Recent Posts

1

Tips and Tricks / Sediment under aeration screen

« Last post by shrinkrap on May 19, 2025, 12:58:51 pm »

I have been using 14 earthboxes ( and other sub irrigation planters) over the last 10 years, year round in Northern California.

I see myself as replacing some or all of the container mix "as needed". I usually use ProMix, but have also added a bit of coir from time to time in the last few years..This year when I noticed sediment coming from an overflow opening,  I  emptied the box and found the area under the aeration grid filled with sediment I assume is broken down mix.

I have two out of 14 plants that are stunted in already filled boxes, and wonder if they have similar problems. 

I wish I could include a picture but get error messages ("Your attachment couldn't be saved. This might happen because it took too long to upload or the file is bigger than the server will allow.Please consult your server administrator for more information." and "Your attachment has failed security checks and cannot be uploaded. Please consult the forum administrator." ) , but can't find instructions about uploading pictures.

Anyway,  has anyone figured out how to check that the aeration grid is clear without emptying the whole box?

2

Questions and Answers / Re: BER every Single Year!

« Last post by Tag on April 30, 2025, 04:04:41 pm »

There is no reason to dump and replace your potting mix. Only remove the old fertilizer and root ball and add new mix and lime per instructions. The old mix and old lime help prevent BER better than the new. I always plant 2 tomato plants per box.

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Questions and Answers / Re: BER every Single Year!

« Last post by shrinkrap on April 30, 2025, 12:49:55 am »

Does your soil often dry out ? Mine did until I started using the AWS, running at least twice a day mid summer. Dry soil makes it hard for nutrients to get around.
Are you growing the same varieties? Some, like paste tomatoes,  are more prone than others.

I've been planting two Dwarf Tomato Project plants in each box for many years, and aside from paste tomatoes don't usually have a persistent problem.

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Questions and Answers / Re: BER every Single Year!

« Last post by CathyM on March 12, 2025, 09:44:50 am »

When you said you use their calcium supplement, are you referring to the bag of dolomite that you mix in with the potting mix, or are you referring to the "snack" that's recommended to prevent BER?  The snack is 1 teaspoon of calcium nitrate down the watering pipe every 7 to 10 days.  That is supposed to help prevent BER.

I read one of your previous posts about dumping the boxes.  Not sure if you do that every year, but I have read that BER seems to be more prevalent in the first year, possibly having something to do with pH.  Potting mix is usually peat heavy, and peat is acidic, so the more the mix is in use from year to year, the dolomite helps raise the pH. Maybe it doesn't take effect immediately enough the first year to raise the pH in the fresh potting mix.  You could test the pH and see if it's 6.3 to 6.8 or thereabouts.  If you aren't yet using the snack mentioned above, try that.

I have only ever put one tomato plant in a box, along with a basil plant to deter hornworms.  I would love to plant two in a box, but they get very large and probably fight each other for nutrients, as tomatoes have massive root systems.  Also, crowding them hinders air flow on the leaves and could result in more diseases.  Maybe some have had good luck with two, but it wouldn't work for me. 

Another thought is that some varieties of tomatoes do better in certain regions than others.  You might check with your local extension agent for suggestions on what works best in your area.  But I'm really thinking the snack would do the trick if you're not already using it.  I got lax last year and BER reared its ugly head, especially when the weather was really hot.

Just suggestions off the top of my head.  Other than these, I don't have answers.  I hope you find a solution.  Gardening is rewarding, but it's a lot of work and time, and it can surely be frustrating when the end result is disappointing.  Good luck!

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Questions and Answers / BER every Single Year!

« Last post by Kinderpirty on February 09, 2025, 04:16:35 pm »

Every year I plant two tomato plants in my Earthbox. Every year I use all your fertilizer and calcium supplement. It’s been years since I got a good crop of tomatoes due to extensive BER. Very frustrated. This year considering only planting one tomato plant per box. Any ideas??

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Questions and Answers / Re: Charentais melon cracking open before ripe

« Last post by CathyM on August 18, 2024, 01:47:45 pm »

I've only ever used the regular Earthboxes, but I've read about some problems with the Root & Veg type, design flaw that can cause overwatering.  This video might help you (if it will even post).

https://youtu.be/06eIv39tlkw

Also just found this:
https://forum.earthbox.com/index.php?topic=5944.msg8766#msg8766

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Questions and Answers / Charentais melon cracking open before ripe

« Last post by Valhalla on July 29, 2024, 03:41:10 pm »

Hi Everyone,

After last year having all of my Charentais melon vines killed by squash bine borer, I planted 2 root and veg EarthBoxes with two different varieties of Charentais musk melons.

Now I have huge vines growing on my tunnel trellis with many fruit, but the ones that are starting to reach 3/4 size are cracking and splitting open :-(

I've read a bit and there is some literature that corelates overwatering with melon splitting. However I would think the EarthBox should avoid this!

Any ideas?

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Questions and Answers / Re: pepper spacing

« Last post by rotor on July 20, 2024, 12:33:54 pm »

thanks good info

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Questions and Answers / Re: pepper spacing

« Last post by CathyM on May 08, 2024, 04:38:50 pm »

@rotor, this won't answer your specific question, but this is what I do.  I feel the planting guides are a bit ambitious, so I don't put as many plants in the Earthboxes as they suggest.  Last year I staggered 3 okra plants in a triangle fashion, and the roots filled the box.  Earthbox says eight to a box! 

For tomatoes, I plant one tomato and one basil in the box.  I only planted tomatos, okra and lettuces in boxes until this year, as I had my peppers in 5 gallon buckets last year.  This year I had only planned to plant four peppers in one box, but I had a plant left over, so I added it because I hated to throw it away.  I think four would have been better, but we'll see.

Aside from air flow and diseases, also remember some plants have very extensive root systems that compete for soil space and nutrients, so crowding in the soil itself is also a factor.  Sometimes there is no exact right or wrong answer, but judgment and experimentation will determine your results.

Check out Next Level Gardening and Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Garden) on YouTube for ideas on battling diseases.  One of their homemade sprays (peroxide and water) stopped a disease for me just last month that was spreading on my tomatoes.  They have lots of info.  Best wishes for a great garden this year.

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Questions and Answers / pepper spacing

« Last post by rotor on April 30, 2024, 11:10:29 pm »

The last two years I have grown bell peppers from seeds from the peppers I purchased at the grocery store. Yellow red orange bells.
Anyways had good luck but feel the production was never amazing. I followed the directions and planted 6 plants per box.

I purchased some Bounty hybrid/ jimmy nardellos king george and king of the north.  They all say 18 inches to 24 inches apart for best production. Is this what people are doing? That would be 2 plants per box and thats pushing it. I keep reading about airflow and wonder if I space them out more production will skyrocket.
 
would like to hear what others are doing.

I also am thinking about spacing my tomatoes out more to help prevent disease. They get huge but by July I'm usually battling blight.