Recent Posts

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Tips and Tricks / Website Issues

« Last post by joni barr on October 15, 2019, 10:27:14 am »

Customers commonly contact us regarding an issue with placing an order on our website, earthbox.com.
Sometimes all that needs to be done is to refresh your browser, clear your cache and try a different browser such as Google Chrome. You could also try a hard reset (Ctl + F5).

If a reset doesn’t work, follow these steps to troubleshoot:

        Clear your browser history and data in Google Chrome:
              •   By clicking the three vertical dots at the top right, go to Settings.
              •   Scroll down and click on Advanced or More Tools.
              •   Click on clear browsing data
              •   Then, click clear data.

If clearing your history and data didn’t work, or you are receiving any error messages, please contact us at customerservice@earthbox.com.

              Please include in the email: 

               The exact error message.
                 What stage of the buying process are you in? Are you in the final steps, viewing cart, etc. 
                 Date and time of day when the issue occurred. 
                 Using a mobile device, tablet, or desk top computer.
                 Type of credit card. If card which type? Or did you use PayPal instead of a credit card when placing the order?
                 If possible, send screen shots.

It’s been difficult for our IT folks to assist in correcting this issue without the information above. The more information that we have from our customers, the easier it would be for our IT folks to figure out where the problem lies.

Thank you!

2

Questions and Answers / Re: Automatic Watering System Not Working

« Last post by gardendoc on September 27, 2019, 09:53:01 am »

Okijames, this is great information for maintaining the AWS. Thanks for sharing

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Questions and Answers / Re: Automatic Watering System Not Working

« Last post by Okijames on September 26, 2019, 06:32:33 pm »

Durban,

I've had similar issues, and mine are usually related to hard water clogging the TINY nozzles in the head of each AWS unit.  I periodically pull the 1/8" hose and stick a pin in the barb hole to clear deposits clogging the nozzles.  This fixes the issue every time and I have since placed a finer, carbon block, water filter ahead of the pressure regulator to reduce occurrences. 

Note 1: I blunted the point of said pin to avoid piercing/damaging the rubber diaphragm in the head of the AWS units.

Note 2: I do not actually use the EarthBox supplied 1/8" hose, preferring easier to remove 1/4" silicon aquarium air hose or vinyl tubing.  Being a bit too large for the 1/8" barb these 1/4" tubes can leak, so I cinch them down with a small bit of wire.

Note 3: Hard water deposits after years of use might be better addressed by removing the 1/8" barb plate completely and soaking in CLR.  If you do disassemble this valve head, be sure to note the orientation of the rubber diaphragm so you can reassemble it properly.

Note 4: I also use a 3rd party pressure regulator with ahead of the EarthBox supplied regulator.  Mine is adjustable and has a pressure gauge so I can dial it on for 20-25PSI.

Less frequently, I have found that the clear "down-tube" has been clogged with gunk (once I found a slug had crawled into the tube and had grown large enough to block it).  Removing the down-tube and flushing it with a stream of water fixes that issue.

Hope this helps!

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Tips and Tricks / Winterizing the EarthBox

« Last post by joni barr on September 20, 2019, 12:26:14 pm »

The end of the growing season is coming up for a lot of EarthBox gardeners. It's a sad time for some. We all know that spring will eventually be back and the planting will begin again. In the meantime,  winter is a great time to think about what could be planted for the upcoming growing season. The seed and plant catalogs will be coming out in late winter.

Remove the Automatic Watering System from your garden if  you are using this system. Drain the tubing as much as possible. Place the AWS in a plastic bag/trash bag for storage inside where it will not freeze. 

To prepare your EarthBox for the winter, cut down your plants and remove debris. Remove the mulch cover. Tip the EarthBox forward towards the overflow hole to remove any remaining water. Leaving water in the reservoir can lead to freezing and cracking the EarthBox. 

There is no need to remove the roots from the EarthBox at this time. The roots will eventually break down over the winter season and are much easier to remove in the spring when you are ready to begin anew.

We do recommend removing the fertilizer strip. Fertilizer salts move towards the top of the box and build up over the season. It is best to remove a layer of growing media above the rim of the EarthBox. Once this has been taken care of, replace the mulch cover to protect the potting media from the elements. It is possible to use a tarp or large garbage bags in place of the mulch cover to cover your box.

Store the EarthBoxes, if you can, at a 45 degree angle to help prevent any melting snow to get into the reservoir. The EarthBox can be stored outside for the winter.

It is not necessary to dump the potting media except if you have had confirmed cases of blight and live in an area that does not get a killing frost. It there was blight, you won't have the months of freezing temperatures to kill it off.  Empty your potting media into a large trash bag and dispose of it if blight has been experienced. Do NOT dump this into your compost or in your yard. The EarthBox can be sanitized by using bleach and water solution. Otherwise, EarthBox recommends using the same potting media for at least 6-8 growing seasons.

Interested in seeing this in pictures? Please check out the attachments.

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Questions and Answers / Re: Blossom End Rot on Peppers

« Last post by wolfstone636 on September 05, 2019, 07:15:24 am »

Thanks for your reply. I have had this problem for several seasons during which I had always added the recommended amount of dolomite. I think that I need to increase the amount of dolomite that I add in the spring. Any suggestions?

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Questions and Answers / Re: Blossom End Rot on Peppers

« Last post by gardendoc on September 03, 2019, 08:57:13 pm »

BER is caused by inconsistent watering which should be a non-issue in our EBs. It will usually be worse the first season an EB is started. Be sure to add the dolomite each time you plant, the calcium nitrate is not a cure, it helps keep calcium and nitrogen readily available.

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Questions and Answers / Blossom End Rot on Peppers

« Last post by wolfstone636 on September 03, 2019, 12:13:18 pm »

I have been growing Bell peppers in my earthbox containers this season. The peppers have been afflicted with Blossom End Rot. So I have been adding calcium nitrate once a week to deal with it this season. I am planning for next season. I added the recommended amount of dolomite at the beginning of this season. What should i do differently next season to avoid the Blossom End Rot problem?

Thanks for any assistance.

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Questions and Answers / pH

« Last post by Lorry on August 23, 2019, 11:29:40 am »

I tried to search on questions regarding pH but I was not successful.  So I'll post my own new question.  Our well water is pH 8.  I was reading that tomatoes like 6 to 6.5.  Doesn't the lime we are told to add raise the pH?  My earthbox tomatoes this year did not produce very well at all.  They mostly all had blossom end rot. None of my in ground tomatoes had this problem.  So I'm questioning adding the lime. 

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Over the Garden Fence / Automatic Watering System hose connector leaks

« Last post by linear249 on August 20, 2019, 05:42:15 pm »

Has anybody tried using heat shrink wrap over the hose and connectors?  Just wondering.  We keep getting leaks at the connectors and sometimes putting a tie wrap over it helps, but not always.

Thanks,
Aline

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Questions and Answers / Re: Miracle-Gro "down the tube"

« Last post by gardendoc on July 09, 2019, 07:18:00 am »

Don't do both in the same EB, one or the other