freemotion
Food Guru
Wasn't sure exactly where to put this, but this seems like a reasonable spot!
Anyone familiar with www.earthbox.com ?
Their products are cool and instructions detailed. They work GREAT and are wonderful for anyone in a small space who wants to get the most production from containers.
I made a few when we lived in an apartment, and got amazing harvests. A word of caution, the containers I used.....large storage totes....are not designed for heavy loads like dirt and water, so cannot be moved once loaded. And they are not designed to sit in the sun, and the plastic will deteriorate within about two years, whether they are moved or not. So not really cost effective, but a great experiment. You might find it worthwhile to purchase from the company for serious container gardening, or if making your own, use something sturdier, or free, like five-gallon buckets that you can get for free and replace often.
It is basically a system that combines soil with hydroponics. You have soil above a water reservoir, and the water is wicked up into the soil. You fill the reservoir from a fill pipe, and drill a drainage hole just lower than the top of your water reservoir so that you don't overfill it and get soggy soil. Do NOT drill drainage holes in the bottom of the container, as you traditionally would.
For the homemade version, I used 4" pvc pipe to create the water reservoir, and topped that with 1/4" hardware cloth to hold the soil. A piece of 2" pvc pipe, with the bottom cut on an angle to allow water flow, for the fill pipe. In one corner, leave one of the supporting 4" pvc pipes a few inches short, and angle the hardware cloth to the bottom. This is so the soil goes into the bottom to wick up the water.
To clarify: The 4" pvc lies on the bottom of the container, in rows, simply to hold up the soil, out of the water, which is in the bottom about 3.5" deep. A layer of hardware cloth sits on the pipes, to hold the soil. I lined the hardware cloth with dampened paper towels before filling, to keep the water reservoir reasonably free of soil.
My father made a bunch with five gallon pails, and set up a drip system with hoses to keep them fed while they were away. They had quite a little garden going that year. Tomatos, summer squash, lettuces, etc. And there is essentially no weeding, as you plant through black plastic. I used black garbage bags.
This system is also excellent for the bending-challenged gardener, as long as someone else sets them up. A nice thing to do for an elderly parent or friend, or a disabled friend or relative.
Tomatoes need filling daily once they are producing, just a warning. But the fruit will be plentiful! The stakes will need to be taller to account for the container height, and will need to be put in the ground, not in the container.
Anyone familiar with www.earthbox.com ?
Their products are cool and instructions detailed. They work GREAT and are wonderful for anyone in a small space who wants to get the most production from containers.
I made a few when we lived in an apartment, and got amazing harvests. A word of caution, the containers I used.....large storage totes....are not designed for heavy loads like dirt and water, so cannot be moved once loaded. And they are not designed to sit in the sun, and the plastic will deteriorate within about two years, whether they are moved or not. So not really cost effective, but a great experiment. You might find it worthwhile to purchase from the company for serious container gardening, or if making your own, use something sturdier, or free, like five-gallon buckets that you can get for free and replace often.
It is basically a system that combines soil with hydroponics. You have soil above a water reservoir, and the water is wicked up into the soil. You fill the reservoir from a fill pipe, and drill a drainage hole just lower than the top of your water reservoir so that you don't overfill it and get soggy soil. Do NOT drill drainage holes in the bottom of the container, as you traditionally would.
For the homemade version, I used 4" pvc pipe to create the water reservoir, and topped that with 1/4" hardware cloth to hold the soil. A piece of 2" pvc pipe, with the bottom cut on an angle to allow water flow, for the fill pipe. In one corner, leave one of the supporting 4" pvc pipes a few inches short, and angle the hardware cloth to the bottom. This is so the soil goes into the bottom to wick up the water.
To clarify: The 4" pvc lies on the bottom of the container, in rows, simply to hold up the soil, out of the water, which is in the bottom about 3.5" deep. A layer of hardware cloth sits on the pipes, to hold the soil. I lined the hardware cloth with dampened paper towels before filling, to keep the water reservoir reasonably free of soil.
My father made a bunch with five gallon pails, and set up a drip system with hoses to keep them fed while they were away. They had quite a little garden going that year. Tomatos, summer squash, lettuces, etc. And there is essentially no weeding, as you plant through black plastic. I used black garbage bags.
This system is also excellent for the bending-challenged gardener, as long as someone else sets them up. A nice thing to do for an elderly parent or friend, or a disabled friend or relative.
Tomatoes need filling daily once they are producing, just a warning. But the fruit will be plentiful! The stakes will need to be taller to account for the container height, and will need to be put in the ground, not in the container.