EarthTainers?

[KevG]

What are people using for containers? I made myself 4 EarthTainers last year and they seem to work pretty well.  I am growing a total of 4 tomato plants, 2 in 2 separate EarthTainers.  Then I made 2 smaller containers using the same method and 5 gallon buckets that I am using to grow jalapenos and okra. 

Here is the original site http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com
Here is an instructable for a guy that made some nicer looking ones with cedar and a plastic liner.  http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-Your-Own-Growing-Conta...
The Darthbox is similar to how I made my 5 gallon earth bucket.
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Dearthbox-A-low-cost-self-water...

I automated my watering by putting a dripper into the water pipe so when my garden sprinklers/soakers are on, the boxes are getting topped off.

I think the one thing I would change is to use concrete mesh to make my own tomato cage instead of buying a cage.  The EarthTainer creator bolted two on top of each other to get enough height.  I think the concrete mesh would give me a stronger cage...but I don't have an issue with my current cages.

Here is an example of concrete mesh cages
http://kitchengardeners.org/building-tomato-cages


KevG

[Rachel Butler]

KevG- your post came at the perfect time. I recently moved and have quite a few plastic containers. This would be the perfect project to put them to use and clear off my back porch :) Love the cedar ones, but i am a girl and i like pretty things. Thanks again for the VERY useful post. - rache

[Archer B. May]

Last year, I made my own self watering container for tomatoes out of a couple of 5-gallon buckets. The first plant died due to strong wind. The second plant was planted too late to produce anything.

This year's plant has defoliated itself due to the recent strong winds. I had a few extras so I replaced it one that was healthier. It has also taken wind damage.

I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Maybe I should consider moving it to someplace other than the corner of my house. I think the fact that the bucket elevates the plant to waste height and the way the wind whips around the corner of the house makes it difficult for plants to get established.

Maybe next year, I'll start with a smaller plant, but won't fill the bucket all the way. The hope is that the rim of the bucket will protect the plant somewhat in strong wind. As an added bonus, if there is a danger of a late frost, I can always just put the lid on. As the plant grows, I could fill the up the bucket with soil.

Sorry, just thinking out loud.

[Camilo Garcia]

I have not had time to check out all the links, but I am enjoying this. I just discovered the Instructables and it's great. I use 5-gallon buckets (some 4 gal), but I am going to try the tupperware design; I have 3 or 4 old ones that I've used for composting and mixing soil and stuff.

To Archer, I can say that as a rule our prevailing winds are from the Southeast or South (generally from the coast or modified by the coastal winds) and the storm winds are from the north or west. So it helps to place your containers on the south side of the house for protection. If you are already doing this, then you might have to do like I did and extend southward from the west wall to form a protected corner. This could be a sheet of plywood or landscaping cloth; its just a wind wall, so about 4 feet tall should be plenty. You might even find that the east side of the house is the most protected, but you give up some afternoon sun.

In general (and you know all rules have exceptions) I have found that containers fully out in the open do suffer from exposure and it may be because they ARE elevated. I don't know and I would like to read more as you go through this spring and summer.

Lastly (and there is so much to talk about so hopefully this post will draw more comment), I would add that "hardening off" the plants is not something I do much or do well necessarily, but I have been told it's very important and I've seen it done like this: the plants are tiny and it's way early in the year, under 2" tall in February, sprouted inside and taken out for a few hours every day for sun and wind. When you finally up-pot, the plants can handle living outside. I haven't used this method but I've seen remarkable results. Good luck and keep us posted.