We need to relocate our dwarf meyer lemon and key lime trees from a community garden bed. I was thinking that I could transplant them to some EBs. I searched the threads on this forum but did not see anyone showing citrus trees. Do any of your experienced EBers have fruit trees in your EBs? If this has already been discussed, please point me to the thread.
Thanks.
Anyone growing citrus in their EB/HEBs?
Yes, I am growing a satsuma in one of mine and it is doing great. It is flowering right now and does have some tiny ones already set. When I began to plant , I wrote to James C. "Hoss" Morgan, Procurement/Harvesting Director, Wm. G. Roe & Sons, Inc. to ask how to fertilize satsuma and peach trees that I wanted to grown in Earthboxes. Mr Morgan is the person in the video on the Commerical Framing section of the Earthbox home page.
This is his reply:
Citrus along with Peaches like a well balance fertilizer with minor elements in it as part of the mix. I would use a slow release fertilizer (Osmocote is an example of a sulfur coated urea slow release and can be purchased at Home Depot. Lowe?s to name a few). If you simple purchase a ?Citrus Mix? slow release it will have all of the above in it. Concerning application, on my Citrus Trees they are planted in the center of the box, thus I apply my fertilizer ontop of the soil on the side of the box opposite of the fill tube. This way the water will pull the fertilizer salts to the root system of the trees. I would use 1/2 # every six months and put approximately a 2? strip down the side of the box (put the fertilizer down one side in a long thin row if you will). When you re fertilize your trees in six months, remove the old fertilizer that is left over and put it on your yard or around a tree in your yard. This will help prevent a salt build up in the soil by removing the old fertilizer. You can actually use the same fertilizer on your peach trees without any problems.
You mentioned satsuma?s in your email below, the citrus mix will be good for all citrus varieties and all varieties of perennial plants that require a balance mix.
Barbara
Garden Mermaid: Due to the fact that I made about 20 HEBs from totes and they aren't doing as well as the EBs I was thinking of planting some dwarf fruit trees in them next Spring/Summer. I'm wanting dwarf lemon, lime, pomegrante and either a quamquat or tangerine dwarf and possibly a banana dwarf. I'm going to use the HEBs for them.
joy
Thank you both for your replies. I'll get two EBs and put the lemon and lime trees in there. We garden organically, so I'll look for a suitable citrus blend. Keep your fingers crossed!
Garden Mermaid: I'm not so sure if I would use a real earth box for that purpose. The 18 gallon totes that are used to make the homemade earthbox knockoffs would be more appropriate I think, as they are deeper to accomadate the roots of the dwarf trees better and that is why I'm using mine for that purpose next Spring.
joy
Thanks joy. We bought the 18 gallon totes and are making the HEBs like the Josco plans, but adding an overflow hole for the water resevoir.
DH was thinking we should use the landscape fabric over the top instead of vinyl or plastic to allow the soil breath a bit. That should still help to keep the moisture in the container, even if not as much as the plastic tarp. Any comments on this idea?
garden mermaid: The problem I'm having right now with the HEBs is that the weight of potting mix seems to want to push downwards on the other tote, causing it to buckle under I think. The rainy weather has caused the coconut coir to weight down. I made the drain holes even larger today though, as I lost another artichoke plant, it drowned. Trees don't like to get too much water but they need a certain amount. I would maybe use the crate instead of the cut off of another tote, I think that is thicker and more durable plastic, I can't remember; but, think it might have been gymgirl's design or perhaps garden glories, not sure; but they used a crate they got from the bakery to put in the bottom of their 18 gallon totes; by the way, Walmart has their black 18 gallon totes marked down to $4 a piece, noticed that tonight when I was grocery shopping.
joy
Joy, did you cut the second tote and install it upside down in the first tote? My DH looked at that design and thought it would be better for us if we just put holes in the bottom of the secone tote and then nested it inside the first tote. We did cut a center opening and tied a pond basket to it for water wicking, but the overall structure is one tote nested inside another. I don't think it can crush anything this way.
DH also put an overflow hole in outer tote so that we will hopefully not drown the tree. We used leftover agribon cloth instead of the black plastic tarp. In out area, I don't think we really need the extra heat most of the year.
I did notice that the box filled with moist potting mix and tiny tree was *very* heavy to lift. This is before we put water in the resevoir.
Our HEBs and trees have been safely transferred to the new garden. I'm holding onto my thumbs (aka crossing my fingers) that the trees like their new environment and home.
Thank you for all your advice.
Garden Mermaid: Sounds to me like you and your husband put yours together correctly, mine had flaws in them, and I've had to go along and correct them, the ones I find, that is. LOL My thoughts are that a dwarf tree will do nicely in these things. I saw some trees at Lowes the other day but it didn't say dwarf on them and the price was outrageous, so I backed off. They had Meyer Lemon, a lime and an orange. Problem is in Florida they won't let you order citrus trees from anywhere and have them in Florida, only Florida citrus trees in Florida, then Florida wants to charge the Floridians a fortune for them.
joy
The problem with HEB tubs are they are not strong enough and the sides bow out allowing the mix (never use soil) fall into the resevoir and too much water is wicked up thus drowning the roots. Buy the real EBs. You will not regret it!!!
TPlant: Good advice I now wished I had of listened to; but, then again, some of us have to learn the hard way, as I have right?LOL
joy
I keep telling people that the sides must be rigid but very few listen! A lot of money is wasted on HEBs that don't work. Not just you Joy at least you admit it and if others did they'd save the rest a lot of time, money and heartbreak! Buy the real thing as it is not as SIMPLE AS IT LOOKS TO MAKE YOUR OWN. My opinion and experience only or stay with your pots. I have yet to find a tub rigid enough for an HEB except for the pond tubs that cost $12 ea and you require two plus additional products for it. I'd rather pay the $30 plus shipping and buy the guaranteed product.
Where are you getting brand name EBs for $30? The online EB store sells them for $60 each, with the shipping and handling extra. The local garden centers sell them for $75 - $100 each.
We spent $56 in materials to built two 18 gallon HEBs (18 US gallons, dry = 2.8 cu ft), which offers 1.2 again as much growing depth for the trees. The EB has a 2 cu ft capacity. The actual materials used was less, but the hose pipe came pre-packaged. We repaired the shop vac hose with the extra length.
The sides of the HEBs that my DH built last weekend are not bowing out. We will lift the top container to check for soil in the water resevoir next weekend and adjust accordingly. In the meantime I will keep checking the moisture levels in the soil with my water meter to be sure we are not drowning them.
Garden Mermaid: If you buy the EB without the extras you can get it for $29.95 and I believe the shipping is around $7, you can get your own potting mix. TPlant is right, everyone was talking about how well these things worked, I ran out spent over $300 on parts, $180 on labor and wound up with 18 of the 18 gallon tote kind and 6 of the ones made out of buckets. I paid to have them put together and it was done in a fast sloppy way, I can improve them; but it's too late in the season for that now I can only hope that they make it through the season. TPlant is right, the sides bow out. Now, if you add two pond baskets for wicking devices and make sure the holes will not be too big for them to sit in and anchor them down with zip ties, make sure the drain hole is a huge one and where it should be you might be ok; but, then again, the plastic will warm up with the sun, get weak and who knows what you will wind up with, not to mention they are deeper than the EB, the reason you need 2 wicking devices . And if it is one dwarf tree you are planting that might be ok? What happened with mine, is that the guy decided to cut some of the one that fit into the other one upside down, he cut these chunks out of the sides as he was concerned about the mix sliding down the sides, he should have been concerned he was making the upside down one weaker by doing that. Bob already told us about the 5 gallon bucket ones, the buckets have to be one smaller than the other, the weight from the plant and potting mix causes them to slide deeper into the bucket.
Gardener's Supply sells a terrazza planter self watering one, that I believe dwarf trees would look great in. It has castors on the bottom too which makes it mobile. I was thinking of getting one of those for my Stuttgart Canna Lily Baby, since it's my house plant, it is self watering.
I really made a lot of mistakes this time, and some were costly ones too. With that one being the most costly. My totes will be replaced with EBs as I can afford to, and I am going to buy the self watering above ground garden from Gardener's Supply. I think another costly mistake I'm going to find I made is the topsy turvy's and the revolutionary planters and the two expensive 4 armed stands I bought to hang them all on, it takes two people to hang those babies. Once they are up that's it, if you get a cold spell, no running them back into the greenhouse. That is why I haven't put anything in them as of yet. Now the 5 gallon grow bags, I can grab and run with them anywhere I want they are my favorite right now, with the EB coming in second. Matter of fact, they have saved the season for me and are full of toms right now.
joy
Interesting. I'm so sorry you spent so much for HEBs that are not working.
We put one tree per planter. DH is an engineer as well as a general contractor and stone mason, so he did modify the design a bit. He's doesn't think we should build any more HEBs, but the two existing ones will hopefully work. I may put a truckers strap around them at same level as the top of the resevoir just in case. I didn't see any self watering containers that would be be enough for the trees. I've had trouble growing citrus in pots because they dry out in the heat of summer. I'm not able to visit my garden on a daily basis to check on them.
garden mermaid: The best lesson is always the most costly and I have learned quite a bit this season. I am waiting a few more weeks before transplanting my tomatoes into the topsys and revolutionary planters (not too optomistic about those as it takes 2 people to lift them onto the 4 armed stands). That is why I'm waiting, making sure I haven't rushed things. I do have 2 sqaure footers which I'm planting toms in this year, depending on how they do, will determine whether or not I buy the self watering garden that Garden Supply has for $169. As it has the same wicking system as the square footers. There are a lot of different types of containers out there that people use to grow vegetables in, the main thing is, if you use a certain type, you need to look at the entire picture of what is used with it to see if that is what you want or not. Coconut coir works great in Bob's 5 gallon bags, but doesn't in an HEB, that has no mulch cover on it, and if you buy his 5 gallon bags and coconut coir, if you use his fertilizer with epsom salt too, you will have fabulous results. If you use the EB, make sure you use dolomite lime, using potting mix, I use Jungle Grow for Professional Growers and containers in the silver bag and use the granular or organic fertilizer, don't plant more than they show can be planted, less is usually better. For the revolutionary planters, I bought them from Gardeners' Supply so will use their container mix, only mixing in about 1 cup of dolomite lime and fertilizer throughout the mix then adding it.
joy
joy, since your hanging planters are so heavy, wouldn't it be easier to just wrap the plants, planter and all, in frost blankets when the weather looks like it might chill them?
I use oyster shell lime, micronized calcium carbonate orfoliar calcium on my plants.
Dolomite lime has too much magnesium in it. It's not good for most western soils as the magnesium will cause the soil particles to aggregate into hardpan.
I used Dr. Earth Live for the fertilzer in the HEB. We shall see.
Garden Mermaid: The potting mixes don't have any magnesium and no lime in them, so that when you add dolomite lime to the potting mix you get magnesium and calcium that plants like peppers, tomatoes and others need. Of course, this dingbat here, added dolomite lime to her EB and then put strawberries in it; oh well, ate my first strawberry off it the other day, what the birds left me anyways. Been storming, thundering and raining now all week.
joy