Earth Boxes - Has Anyone Here Tried to Use Them to Grow Vegetables

by RubaDub 10 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  RubaDub

  With some extra time on my hands (putting it mildly), I decided to try planting some vegetables using these things called Earth Boxes. They are basically rectangular tubs with the soil suspended a few inches from the bottom using a screen and you put water into the bottom and you just add water through a tube to the bottom and the plants get their water from beneath instead of adding water from the top. Then you put a plastic covering around the plants so that weeds don't grow.

  I built about a 3' x 16' x 20" high raised garden in the front of the house where we had some flowers which were always a pain to keep looking good. I didn't buy "real" Earth Boxes since to me they were too expensive (like $40 each) but just went on You Tube and saw how to make my own for about $15 each. Really not much to it. The tubs (18" x 30" x 18" deep) were about $10 each. Then some screen, 8' of PVC pipe and a roll of plastic weed control stuff. A bag or so of potting mixture for each box, a little fertilizer and I am good to go.

  I was just wondering if anyone has had success using this method to grow stuff. This isn't the best time to start to grow things here (mid-April) since the typical growing season is coming to an end within the next few weeks but I will find something to grow.

  Has anyone else tried these Earth Box things?

  Rub a Dub
• 

  sir82

  I've used them - tomatoes work really well, but zucchini not so much. They need lots of space and the box just isn't big enough.

  But they are perfect for tomatoes.
• 

  RubaDub

  tomatoes work really well, but zucchini not so much

  sir82 ...

  Yes, zucchini can get rather "wide" when it grows. Probably only one plant for the entire box.
  

  I know one box, if not two, will be used for herbs. In the supermarkets here, there aren't many "bulk" type herbs meaning ones that you just pick them up and put them in a bag. The exceptions are things that people use a lot of here, such as cilantro, parsley, watercress and a couple of other things.

  Most herbs are in little packages (basil, thyme, oregano, chives, etc.) and we pay like $2.50 for a little package. It adds up really fast and in the end you end up wasting a lot instead of just picking what you need from the garden. It's not that you can't get stuff cheaper, but you end up driving all over place and driving to Italian store for oregano and basil, to a Jamaican/Haitian place for thyme, etc. You spend more in gas driving all over the place than just paying more for the little packages.

  I want my herbs!

  Rub a Dub
  
  
• 

  waton

  Hopefully, this year will not be different with an interrupted supply chain, but our experience with any growing your own is, that when it comes time to harvest, the market is glutted with produce, you never recuperate the cost. so: have fun.
• 

  RubaDub

  you never recuperate the cost. so: have fun.

  waton ...

  You are probably right. Sometimes with a garden, it is more about convenience and freshness.

  In some ways it is like fishing. Add the cost of boats, motors, fuel, ice, tackle, bait, boat storage, fishing licenses, boat and trailer registrations, maintenance, insurance, etc. etc. etc. If you think the fish you catch are a bargain you are wrong.
  
  Like you say, have fun.

  Rub a Dub
  
  
• 

  Magnum

  I have seen excellent results with tomatoes, but don't know about anything else.

  Just curious - if I remember correctly, you're in Florida. I'm thinking about moving there. You said the growing season is coming to an end in the next few weeks. Why is that? Will it be too hot? I want to know because I was looking forward to growing stuff if I move there.
• 

  RubaDub

  Magnum ...

  Yes, for many vegetables it is too hot. It's not the daytime temperatures, other places get into the low 90's regularly or occasionally 100F (think of Georgia or any other State in the South) but it's the night temperatures here.. Many nights it does not even drop below 80 down here in South Florida.

  The further you go north in Florida, the more variation you get. We have the Gulf Stream here only about a mile or so offshore and with the ocean breeze, it tends to moderate the temperature here much more than in other parts of the country, even in other parts of Florida. That's why it typically is about 90F here during the day and upper 70's to low 80's at night. Odd to many people, in the summer, it is typically much hotter the further north you go in Florida. It is not uncommon for temperatures to reach 100F or more in Central or North Florida.There is even a debate here as to whether it has EVER reached 100 degrees here in Miami (in 1942 or something when they were building the airport it was supposedly 100 degrees downtown and 98 degrees at the new airport where technically they were not taking the official temperature there until later in the month or something).

  In any case, the summers are more moderate here in the day but warmer here in the evenings (as an FYI, Key West, further south from here, has a max all-time temperature of 97 degrees). But again, it is very warm in the evenings.

  For whatever reason, many vegetables like it cooler in some part of the day. Plus, with food coming from other southeastern States in the summer, I guess the prices drop and there is no real financial incentive to plant things here in the summer.

  I just know that my basil goes to seed very quickly in the summers here.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  Magnum

  Thanks for the info.
• 

  Still Totally ADD

  Magnum I lived in central FL for 40 years and garden most of those years. Most of the soil there is void of humus so it takes years to build up the soil for growing worth while vegetables. Yes you can use chemical fertilizers but does nothing for the soil. 12 inch deep boxes full of top soil, compost and shredded leaves makes a great beginning in growing vegetables. 2 ft. x 4ft. or 3 ft. x 4 ft. boxes are a great size to build and easy to maintain. Look into square foot gardening for getting more out of small spaces. Even with a large garden it's the only way to go.

  Finally most FL gardens start in mid January to early March and ending in early to late June. Hot peppers and egg plant can go will into summer. Then there is winter gardening where you can grow cool weather plants. There is more to it but I am sure you will figure it all out when you get to FL. Good luck to you and happy gardening. Still Totally ADD
• 

  road to nowhere

  Fresh is worth something. Where I live it can frost into late may so the instructions are to plant after average frost. Still hot days and cold nights. Win some years, lose others. our city water is very expensive too.

  Have you tried window sill herbs?