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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 14, 2017 17:35:54 GMT -5
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Post by september on Jun 14, 2017 22:42:21 GMT -5
Ooh, nice! And they come in colors! Thanks for the view, Laura.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 16, 2017 16:35:49 GMT -5
september, Laura_in_FL, pepperhead212, just a little info... Lowe's has them on a new lower price of just around 20 bucks if your interested... I was, so my wife picked me one up.
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Post by september on Jun 17, 2017 8:37:34 GMT -5
At $20 I would give them a try, but no Lowe's around here! Closest is like 200 miles away. Let us know how you like yours, are you planting in it right away?
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 17, 2017 11:49:56 GMT -5
Interesting. I may pick one up sometime to compare it to my EBs. Though a proper comparison would take many years. I have some EBs that are over 12 years old and holding up just fine despite being in the Florida sun 365 days a year. (My homemade SIPs get brittle and bust in a few years.)
But I am not sure where I'd put another one right now. I may have to wait until the sun does in another one or two of my homemade SIPs.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 17, 2017 12:40:39 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL I also had that problem with the homemade ones getting brittle (though they are still in use - I just don't move those), but not the Rubbermaid - only cheaper ones. So I am wondering how good the plastic in these will be.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 17, 2017 15:56:01 GMT -5
are you planting in it right away? Yes mam... i'ma put just 4 eggplant in this one to see how they do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura_in_FL, pepperhead212, I have a question for ya... this comes with a piece of black plastic that you are supposed to lay down and cut holes to plant thru right... do I have to use "black" plastic or can I use the drop-off greenhouse plastic on these??
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 17, 2017 17:37:19 GMT -5
You can use almost any kind of plastic you want, but I strongly recommend that you use opaque plastic. Putting clear plastic on the ground in summer is how you solarize the soil. Clear plastic lets solar radiation in, but not out, so in hot sunny weather the soil temperatures might get high enough to kill everything.
But any color is fine. White or reflective silver plastic will keep soil temperatures a little cooler. Reflective plastic might deter some pests. Red is in theory good for tomatoes but I am skeptical about it really making a difference. Black is good to warm soil temperatures for cool season gardening or to warm the soil in spring. But honestly once your plants get big the color of the plastic won't make much difference in soil temperatures because the plant leaves will shade it anyway.
Unless you are growing are smaller "patio" eggplant varieties, 4 plants in one box might be too much. For regular-sized eggplants I'd only put two per box, personally. 4 would probably grow well at first, but might not reach full size or yield. Also, the watering would be harder to keep up with.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 17, 2017 17:43:54 GMT -5
So Laura_in_FL , you think that 4 plants might be to many?? I just planted them and here is a pick of them.... Should I pull 2? I know they look rough, so they really needed planted... and they were free.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 17, 2017 19:42:35 GMT -5
If you've already planted them and don't have any place for the other two plants to go, you may as well leave them be. If you decide they are too crowded later on you can just cut two of them off at the soil line. Also, sometimes with young plants stuff happens. Hopefully not, of course! But if you do happen to lose one or two of them you can stick basil, other herbs, or marigolds or something into the planting holes that are freed up. This fall when the eggplants start to suffer from the cool weather you can take it out and transplant seedlings for spinach, lettuce, collards, other greens, cabbage, radishes, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. If you're prepared to cover the box (or haul it into a garage or shed) when temps drop below 25F, some of these would grow for you all winter. Collards, spinach, and chard are especially cold hardy. One of the joys of being in the South is being able to harvest something fresh from the garden year-round if you want.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 17, 2017 20:38:35 GMT -5
daylilydude What varieties of eggplants did you plant? I agree with Laura_in_FL - 4 is definitely too many; however, I didn't see what the capacity is of the ones at HD, though I didn't check Lowe's. What is the amount of growing medium they hold? The link to HD says 2 gal reservoir, but nothing about the mix!
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 18, 2017 8:35:52 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL , pepperhead212 , Thanks for the info on these as i've never grown in an sip (Sub-irrigated Planter). Now as for variety i'm not sure as it's just a generic tag... pepperhead212 , the guide that came with it says it holds anywhere from 1.5 to 2 cu.ft. of potting mix, 1 lb. of dolomite and 2-3 cups pf fertilizer and 3 to 4 gallons of water if this helps any? The City Picker is 24.5 in. width x 20.5 in. length and 9.5 in. height.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 18, 2017 9:30:50 GMT -5
That sounds like the EB - 2 cu ft, and all the other amounts except the 3-4 gal of water, though I think that indicates the amount in the soil mix, plus the 2 gal reservoir. I checked Lowe's site, and the description was similar to HD - gave the reservoir amount, but not how much mix you would need!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 18, 2017 10:54:37 GMT -5
Yeah, the generic "eggplant" tag doesn't really help. The photo looks like an Ichiban-type eggplant, but with a generic tag like that there is no way to know if the photo is actually intended to be representative of the fruit. Unless the tag has some sort of description on the back, your plants could be anything from the big "Black Beauty" types to a little patio eggplant. Like Dave said, the soil volume in your City Picker is about the same as in the EB. The City Picker's shape is different - it's more square and a bit shallower than the EB. EB is much more rectangular - its dimensions are 29" L x 13.5" D x 11" H per the Earthbox website. The website also says that its reservoir holds 3 gallons of water. ( pepperhead212, until I looked it up just know, I would have sworn it was a 2 gallon reservoir.) The square shape is better for 4 plants, but I still think it's going to be crowded eventually. You should still get fruit, though. My biggest concern remains that unless you have some sort of automated watering, it will be challenging to keep the reservoir from going empty.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 18, 2017 12:43:26 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL Maybe they have changed the Earthbox - I am looking at an old booklet stating that the regular has a 2 gal reservoir, and the junior 1 gal. I discovered early on that the 2 gal reservoir had to be filled twice a day. I set my timers to every 12 hrs, w/2 gal/hr emitters, adjusting the time as needed to just start to overlow the reservoir. I never used that automatic watering system (AWS) sold for the EB, as it is simply too expensive, and I was always seeing posts about problems with it on their forum.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 19, 2017 19:39:27 GMT -5
pepperhead212, i'm thinking you posted on how to make some of these out of tote boxes or buckets.... maybe it was both, I don't remember, do you know the link to it off hand??
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 20, 2017 17:20:24 GMT -5
pepperhead212 , i'm thinking you posted on how to make some of these out of tote boxes or buckets.... maybe it was both, I don't remember, do you know the link to it off hand?? I found it pepperhead212, and I just merged the 2 threads together to try and keep it straight... hope that is alright with everyone.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 20, 2017 19:53:17 GMT -5
Glad you found it, daylilydude. I went on my PC last night to do that (royal PITA on tablet or phone), and the thing started up with a Microsoft updating thing saying "not to turn it off...this will take a while, and the computer will be restarted several times." Bummer! Glad I didn't have something really important to do.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 20, 2017 23:12:16 GMT -5
After looking over those old posts, I didn't notice the link showing how I learned to make those homemade SIPs - only the ones that I had made. Here's that link: www.postoilsolutions.org/documents/Earthbox.pdfI used the method for two tubs once, only because I had two identical tubs, but one had a hole in it. The rest were made from the single tub method, making the bottom for the soil to rest on from the lid. I have made a pattern of thick cardboard (the kind I find at the mall where I deliver their mail in the back hallway, where they discard huge amounts of cardboard). I cut the lids with my bandsaw, and drill all those holes with my drill press, which for I also have a flywheel, for drilling those larger holes. Less time/ unit when you make several at a time. And the workshop helps a little, too. The really good thing about homemade ones is that you can make the reservoir larger, simply by making those sections of PVC pipe supporting the platform of soil longer. A little less soil mix, but less frequent watering needed. And for the bucket SIPs, I use a 4 gal inside a 5 gal, or a 5 gal inside a 6 gal, as these have a larger reservoir than simply putting a 5 gal inside another 5 gal.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 23, 2017 14:56:39 GMT -5
pepperhead212, Laura_in_FL, I have a restaurant on my home from work that said they would save me their plastic buckets, but they are only 4 gallon with the lids.... is there any vegetable that you think would do ok in these if I make sip's out of them? They told me that it would be like 6 to 10 buckets a week.... free, and you know how much I like free!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 23, 2017 19:44:55 GMT -5
daylilydude Many of my buckets are 4 gal inside 5 gal, and I have grown peppers, tomatillos, some tomatoes (cherries and determinates have smaller root balls than inteterminate large tomatoes, despite cherries sometimes being huge plants), bitter mellons, and cucumbers in the 4 gal, though I try to use the 5 gal in 6 gal for cukes. And for the wicking chamber I use 1 qt Chinese soup containers, which are the perfect size.
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Post by spike on Jun 24, 2017 16:53:38 GMT -5
I'm going to bump this old thread due to that I think we know someone here who uses earth boxes... Man looking at these pictures and stuff I think I screwed it up but we shall see what happens
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 24, 2017 18:12:57 GMT -5
pepperhead212 , Laura_in_FL , spike , Ok.... here is my first built global bucket... does it look like it will work, or do I need to change anything before I build more? It is a 4 gallon inside a 5 gallon.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 24, 2017 23:30:25 GMT -5
Looks good daylilydude! And something that I did with all of mine: I put a screen over the shelf, cutting holes for the wicking chamber and chimney. This keeps much of the peat from falling into the reservoir. And I use that shading screen - something with very small holes, though regular screen works, too. I just happened to see the shading screen by accident in the back room of the local hardware store, and I've been using it ever since.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 25, 2017 12:32:55 GMT -5
For once I am going to disagree with Dave a bit. Yes, the screen prevents the peat from falling into the reservoir. I just don't think it's necessary.
If the peat is nice and moist going in, I find that very little of it falls into the reservoir. On the other hand, if I fill a SIP with mix that isn't moist enough, then yes, a lot of it will fall into the reservoir. But even so, once the mix gets fully moistened, it holds together and doesn't fall through the holes any more.
If some mix falls into the reservoir, it usually floats so that it washes out of the overflow holes and doesn't cause a problem. Especially if you do an initial watering (through the fill tube) as soon as you finish setting it up. When you do this, overwater enough to really get a strong flow out of the overflow holes. Boom, any mix that fell in the reservoir will wash out.
Or, with a two-bucket SIP design, if there is some mix in the reservoir, you can always lift up the top bucket and dump the bottom bucket, then put it back together. You will need a helper for this, since you can't just set down the top bucket down due to the wicking chamber sticking out at the bottom.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 25, 2017 16:04:21 GMT -5
Thank you Laura_in_FL, pepperhead212, for helping me with this and you can bet i'll prolly have some really dumb questions. You will need a helper for this, since you can't just set down the top bucket down due to the wicking chamber sticking out at the bottom. I'm thinking I am going to keep 1 empty 5 gallon bucket to use for this now that i'm reading/thinking on this?
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 25, 2017 17:55:19 GMT -5
That works, too.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 25, 2017 19:05:36 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL , pepperhead212 , I'm just checking... I just filled the reservoir with water in both buckets then added and packed potting mix into both wicking cups and timed them... it took about 3 1/2 minutes to get the mix really soaked... does that sound about right or do I need to either make more holes or possibly make the holes bigger??
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 25, 2017 22:52:54 GMT -5
That sounds good daylilydude. As long as you have the mix moistened mbefore you start, the wicking works well. The problem is when you have bone dry mix, as it has a very hard time to get started. I agree with Laura_in_FL on the screen - it is not really necessary for the buckets, since you can always dump the bottom bucket. I just got in the habit of putting it in the larger ones, where you can't remove the mix that gets through the holes, at least not easily. So what kind of mix did you settle on for these things?
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 26, 2017 5:10:48 GMT -5
pepperhead212, i'm using one from Lowe's called Sta-Green 64-Quart Potting Mix with Fertilizer and Miracle-Gro Perlite 8 quart bag that I pick up at wallyworld.... hope that it works??
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