Any veggies or herbs that don't like SWC?

liz_h

15 years ago

I'm thinking in particular of those herbs from hot, arid climates - like lavender, thyme, rosemary, sage and tarragon.

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Comments (5)

justaguy2
15 years ago
They all do fine, Liz. The secret is in the potting mix. If you have a plant that likes things on the dry side of moist then use a more coarse, freer draining mix. The only downside is that it may not wick all the way to the surface well enough to use a fertilizer strip like the earth box does.

Just use a water soluble fert in the reservoir and your are good to go.
tomncath
15 years ago
Hey JAG,

So, theoretically any of the stuff that really needs to be relatively dry, i.e. - peppers, could be grown in a SWC IF the media drains quickly AND nutrition is supplied in the water?
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justaguy2
15 years ago
Absolutely, I have peppers growing in an Earthbox right now. Doing better than my peppers in raised beds. The mix I am using is 1 part peat, 1 part Turface, 2 parts bark fines. This mix is in it's second year of service. No problems.

The mix isn't magic though, no need to duplicate it. Something like compost would sponge up the water and be very wet all the time and something like perlite would not likely take up the water well enough for younger plants, but might work once root systems were deep. Anything between is likely to work just fine in SWC.
tomncath
15 years ago
Hey JAG,

I'm might try a few peppers 5 gallon buckets with your mix. What fertilizer are you putting in the water and at what strength to minimize solute accumulation?

Tom
justaguy2
15 years ago
I have used DynaGro Bloom (P heavy and don't recommend), DynaGro Foliage Pro 9-3-6 which I do recommend. I have also used various Miracle Grow products and these are fine if you have a means of supplying the calcium and magnesium they don't include (use lime in the mix). My recommendation is you look for a fertilizer in a 1-1-1 or 3-2-1 ratio with the later preferable, but not required.

As for strength I really haven't settled on one yet as I haven't noticed a difference I can detect between 1/4 and less. I have a 4 gallon reservoir and generally just add 1 full strength gallon to it.

With peppers I do this around once per month as an average, with many other things, more often.

I don't claim to have all the answers on optimal pepper growing, the above is simply what I currently do.

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Any veggies or herbs that don't like SWC?

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