Anyone do an earthbox? - Page 3

**CarlLBC** · 05-13-2008, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schlenkerla

Do you have plenty of lattice length for growth? More than 18'...

If you do it looks like hop pickin' will be a breeze.

it's probably 6 up and 8 over. i'm not worried about that length though. i'll just train them back and forth if I have to or snip the tips.

The Soft Underbelly · 05-13-2008, 09:37 PM

Carl,

I was imagining a similar trellis design. Did you buy those pre-made, or did you construct them yourself? If so, of what? Also, did you attach them to the walls of the raised bed, or just sink them into the ground?

**CarlLBC** · 05-14-2008, 03:04 AM

I built the boxes first to be able to get the hops in the dirt. During all that I was thinking what I should do. the poles are 2"x2" and about a foot in the ground and then the height of the box. they are also screwed into the sides of the box with about 4 deck screws. after that I just made it the easiest and cheapest way I could. I was going to do wood pieces up the side too but the cost would have been too much. plus with the twine strung across the bines could climb easier on it then on the wood. at the end of the season, if I had to cut all the twine off to get the bines down it would be easy. there are screws along the vertical piece to wrap the twine around. the wood on top helps shade the hops and they seem to wrap okay around them. the box is treated pine and the trellis is untreated pine. I didn't want the bines to touch the chemicals in the treated wood so I went with untreated where they would climb. just parinoid I guess.

The Soft Underbelly · 05-14-2008, 10:21 PM

I too share your paranoia of treated lumber for trellises. did you use some sort of lattice across the top or just wood planks of some sort?

Jonnio · 05-15-2008, 03:14 AM

My hops got here early, so I went ahead and built my boxes in between brew steps, so I thought I would do a quick pictorial of the build and end product.

Cut the lid out

Drill lots of holes, and cut two big ones

Support it from underneath

and add a drain hole

Jonnio · 05-15-2008, 03:15 AM

Two containers ready for dirt.

Add the dirt

and the hops

a little fertilizer

Jonnio · 05-15-2008, 03:16 AM

Cover it all up

and cut an access hole for the plant to poke through.

Now, just wait and see how well this works!

**CarlLBC** · 05-15-2008, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soft Underbelly

I too share your paranoia of treated lumber for trellises. did you use some sort of lattice across the top or just wood planks of some sort?

those are just 2"x1"x8' cut in half

The Soft Underbelly · 05-16-2008, 06:54 PM

Jonnio - cool set up. let us know how that works!

One last question Carl, did you uproot or kill the lawn before piling the dirt on top of it? Seems like all that dirt would be enough to take care of it, but if i have to, i'll just murder the grass before topping it with soil.

**CarlLBC** · 05-16-2008, 11:29 PM

yeah that was a pain in the ass. I didn't do it with all of the boxes and I later thought I should so I went back and weeded all the grass out. I'm paranoid with weed killing chemicals too so I did it by hand. I went with brick so I wouldn't have to weed between the raised beds.