Anyone do an earthbox?

Jonnio · 05-09-2008, 09:36 PM

I had given up on planting hops because of the poor drainage of Alabama clay - then I ran across these

http://www.earthbox.com/

A buddy at work had tomato plants over 9' tall and 2' wide using this thing....

I think I might order some rhizomes now!

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JULY UPDATE
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So here is how things look after less than 2 months in ground. The Willamette are doing great, the goldings, not as well.
I actually had both goldings sprout, but something to one sprout and it hasn't come back up.

and in case your curious what one tomato plant and 2 jalapeño plants look like (also planted late)

scinerd3000 · 05-10-2008, 01:49 AM

california has ****ty soil too. I planted in a 5 gal pot. some people use plastic buckets like the fermenter type buckets.....drill holes for drainage and walah! its working. i just checked and both my cascade and mt hood just poped up today

scinerd3000 · 05-10-2008, 01:50 AM

also as for soil- i bought potting soil and mulched in compost.

Jonnio · 05-10-2008, 03:21 AM

Yeah, I was thinking pot, but this should be one step better. We will see, I went ahead and ordered some rhizomes today!

scinerd3000 · 05-10-2008, 04:22 AM

you can always transplant them. the rhizome is a portion of the root, so its not super fragile. You can split them or dig them up and replant them using some care. Alot of people start them in pots and then transplant them or you could just use the 5 gal home depot buckets if you dont care too much about astetics. I have seen people grow full trees in them successfully. how much is that box thing? it would be interesting to try considering it "doubles the yield"

Jonnio · 05-10-2008, 10:38 AM

I have found plans to DIY it for around $10. I am going to be making a handful of them today and I ordered 4 rhizomes from freshops yesterday. I plan on putting two rhizomes of Kent Golding in one and two rhizomes of Willamette in the other. I will post updates to this thread and see how it goes. Unfortunately I didn't read about these sooner though as I am about a month late, so that may mess my results up a little.

scinerd3000 · 05-10-2008, 05:43 PM

i planted my two rhizomes may 1st and there already up. besides theres always next year buit its worth a shot.

chardo · 05-10-2008, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scinerd3000

california has ****ty soil too. I planted in a 5 gal pot. some people use plastic buckets like the fermenter type buckets.....drill holes for drainage and walah! its working. i just checked and both my cascade and mt hood just poped up today

The bigger the container the better. You could also build a raised bed. Check

out http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1641.html For info on raised bed gardening.

Good Luck
Chardo

**CarlLBC** · 05-11-2008, 11:36 PM

South GA soil is pretty bad too, so I knew this would be the only way.

**Schlenkerla** · 05-12-2008, 03:35 AM

There is another really easy cheap way to have good dirt & drainage. - Make a mound.

You will need;

Four large bags of potting soil (40lbs each)
One bag of manure/compost. (40lbs)
Two bags of mulch.

Pick the spot, dump the 40lbs of manure/compost. Procede to dump all of the bags on top of the manure. Making a mound, slit the top ~ 2" deep for the rhisome. Then plant and cover the rhisome. Cover with mulch. Water regularly.

Thats it for dirt work. Rigging a pole & rope is pretty easy too.

I use tomato cages as a starting point with jute twine tied to 18" of conduit.