Sorry to hear that David. It is devastating when your crop gets wiped out by storms & hail. Now we know how the farmers feel.

Ripe tomatoes on the Gold Nugget. So far, not very impressed with the flavor. There are a huge number of tomatoes on the plant, but the taste (to me) seems to be bland, and the tomatoes a little bit mealy. There is not even a hint of sweetness. The only redeeming factor is that there is a bit of acid tomato flavor.

The Momotaros are close, with two or three tomatoes showing a good blush. I hope to pick a couple ot them this week. Lots of green tomatoes on the Sweet 100, some green on the Isis Candy. Not very many tomatoes on the Sweet Ozark Orange plants yet. Lots of green tomatoes on the dwarf, but none are getting big. I wonder if I was sold seed to dwarf Red Cherry rather than just dwarf Red. I guess I'll know eventually.

At this point, everything is growing really well and seems to be producing okay. No sign of disease, and no sign of bugs after the initial spray to kill the cabbage loopers. I don't think that growing indeterminates is a good choice for someone in a wheelchair, simply because the plants get so large and unwieldy. It is too hard to stake/tie/cage and retain the ability to move the Earthboxes. If the boxes were static, on soil, then it would be possible to use external structure to support the plants well. The limited mobility of the wheelchair make using external structure impossible if I hope to be able to move the boxes and access both sides from the wheelchair. If I had to do again, I might grow only dwarf plants or determinates.

Picked some of the Sweet Ozark Orange yesterday and picked a few more of the Momotaro. I'm really surprised by the radial cracking in the Momotaro. I thought it was known for being smooth and blemish-free. Also surprised that there could be cracking in an Earthbox, where there is supposed to be water all the time. I don't know how it would be possible to water any more evenly! Taste was good on the Momotaro picked last week. Days to maturity for the Mommtaro was about 68. The Sweet Ozark Orange is about 78 days.

It looks like the Sweet Ozark Orange may be a bust for container growing. The plant is too big and too thick to effectively support without tall posts. The container has fallen several times and when I braced the box, the plant itself broke the bamboo supports I had used and fell over in heavy rain. It may not be dead, but will certainly be stressed.

David

DavidofDeLand said:Maybe for a condo balcony or such?.......otherwise they are too small and I don't get it. They will not produce large productive plants.

If on a balcony or teeny tiny area it could be great for micro greens or Cherry Tomatoes per one.

These were Hannah's Choice cantaloupes in EBs:


An arbor I constructed from EMT and trellis netting to support gourds. Later I used it for various cherry tomato plants, which really get tall and sprawl:


These are EMT trellises that support beefsteak tomatoes (and cucumbers) growing in EBs:


I have the space for gardening, but the moles/voles and tree roots drove me to find this easier solution. No more rototilling and weeding:


I hope this convinces you that EBs will grow just about anything, often surprisingly better than other methods
Mickie

I love seeing this thread revived--I'm an earthbox grower, as well. I keep experimenting with how much I can grow in our small space. I love your arbor that you built. Unfortunately, would not be allowed in our area.

Do the EB trellis systems work well for large tomato plants? I've been hesitant to try them because they just don't look big/sturdy enough.

mom2goldens said:
Do the EB trellis systems work well for large tomato plants? I've been hesitant to try them because they just don't look big/sturdy enough.

I've never used them, but others have reported that the earlier versions were just not that sturdy ( the connectors broke). They did come out with better connectors that seemed to be OK. Personally, I wouldn't use the EB system for large indeterminate tomatoes that can grow to 10 ft and be very heavy. I suppose for shorter plants coupled with lots of tying up they would be fine.

Mickie

Good to know--that you . I was never able to figure out why they haven't come up with a better staking system for EBs. Who wants to have to keep tying their plants to the trellis?????

I hope I'm not breaking a norm by bumping this as it was active a year ago. I just got my EB and I'm making some as well.