a very few individuals that have succeeded in building their own, you and Big_Red are the most successful. As I have stated the sides bow out and the mix falls into the resevoir but you seem to have worked it out? It is a shame that others have profited from your creation. I could never find a base container rigid enough to hold everything in its place especially if I had to move them to catch the sun. The original earthbox was rigid and the later version seems to be even more so!
Ted
Hey, Ted,
Yes, if you take a look at my plans, you'll see that the insert that creates the separation between the reservoir and the soil is made from roughly half a tub (bottom and sides). When drilled and placed upside-down into the main tub, this creates a double-wall that is really the only area that soil could conceivably fall into over time due to bowing.
I don't think that sodden soil causing any sort of root rot is an issue. The real Earthbox(TM) has a lot more open space in its insert grid than my design does, and that's just as likely (if not more so) to allow soil to fall into the reservoir as the HEBs. Additionally, the two wicks at diagonal ends of the real EB insert are not "enclosed" like my wick, making my design actually LESS likely to allow additional dirt to get into the reservoir than the EB's design. If sodden soil were a root issue, then any plants near the wicks on a real EB would be suffering
From what I've observed, the reason EBs bow out less than the HEBs is that the EBs are much smaller capacity. I don't think it's due to the EBs using some more rigid structure or stronger plastic. They're just smaller overall; additionally, their ratio of depth to width is different. One could certainly use smaller-capacity totes OR use shallower, wider totes to more closely approximate the real EBs. I find the 18-gallon ones most common (especially factoring in price) and therefore it's what I tend to use, and I have a very open yard so I don't have need to move them around during the growing season (the HEBs I make ARE much, much heavier).
Don't get me wrong, I *love* Earthboxes. I just think they're insanely overpriced for what they are -- a few pieces of plastic -- and I don't think there's anything particularly magical about them. In fact, this year, my HEB tomatoes are beating my EB tomatoes by a mile, even though they were planted from the same flat of seedlings, with the same soil and fertilizer, side-by-side, within minutes of each other.
--Josh