I think this should work - here's a link to my album on Facebook (set to 'Public') with the pics. I screwed up and had some that are too small but still viewable and I've fixed that setting now.

As you can see I have been having fun and getting into the possibilities!

https://www.facebook.com/media...

You did such a good job on these, you should post a cross link to the containers forum! I love your decorative ones too!

GREAT JOB, EARTHMOM!

Keep posting your progress pics!

Linda

BUMP!

Great job on the tutorial, Linda. I remember when you and your cohorts were brainstorming these on the other forum. I used your system for a couple of years and they are great! I have since moved and I doubt I could use the buckets where I'm at now ... probably wouldn't meet approval of the park manager. After being away from gardening for a couple of years, I'm anxious to try to get something going again this year with my earthboxes. And if anyone has any doubt as to whether or not these work, I'm here to tell you they do a great job. You can grow just about anything in these that you can grow in your garden.

I built one last summer and it worked for the first month or so. My tomato was great. Then it seemed like the surface got so of hard. I watered until it came out the over flow but the tomato just looked worse and worse. I am going to try again this summer. ONE bucket. I followed the instructions about the type of dirt but worried about packing it is so hard. The roots need oxygen as well as water. Oh well.

I always wondered where excess salts and nutrients go in an EarthBox / eBucket.

To a novice, it seems like everything that goes into the reservoir has to enter the soil, then evaporation leaves it at the soil surface. But I've never done an eBucket.

It does seem to me that the air reservoir created in most designs must be A Good Thing for root aeration. I assume there is some opening that lets the "air reservoir" exchange gas with the atmosphere.

I have some kind of fetish for rapid through-drainage and aeration.

I mixed coir with a good, professional grade potting mix. I never had an issue with the soil hardening. I used both earthboxes and the eBuckets. The earthboxes I used for 3 years without changing out the potting mix/coir. I did always remove/replace the fertilizer strip and, of course, remove the old plants and roots each year. I have been away from gardening for the past couple of years and will start up a couple of earthboxes this year. I no longer have space for a real garden and will be limited to just 2 or 3 earthboxes this year. I am looking for a good professional potting mix but can't seem to locate one in this area and shipping costs make it prohibitive to order online.

The eBuckets do have a space for aeration and I believe the earthboxes also have a space above the water line and below the screen. I just like the concept of both and they make it very easy to grow plants ... the plants get/use only the water they need (assuming you keep water in the reservoirs).

Mary, in my area, bales of things like Pro-Mix and Sunshine are easiest to find at stores that talk about "indoor growing".

Hippy stores.

(wink)

Thanks, Rick. I'll look for those here. Being new to the area doesn't help me lol. I'm sure I'll finally figure it out.

I buy several bales of that soil each year. If I had somewhere to have it dumped, I would be better off having a few yards dumped from a truck.

What fertilizer strip??? I didn't put in a fertilizer strip.
I will find some coir and rebuild my bucket. I think I need a new collander thingy. The hole I drilled in it caused the drainage straw to tilt upwards slightly. Not good. But as I poured water in the pvc fill spout it did eventually pour out the over flow.

@Oberon46 The fertilizer strip is for the earthboxes ... not the eBuckets. Sorry for the confusion.

Oh. But wouldn't it work in the ebuckets also??

I'm not sure ... I did mix some fertilizer into the top few inches of the potting mix in the eBuckets ... just not a big strip of it like in the earthboxes.

I guess I am not sure what "a strip of fertilizer" is. Or maybe you just laid down a little trench down the middle of the earthboxes. Not to worry. I will give it another shot this year.

Yes, the strip is exactly what you said ... a trench filled with the fertilizer. Here's the link to the earthbox website with the instructions

http://earthbox.com/earthbox-p...

Please review my eBucket pictorial instructions. There is an overflow hole, an air space, and a fertilizer strip...

Use potting MIX, MIX, MIX only in containers. As stated in the instructions, potting soil can eventually compress hard as a brick in containers...

Linda

I used the soil I buy in bales that the nursery uses for their seedlings, so it isn't potting soil - uh, I don't think. I will double check. And I will re read my instructions. Hmmmmm. Especially the thing about the airspace. That is provided by the upside down basket at the bottom, right? As the water is absorbed or drained it keeps the soil up out of the basket. RTFM I guess. Opppsss. My engineer husband's vernacular pops out sometimes.

I think the top of the colander has to be some critical distance higher than the overflow hole, to maintain enough air space for aeration despite the potting mix lower than the overflow hole being submerged much of the time.

Step Two, July 15th, includes these:

>> "Mark a spot on the outside of the bucket approximately 1" below the overturned bottom of the colander, and drill a hole through the bucket (I use a 5/8" bit). This will be your overflow hole."

...

>> "Note: There should be approximately 1" of airspace between the top of your water in the reservoir, and your soilbed on top of the colander. This space keeps the majority of your potting mix from being in constant contact with the water, and becoming anaerobic."

http://garden.org/thread/view_...

It might also be important that the plants can "drink up" the water fast enough to create a deeper/taller air space fairly soon after watering.

When planting seedling trays (not eContainers) I think of that as being like a frat guy in a telephone booth being frequently re-filled with beer. The frat guy won't drown as long as he can drink beer faster than it is poured into the booth.

The seedlings' roots won't drown if they can pull water out of the seedling tray faster than I can over-water. (Since of course they can't do that, I have to use fast-draining seedling mix.)

Well, I think I did that okay. But I may plug the hole and buy a new collander just to be sure.