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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 26, 2017 13:31:30 GMT -5
What Earthbox says about potting mix (which is good advice for any SIP):
I looked at the Lowe's website and couldn't see the ingredients listing for Sta-Green Potting Mix. Since you already have it in the SIP, you may as well see how it does. The main concern with using potting mix that has a different composition is that the mix might stay too soggy or too dry.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 26, 2017 14:08:10 GMT -5
Also, when using the mixes with fertilizer in them, you may want to reduce the amount added to the container. I would probably reduce to half, and see how the plants do with that.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 26, 2017 17:02:00 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, pepperhead212, went out and wrote down what it says on the back of the bag... Reed Sedge Peat Recycled Forest Products Sphagnum Peat Moss Horticultural Perlite Ground Dolomitic Lime and it says the fertilizer is time released for 9 months so by what you see here can I just use this straight up or do I need to mix it, and with how much of what should I add?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 26, 2017 20:32:48 GMT -5
daylilydude That "recycled forest products" gives me concern, since that is fancy way of saying compost, which, as noted above, is not recommended. And after looking up reed sedge peat I found that it is a large part of many top soil mixes, so I'm not sure how well this will work - it may stay too wet.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 26, 2017 20:35:27 GMT -5
Ok thanks pepperhead212, what I may do is go ahead and fill it with this without adding any plants for like a week and keep checking it to see how it goes??
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mjc26250
Junior Member
Posts: 36
Joined: April 2014
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Post by mjc26250 on Jun 26, 2017 23:47:06 GMT -5
Recycled forest products usually means composted wood chips/bark...not really 'compost' but not really wood any longer.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 27, 2017 9:36:27 GMT -5
For use in a SIP, I strongly doubt that the fertilizer and dolomite are adequate for the whole season.
I've never used a potting mix other than those recommended by the EB company or mixes that members of the EB forum have used with good results. If it were me, I might use the Sta-Green in regular pots (not SIPs) and go get some peat-based mix for the SIP. But yes, you can try the Sta-Green in the SIP and see how it behaves.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 27, 2017 20:16:26 GMT -5
gosh darn it... I already filled them late yesterday evening, and I did use this same stuff in the city picker with the 4 eggplants and they seem to be OK... I prolly jinxed myself...LOL!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 29, 2017 9:44:25 GMT -5
If they are already filled, let it ride. It might be fine.
On a related note, farmers in Asia graft tomatoes onto eggplant rootstock so the plants survive the annual monsoon flooding. So eggplants might be fine even if the mix is a bit on the wet side.
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 2, 2017 15:30:33 GMT -5
Thought I would post another pic of the eggplants in the "City Picker"
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 2, 2017 18:56:49 GMT -5
I went out and took a pic of the "Space Master Cucumber" that I planted in 1 of the 5 gallon SIP buckets.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 2, 2017 21:23:10 GMT -5
I might need a space master cuke. Those county fairs this year are going nuts! Countless vines on the one plant, like an indeterminate tomato. I wonder if this is what County Fair "Improved" refers to? I just pulled 4 cukes from the first plant today.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 3, 2017 20:16:11 GMT -5
Today I had to do something, which will show you how fast these plants suck up water!
I have 3 Earthboxes with 2 tomato plants each, and I had the timer on to water every 12 hours, adjusting it so that it would fill them up each time. Today, I noticed that one of them was sort of dry, so I tested it with one of those soil moisture testers, and it was only on about 50%, and no water in the reservoir, while the other two were about 90%, and still had about 1/4" in the reservoir. The emitter was emitting as fast as the others, but the two plants are larger, thus sucking up water faster. It still had 2 hrs until the timer came on. So I had to reset the timer for that row to run every 8 hours - something I usually only use briefly, for seedlings.
This should keep them watered sufficiently. The other tomatoes are in the homemade SIPs, with larger reservoirs, so they seem to be doing OK, and that row is on a different timer.
Imagine filling these things by hand! lol
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 5, 2017 18:55:24 GMT -5
Just another pic of the eggplants...
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 5, 2017 22:46:33 GMT -5
They're growing fast! Here's that tomato jungle - just two plants per pot: DSCF0183 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 30, 2017 15:33:07 GMT -5
Just a lil peek at what i've been working on today...
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 31, 2017 12:01:41 GMT -5
Nice! What are you going to plant in those?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 31, 2017 19:38:19 GMT -5
And how are those eggplants doing?
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Post by daylilydude on Aug 1, 2017 6:29:05 GMT -5
Nice! What are you going to plant in those? Hi Laura, I'm prolly gonna grow dwarf tomatoes, peppers and eggplant and i'm thinking that i'ma gonna put collards and chard and some others I haven't thought of yet for a fall crop... what do y'all think? And how are those eggplants doing? here are a few pics of the eggplants, sorry for the leaf eating pics but i'm dealing with Colorado potato beetles on just the eggplants...
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 1, 2017 16:39:32 GMT -5
Ah, cool - the plants look good, and you're about to be drowning in eggplant. But I still think that having 4 plants in there will stunt them somewhat. They are big enough now that they are about to start really competing with one another for root space/water/nutrients in order to keep growing. They may still produce a good bit, but I suspect that 2 plants in that size box would outproduce 4 over the whole season. You might be able to avoid the worst effects of the competition by supplementing with a water soluble fertilizer (preferably a vegetable or bloom booster formula) every week beginning once you see any sign of pale leaves or a slowdown in growth or production. If you know the reservoir size, just measure the granules for that amount of water and drop them down the fill hole. Regarding your 5-gallon buckets, the veggies you listed are all good choices. I don't know what the timing for fall planting is for your zone, but 5-gallon bucket SIPs are supposed to rock for broccoli and cauliflower. I can tell you from experience that you should get ENORMOUS collards in your setup - they love it in SIPs.
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Post by daylilydude on Aug 5, 2017 16:48:30 GMT -5
OK, gotta know how many chard plants per 5 gallon planter do you think would be alright?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 5, 2017 19:42:10 GMT -5
I'd say 3-4. The EB info sheet says 16, but that seems too much for those - 8-12 seems better, depending on size of variety, and those are just over 3 times the size of a 5 gal bucket.
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Post by daylilydude on Aug 13, 2017 7:12:40 GMT -5
Thanks pepperhead212, I went with 3 each as far as the chard goes, and went with just 1 in each bucket when it came to collards and all have sprouted... that makes 4 collard and 6 chard for a start.
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Post by daylilydude on Aug 18, 2017 11:18:28 GMT -5
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Post by daylilydude on Aug 19, 2017 17:36:59 GMT -5
Got to thinking about making a 1 bucket type for like collards, cabbage, radish and such, so do y'all think this will work or should I just abandon this?? First is a gallon ice cream bucket that I think would make a great water source, and I have a few of them out in the shed just laying around? I took off the lid and drilled holes both on the sides and the top, then I put a 1/2 hole about an inch down on the side for the drain pipe, and a 3/4 inch hole in the top corner for the fill tube. So basically it looks like this... Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated??
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 19, 2017 20:08:19 GMT -5
Are those in the bottom of a 5 gal bucket daylilydude? They fit nicely. The way they are upside down in there remind me of the one SIP I made from 2 tubs, since one had a leak, and cut about 8" off the bottom, and turned it upside down in the other one. What will you put in for the wicking column? I used an old 2 qt tupperware container, which the lid had been lost to! And I jammed a bunch of mesh fabric around the side, to keep the medium from falling in there. I'll try to find the photos - the ones on photobucket are useless, except that I can find the date I uploaded them, then find them in my files.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 19, 2017 23:23:18 GMT -5
OK, I found the photo; though you can't really see much in it, you get the idea. DSCF1042 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by daylilydude on Aug 20, 2017 5:13:49 GMT -5
Yep pepperhead212 , it is in a 5 gallon bucket and I was thinking that if I stuffed the potting mix real tight around the outside edge of the smaller white bucket it would act as a wick, am I wrong with this idea??
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 20, 2017 8:36:14 GMT -5
It's worth trying, daylilydude. I would try it with one, and see if it works, and if so, make more! I'll be watching, to see if it works out.
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Post by daylilydude on Aug 20, 2017 20:00:26 GMT -5
pepperhead212, look what my neighbor was throwing out... yes it was down at the end of their driveway so I went and ask and she said it was trash... so looks like I may have more questions... LOL! 30 gallon totes with lids, I did have to clean the trash out of them but me thinks that's a small price to pay.
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