First Earthbox
I did it... I made the plunge and ordered my first Earthbox. I've been researching about this technology and was debating whether it is worth it. After all this is a $56 self-watering container! In this economy I need to be careful how I spend my money and you know how many seeds/plants I could get with $56! OK so I decided I wanted to plant vegetables this year and save on groceries. And how wonderful it is to have my own vegetable garden so I can just go to my deck to see what's ready to harvest and that's what I'm going to cook for dinner that night. Space is limited on my deck so I can't really go crazy planting all kinds of vegetables.
I struggled to keep my vegetables watered last year. The Earthbox is supposed to cut the frequency of watering in half because of its large reservoir. It claims to double the yield of fruits and vegetables. It sounds too good to be true but I'm willing to give it a try. I wanted to order two of them but it's really hard to justify spending $100 on it, so for now I'll stick with one. It is being shipped right now and I'll report back as soon as I get it.
April 2nd, 2009 - 09:53
That seems very cool. Can’t wait to see how it works for you.
April 2nd, 2009 - 10:31
I have an elderly friend who uses these, and she swears by them. Good luck with yours.
April 2nd, 2009 - 13:05
Hope it does well by you! I got my first one last year and asked for another one for my birthday so this year I have two. It will be interesting to compare because I’m not setting the first one up with the special potting fertilizer like I did the first year – I’m wondering how essential that stuff is. The peppers I planted in it did very well, though.
April 2nd, 2009 - 14:56
I have not seen that here so I’m curious to see how it works out. Can’t wait for you to post more about it!
April 3rd, 2009 - 06:04
I love this Earthbox! I can see a couple of brocolli plants bursting out of it right now! (Or tomato)!!!
April 3rd, 2009 - 07:18
keewee - I have read many good things about the Earthbox and hopefully I’ll have luck with it.
Jen - I ordered the fertilizer that comes with the Earthbox but I didn’t order the potting mix, I figured I could get my own.
Rowena - too bad it’s not available in Italy. I’ll post updates as soon as the weather gets warm enough to plant vegetables.
Julie - I didn’t think about planting brocolli! I was going to put two eggplants in one. And I might just have to order a second one to plant tomatoes!
April 3rd, 2009 - 16:25
Try it this season and next year, make your own ($13 each). The ones I’ve made are a bit smaller than yours but at $13 I can make several and come out ahead in the room department. I am just about to put my peppers in mine. I will document it all in my blog.
One thing for sure, whether home-made or store bought, these puppies make watering a non-issue.
April 3rd, 2009 - 18:57
April 3rd, 2009 - 19:56
I’ve been interested in these too, since I read that it would cut watering. I always have one tomato in a container, and this year I’m also trying green and red peppers, radishes and carrots. I was all excited until I read that in climates like ours, (low desert-Zone 9b) they really can’t keep up, so I passed them up and stuck with my daily and sometimes twice daily)watering schedule.
Good luck with your new purchases. They’ll probably work fine for you in your region.
Aiyana
April 5th, 2009 - 09:38
April 6th, 2009 - 03:37
I can’t wait to see how you like these. I get questions about them all the time, but I’ve never used them, so I can’t say anything one way or the other. Now, I’ll just refer them to a friend I know…
April 7th, 2009 - 10:56
I remember someone from Phoenix, AZ posting a picture of his tomatoes during the hottest part of the year and bragging (being really proud) about how they were doing great. I did a quick search throught the Gardenweb.com site but I could not find it again –there thousands of posts in there!. He was growing the tomatos in Earthboxes and they indeed looked great.
July 1st, 2009 - 13:08
I found an Earth Box on sale last December and got the whole set-up. Was a bit dubious about the whole thing. I do not understand how this is working but my tomatoes have gone wild. They grew over a foot last week alone and are covered with blooms. Box is on my patio in the blistering Denver,CO sun. Have to add water daily — but the results are outstanding. The initial set-up is pricy but the box and climbing frame will last for years. I’m getting more.