Earth Box

Design question on Earthbox: I am going to build a couple of these today. I am using the rectangular tubs from walmart. (like the ones in pics above) I plan on using the lids as the screen with 4" pvc underneath to support, rectangular pond baskets for the soil wicks, and 4" PVC with holes for aeration. I do not want to drill holes in the screen, so I'm going to try one of the ideas from the links above and put the pipe through just above the screen in the center and have holes drilled in the pipe. The examples show the soil wick areas in the center, should they be in the center or on one side so you can put the fertilizer strip opposite the wic?

Personally I don't think it matters where the wicks are, but I built all of mine with the wicks to one side. If you make a welfwatering container out of 5 gallon pails you are kind of forced to put everything in the center, and the pails work just fine. In my "earthpail" (photo in a previous post above) everything is centered with the fertlizer being placed around the pail at the outside edge of the pail. The tomato plant in it is growing like crazy.

I love the idea of making my own earthbox.

I am really new to gardening and even newer to gardening forums, so please forgive me if this has been answered or is ridiculously obvious.

Why can't I leave out the fertilizer and add dilute miracle grow or some other plant food with the water as I refill the box?

I am certainly no expert on earthboxes or fertilizing techniques, but here's my opinion.

The granular fertilizer strip is better able to give a continual, consistent dose. It alows the "system" to regulate itself better. The only thing you should need to do once the system is setup is make sure the resevoir has water in it, the rest takes care of itself.

Another concern, and somebody who knows more about liquid fertilizer would know if this is right or not, is that diluted liquid fertilizers are normally applied from the top down letting the water carry the nutrients down through the soil and bathe the roots. In an earthbox the liquid nutrients would be applied from the bottom up and I am not sure if the nutrients would be able to be carried or wicked up to the root system. Maybe the fertilizer would be left in the resevoir as the water is wicked up, like when salt water dries up the water is gone but the salt is left behind.

Finished the first of four boxes. I will try to get the others this evening. The pond baskets I purchased seem disporportionately big. What size should the wick area be in percentage of the screen size?

Any suggestions, mine is almost 40% of the total length and about 60 % of the width. Will this create a situation where too much water is wicked up into the soil?

Are you putting one pond basket per container? I don't think it will be much of a concern. You could always put something in the middle of the pond baxket to take up space so less mix is in contact with the water, something like a piece of PVC tube that's capped on one end to prevent mix from filling it and becoming a wick.

No news from the earthbox folks? We got hit with bad weather last night and my garden is a mess!! No real damage but everything is blown around and beaten down. Everything in my earthboxes is leaning one way but nothing is broken so I think they will snap back. I need to come up with some idea for a quick temporary shelter for them before the next storm. Used a sheet of poly last night and everyone knows how fun that is to work with in strong winds. If I come up with any good ideas I'll post them.

I need for someone to post how to make a earthbox and how to set up the inside and top and what to use inside thanks.pandagirl

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/boxgardens/all/

You will find alot of info on this forum
good luck