If you are growing tomatoes, earthtainers are the way to go! I have both this year and in the earthbox, I have one black cherry tom and in one of the tainers I have a black cherry sharing with an Indian Stripe. The tainer cherry is shooting out of the top of the inverted cage, at least 7 feet tall on about 4 stems. It probably has 100 or more toms on it right now (multiple clusters of more than 10 toms) and probably 30 have come off of it already. The B.C. in the earthbox is about 4 feet tall and probably has 30 toms on it with maybe 10 already picked. It is healthy and happy, but the one in the tainer is a beast! I can't speak to the other veggies as I haven't tried them. Good luck.

hi i am so glad that these posts are recent. i am concerned about the leaching of chemicals when i use plastic containers, or wood (might have been "treated"). i know nothing about this possibility and need some sources. uv was mentioned in this forum. hope that someone here knows where to start to become informed. would appreciate any info!!!!! the reason that i think i need to grow in containers is, i feed the wild birds and they have taken over the yard, and i am concerned their droppings carry diseases. (i am glad that they have taken over the yard - they give me many pleasant moments) any thoughts on leaching and chemical contamination from the plastic milwaukee

Cow manure is a bit on the sweet side, so if you've used very much of it on soil that (perhaps) might have started out a bit on the alkaline side, soil PH might be entering into the problem. Get a soil test through your county extension agent. They might not be free anymore (I don't know about that) but it will save a lot of time in the long run to know where you're starting from. They can tell you about nematodes too when they do that testing. Marigolds saved a rhododendron here from almost sure death, and they won't hurt anything to try, growing right along with the roses. But since your roses are growing on Fortuniana, that's probably not the main problem. If it's Rose Replant Disease - it might be - you could try the method recommended by Peter Beales' nursery: plant each rose in new soil in a big cardboard box buried in your ground. You're trying to separate your rose from the disasterous effects of whatever current soil components are killing your roses, much as you did when removing your roses from the soil and finding success in a pot. Punch multiple drainage holes in the bottoms of the boxes. By the time the cardboard totally disintegrates, the chemicals in the soil responsible for killing your roses will have dissipated, drained away. Maybe hide the top edges on the boxes by using lots of mulch there. For extra measure, you can probably help each rose by using mycorrhiza on the roots when you do the replanting. I read that a large public garden in France, where they were worried about Rose Replant Disease when redoing everything, got by with just using mycorrhiza on each rose to be replanted. You might even get by with just using mycorrhiza, but the box method plus mycorrhiza will almost surely work *if* Rose Replant Disease is a part of the problem there. I've used the mycorrhiza brand linked in an article in Organic Gardening: BioVam. The many different types of plants I've used it on have done quite well when getting established, even in the heat of summer, so I'd assume that the product did help some in providing additional sources of water and other nutrients when the plants were in danger of transplant shock. I don't know that the product David Austin or others sell wouldn't work great too, or perhaps might be even better. Anyway, I did do some comparison shopping and was very happy with what I bought. I talked to the vendor for a long time, and he was quite knowledgeable and helpful. If you decide to handle what might be Rose Replant Disease by letting the ground lay fallow, one year is not likely enough; they say at least two years is needed at the Peter Beales' nursery, and that three years' is more of a sure thing. Your amazing drainage there might shorten that timeline some, but probably not by that much. An alternate solution that some people in California use (for gophers there) is to purchase huge (20-25 gallon?) plastic pots or barrels, drill drainage holes in them, and plant your roses in the pots permanently buried in the ground. That seems more like an absolute final last resort to me, though. You might just get started by trying mycorrhiza on a couple of roses and see whether you could get by that way. If not, then try the box method along with mycorrhiza. Whatever you end up doing, a soil test would seem a wise way to begin. Good luck! Best wishes, Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Mycorrhiza I've used (BioVam)

I googled "living soil' and found this: Millions of small organisms live in healthy soil which is rich in organic matter. Some of them are big enough to see, such as earthworms and small insects. But, most of them are so small that you can only see them if you use a microscope. These microscopic organisms include nematodes (tiny worms), bacteria, fungi and even some insects which are invisible to the naked eye. These living organisms make soil alive and give it a good structure and texture. A living soil ecosystem nurtures and nourishes plants by providing a healthy medium to take roots and through a steady supply of nutrients. Q. how does one add-in all this to make a thriving pot or raised bed garden?