Earth Day Thursday- Grow Box

Have I mentioned my miniscule back yard?

Well that bad boy is TINY with a capital TINY. We are desperate to figure out a way to grow some delicious veggies back there, but with our limited space and limited sun, it has been tough.

I headed over to our local gardening center to investigate the Earth Box and get some expert tips. This is an all inclusive gardening kit. And my "expert" tells me it really works. However the $80 price tag for the whole shebang ($50 for planter and $30 for trellis) was not going to happen. I would have needed 3 to fill the one sunny wall we have in our yard.

So, with our voices hushed and the manager in the back of the store, my informant told me how she built her own for a fraction of the price.

Here is the principle:

A plastic (or whatever) bin, a barrier to block the soil from falling to the bottom of the bin, a pipe going from bottom to the top so you are watering from under the plants. Then some type of trellis system if you are planing plants that will climb.

So, I went and bought 3 Rubbermaid bins, $9 each, 4 bags of potting soil $24, and one PVC pipe, $1.25.

I returned 2 bags (from the pic) of soil because it only took 4 of the large ones to completely fill the tubs! And that nice lady from the garden center gave me enough of the plant carriers for the whole project. I poked extra holes in the bottom of all of them.

I cut the leftover plant carriers and placed them upside down in the bottom of each bin. We cut the PVC pipe to fit from the very bottom of the bin, under the plant carriers, to the top of the bin.

Next, we drilled holes just above the level of the bottom barrier so any over fill will drain instead of overly soaking the soil.

I added some rocks to hold down the bottom barrier and take up some room as we filled the bins with soil.

We planted tomatoes and peppers in the front and zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and sugar snap peas along the back of each bin.

We watered each bin till it started to overflow. It took forever, there is a lot of water in those giant bins.

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I put cages out for the tomato plants and we are planning on a trellis which we are going to attach to the wall.

Final price tag for three Earth Boxes (soil and trellis sold separately) would be $150 three of my "Grow Boxes" were only $20. Mine do not have casters, but that would be easy enough to do on your own if you needed to. I also realized I should have poked more holes in the plant carriers and then put a layer of newspaper under the soil for better watering, oh well, too late for me, but if you make one be sure to add that step!

And, the next project involves using my brand new perfect condition pallets (you know I have lots more ideas for those!) my husband scored to create a pretty outer "container" to cover up the ugly gray bins.

I have a father-in-law in town for 10 days visiting my new niece (YAY!) and he is looking for some projects. Hopefully, I can talk him into doing either the trellis or covers for the bins and I will be sure to share!

Comments

Wendy @HerBallistic Garden says:

January 3, 2012 at 6:53 am

Thanks for posting your best of the best or I wouldn't have found this..I went back and back and back and found it and I'm sooo happy. Trying this in my greenhouse I've never used…very soon! I already had the idea of the deep rubbermaid bins, cuz stuff does grow better in deeper containers, but the drainage system I hadn't worked out yet! Thanks sooo much! xo

anne says:

April 11, 2012 at 2:45 pm

This looks great, and I am planning on trying this spring for tomatoes and peppers. A couple of questions–are those 30 gal tubs? Did you use any compost? How many tomato plants could/did you fit in one tub? Also, at the end of the season, do you throw out dirt and start new, or can you keep for the following growing season? Thanks for the advice.

-Anne

- Kim says:
  
  April 11, 2012 at 5:38 pm
  
  I used straight up potting soil, no compost or additives at all. I will be mixing in some of my neighbors compost prior to planting this season. I believe they are 30 gallon tubs-but not positive. I fit one tomato plant in each tub. I tried to add another plant to each tub, but the tomato plants got so big so fast the other plants died off. I was thinking maybe lettuce or spinach would work and I will be giving that a try this season.