New to EB's

Hi, this is my 2nd year growing veggies but my first year using self watering containers(7 EB's and 3 GP's). I was strictly manually watering containers last year and did pretty good. So obviously I'm hooked, almost obsessed with gardening now :) I have bought more seeds and supplies than I know what to do with. I'm sure that's the norm around here.

I spent most of my weekend just reading pages and pages of this forum and learned a few things I was about to do wrong. Soil for one, I was about to use Potting Soil and not mix. Then I started reading about Coconut Coir. I definitely am gonna have to try that in a few of my boxes this year. Here's what I have been worrying about since I put together my first EB tonight. My seedlings were in 3" pots of Potting Soil (not mix). But the rest of the box is filled with Mix that EB supplied. Will the little amount of potting soil cause problems?


I also picked up some Miracle-Gro Potting Mix (3 months of fertilizer) to try in a box or 2. This shouldn't be a problem, should it? I seem to remember reading that some of you have had success with it.

Here's a pic of my first EB I put together(Beefsteak Toms). It's probably 3-4 weeks earlier than I should have planted anything but I just couldn't wait anymore. Now I see it's supposed to get in the high 40's tonight. Oh well, I'll just have to go up there and cuddle with them if it gets too cold lol I also know I kinda messed up with jamming those cheapo cages through the plastic. I'll tape them up at some point. As I was typing this, I had another thought. You think the EB could rust those cages? That would be a disaster.


Thanks for any info you have to offer.

Boy do those look nice. My first EB and the tomaos were just hanging there lol. They ended up doing me proud. I dont know about the rust, but I havent had that probem in FL. I use just about any kind of fencing I can find. I think in the long run, when they sitting on the ground, you will have to put those cages in the gound, the EB doesnt have enough depth to hold up the size tomato plant you looking for. I dont theink the temps will hurt it. How many tomaoes are you growing? Are you trying aything else. I only had two boxes last year, Im hoping to improve on my technique this year and add the rest of the boxes.

Hey glory,

Thanks for the response. I'm a bit worried about the possibility of them rusting because the bottoms of the cages could be sitting in the bottom of the reservoir 24/7. I'm not to worried about the cages toppling over. I have tied them together and the wired them to the deck railing. They aren't budging.

It got down to even lower than I expected last night. It was 39 degrees and is supposed to have one more night of those cold temps. They seem to be doing just fine though :)

I have about 50 different Tomato seed packs that I want to try but that just impossible for me to accomplish. I plan on having about 25 tomato plants(10 in EBs and the rest in normal 10-18 gallon containers), 30-40 Sweet and Hot Peppers, Squash, Melon, Bush Beans and I'm think I'm gonna try corn in one of my EBs later on in the spring.

The Tomatoes that have sprouted so far...

Beefsteak
A Heirloom from Tennessee (Big, yellow fruit and tasty)
Royal Hillbilly
Virginia Sweets
Cherokee Chocolate
Tiffen Mennonite
Better Boy
Sungold
Black Cherry


The Peppers I'm gonna grow...

Jalapenos(Biker Billy)
Aji Dulche #2
Bell Peppers(Unknown variety, but productive)
Sweet Datil
California Wonders

Squash = Sure Thing Hybrid

Corn = Silver Queen

Melon = assorted small bush types plus Ambrosia Muskmelons.


This message was edited Jan 27, 2009 10:40 AM

This message was edited Jan 27, 2009 10:41 AM

I have a few tomato's just showing themesleves. Seeds are not my strong point.

I have always bought my seedlings, and the only hybrid that the guy sells that I buy from is Big Beef. I too am trying that one among my heirlooms. I went a bit crazy with the pepper seed co-op, dont know if I can even grow all of those with my space. Got them anyway lol

Im really interested in your progress, havent ever had any veggie growers from CA. Dont forget the pictures.

Big Beef is a tomato that I may try this year as well as the a few others I didn't add to the list. I wanna have a good mix of both Heirloom and Hybrids.

Seed buying is what helped pass the time until planting season. I went way overboard too. I now have a shoebox full lol

Definitely will keep you updated....I'm a picture taking fool so that won't be a problem :)

LOL, well I grow daylies, and my refrgerator is just full of seeds, freezer pollen. Good thing its only one plant and I dont do that with any others. It takes over. Im just learing about seeds and I cant stop buying them.

It took me a bit to know what "daylies" were. At first I thought it was some sort of Soap Opera lol

Nah, seriously it did take a google search to find out what Daylilies were.Then I click your name and then knew exactly what you were talking about. They look like very pretty plants. Yes, seed buying is addictive!

It's funny, I had a Tomato plant pop up in my African Daisies. I was excited about the 5' 'mater vine.....everybody I showed only commented on the daisies. Pic posted.

I also have a few big Hibiscus plants, they can be pretty(pic posted). I'm removing a few, the whiteflies love them and then they attack my veggie plants. UGH! I hate whiteflies!

Is there a way to post more than one pic per post? Well here's the Hibiscus that the whiteflies love...

Right now I actually am using my EB's for daylily seedling. This week I have started planting them out,. as my tomato seeds are coming along and they for sure get the EB's.

Great color on that hibiscus.

Hi,

You can only put in one picture per post.


Karen

Not if you use Picasa for your photo editing! It allows you to create a collage with up to 4 pictures at a time. It saves the collage as ONE picture....

Well, yes, that is true. The site software will see the 4-photo collage as one.

Karen

Hmmm, well I do have a few FTP servers. I wonder if the [img] [/img] wraps work here? If not, then I guess I'll just post links to the my hosted pics.



This message was edited Jan 29, 2009 6:13 PM

Here's my 2nd EB I setup yesterday. I only planted 12 Bush Beans, 16 seemed like it would be real crowded.

Gosh, those look really nice, they are not even pouting over the transplant.

I can attest that they will hold the full 16 beans, I use them for cow peas tho, and those climb, so the bush beasn just might like that extra space.

Ray_Der_Phan,
Your plants do look healthy! Might I suggest you use some duck tape to kinda close up the slits? That way, you'll keep backsplash from rain/watering offa your seedlings, and they'll probably thank you for it by staying nice and clean and not giving you a dreaded case of some type of fungus or other icky growth. YEEEEESH!!!

Linda

Great set up you have there!

I'm getting the hang of transplanting without shock....I'm shocked myself about it :) They are doing well.

16 bean plants in an EB, really? I'm about to plant my Bells (they say 6 plants) I will only plant 4....these get bushy. I'm scared to plant more than that.




Yup, I'm gonna duct them! I blew it on my first EB, I didn't mound it like I should have. :(



Thank you...

I'm a newbie expecting happy results like I did last year :)

Ray: Looks like to me you are off to a great start.
joy112854

A little update. Only have 3 EBs setup atm. I should have all 10 setup by mid-march. I just don't want to put them out too early. Temps still dipping into the mid-high 30's at night.

Here's my Sungold EB. It started to bloom, think I should clip off the flowers so the plant can focus on growing?

This is the Box I first planted(pic in first post). Hey! They're growing :)

Ray: They look fabulous, for a newbie in EBs you did something right. My first year was a mixed experience, I forgot the lime, my tomatoes and peppers flopped, did okay with the cukes, my okra did well; but, hey they do well in the ground. I'm staggering my planting throughout the spring also. It is more fun to be continuing to grow something new and something different at all times isn't it? Too much like work doing it all at one time. And we want to have fun right?
joy

Hi Ray and welcome to the EB/Coir growers. For a first timer you are doing great. As long as you have the wire frames tied to your railing you will be OK other wise they would topple over. We are in the same zone so I would suggest your further planting to use the white side up as it will get hot soon and that may slow production. The EB people suggest it for growers in our zone. I would not worry about rusting of your supports as they should be galvanized.
I use the supports that fit the EBs! Ya know, the one with the nets? As for amount of plants per EB I suggest you follow their instructions as I felt the same way about peppers but soon discovered they like to be close togeather just like beans. I'll post a picture of my pole beans whereas I had to buy an extension to their support because they just kept climbing. I know they are an additional expence but if growing on other than dirt it is the best way to go. I really like them. About your sungold flowers. don't worry ? Just let them do their thing and you'll be having delicious ,sweet, juicy, cherry tomatos before you know it.

Tplant, thanks for the info on the supports! I just planted some pole beans in one of my EBs, and was wondering about buying the extension. Do they come with more netting?
Carol

OCCAROL ---- They come with the netting but you can buy more when you need it? I haven't had the need and it's been three years so far besides you can always make your own with heavy white or green twine or even pink!

Exactly Joy! I enjoy planting my seedlings but don't want to make it feel like a job or that I must get them all in their location immediately. The way I see it, I'm way ahead of the game so far. I didn't plant out until late April last year and even planted some in June.



Hey Tplant, thanks!

Yes I do have the cages tied together and then tied to the railing. They're easily untied also, just in case I want to move them. I was wondering about which side of the covers to use. I went with black because it is so early in the season. Another reason I went with black was because I'm right next to the ocean(1/4 mile) and our summers temps range from 75-85 mainly. A few days of 90 degree temps but that isn't until August or September and only last for a couple hours a day. The ocean breeze cools things off a lot. With that said, do you think I should still use the white side of the covers? I could always tape over the black with white or silver duct tape if it becomes a problem.

I was looking at the EB supports but I didn't buy any, It was a cost saving decision. I figured that since I have tons of cages I could just rig them up and once the plants are big I could make something if needed.

Good to hear about the peppers. I'm about to plant some Bells and Jalapenos this weekend. Also good news about the Sungold! I really didn't want to snip the flowers off. I had some plants that flowered early last year in containers but they still grew to a massive size. Thanks for the tips.

The only thing I have heard repeatedly regarding the flowers, is if your plant is still tiny and gets it's first flower clump, to cut that one off once, so that the young plant can use it's energy to grow taller rather than work to make tomatoes. It should be the only flower clump you ever clip off.

I'm having a good time watching it all develop in front of me, my brother's wife's son made some boxes for me today to place 18 of my HEBs on. I bought some wood at Lowes as I intended to have 36 ten inch pieces and 36 thirty inch pieces. Then nail two 10 inch pieces to two 30 inch pieces and each EB will have it's own stand like. They turned out really beautiful and right on time of course.
joy

How tiny are we talking? Under 12" for tomatoes? I have 3 Bell Pepper plants trying to make flowers at 8-10" tall. They're very stocky with a lot of foliage. Clip it or not?



Me too Joy! I love when a plan comes together :)

BTW, I want a greenhouse like yours!

Joy,
Post a pic of the EBs on your "boxes." Thanks!

Hi Ray_Der_Phan...I did alot of research on tomato pruning this past week and found a great video and this picture, which shows the first flower pruning.

http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/how-to/videos/pruning-tomatoes.aspx

I enjoyed that muself, Karen.

Karen you should have shown this to Joy ..It was on the site you posted above..LOL

www.Joyful-Tomato.com.....It should say Cucumbers..LOL

Tubby

Forgot to say Thanks I wanted to learn about pruning tomatoes..

This message was edited Mar 1, 2009 8:51 AM

Thanks Karen. I'm not much of a pruner unless the leaves on a sucker look bad. I may do an experiment this year with one of my EBs. Grow the same plant side by side while trimming one and not the other and see which does better.

I also enjoyed this link that was from that site you provided. I do a lot of container growing so this was helpful http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/growing-tomatoes-in-containers.aspx

Karen: A friend of mine once told me that if you want the tomato to bush out instead of up you pinch off the top of it and it will spread out instead of up. I also heard that the more leaves you take off the more tomatoes you will get as they will be able to get the sun better. Anyone else ever try this? I was curious.
joy

Joy did look a the HYPERLINK that darkmoondreamer posted above..( 5 up ) Very interesting.

Tubby

Tubby: Unfortunately, that is a video and I don't have sound on this computer. LOL My weather forecast for this area has me a bit concerned, It got cold last night and tonight it will be about 30 degrees, tomorrow nite will be 27 degrees, Tues 30 degrees, then after that it goes up to 42 degrees and even to 51-53 degrees. Should I be concerned? I have the windows and doors zipped closed. I'm going to bring back in the eggplants as I know this is too cold for them; but what about my cukes and peppers and maters? Will be they be okay? They are all in the greenhouse?
joy

Joy, if you don't have a heat source in your g-house then those plants are in trouble at those low temps. I hope you've brought them back in.

Shoe

Shoe: Nope, left them in the greenhouse; but that thing holds heat pretty well. I glanced at the weather report for the next week and we only have 3 days of temps from 27 - 30 degrees at night, after that the days go back to the 70's and the eves to between 40 and 50; the few nights will be the tester. I hope my bell peppers do something, they are growing awfully slow, and I really want them to grow so I can get them out of the coconut coir seed starting kit and use it for some other things, I got cukes in another coconut seed starter kit, out of bio dome sponges now. But, maybe it's a good thing too with this weather.
joy