As always, excellent pics of your 'tainer plants

Raybo,

Looks great. A question -- do you do fertilizer strips for the corn or just mix your fertilizer into the growing medium?? Is there a photo somewhere that shows how to 'fit' the AWS for the EarthTainer?? I have the AWS and thought I'd just lengthen the clear tubing on the sensor but not quite sure how it is done.

DL

Dl,

I just start with 2 Cups of 14-14-14 CRF (in addition to the Starter Fertilizer). Then for corn, I add in the Gurney's corn fertilizer periodically.

See the Construction Guide for lengthening the sensor tube for the deeper EarthTainer.

Raybo

Here is a link that might be useful: EarthTainer Guide

Lookin great, as always, Raybo! =)

- Steve

Hey Steve,

How are you? I think my "heavy lifting" is done for the Season, and now I can focus on staining the deck this weekend, and dropping into the Hot Tub after it is finished. I have lots of "passive" fertilizer trials going on this Season in multiple 'Tainers, trying to see which combination works best on the tomatoes. I am hoping the 14-14-14 CRF which includes several Micros will treat the Peppers well. I just bought 2 cuke plants that I am going to try in an EarthTainer this year. Hope they do as well as the Snow Peas did over the Winter.

Raybo

Looks fantastic! I will be catching up to you this summer as I build a bunch of my own! I love the corn pics! On your maters, do you pinch the suckers? Do you also have a problem with any mildew with the plants so close together?

raybo - I'm assuming this "14-14-14 crf" is Osmocote?

Hi Raybo,

Great looking plants as usual!!!

Couple of questions....

What is the spacing on your peppers and what varieties are they?

From the "Dona Thread" a bit back, did you ever find out where Yamagami's got their Dona and if it was OP or Hybrid?
(When I lived in SJ, I LOVED going to Yamagami's!!)

Anne

oderus,

Not Osmocote. I am experimenting with a 14-14-14 CRF containing a number of Micros for the Peppers, Cukes, and Sweetcorn this year:

{{gwi:34093}}

DESCRIPTION: A PROFESSIONAL, COST-EFFECTIVE 3 TO 4 MONTH* FERTILIZER INTENDED FOR TOPDRESSING CONTAINERS OR SOIL
INCORPORATION OF LANDSCAPED AREAS OR FIELD APPLICATIONS. A PORTION OF THE NITROGEN IN BEST LANDSCAPE COLOR IS UNCOATED TO
HELP ESTABLISH THE PLANT. THE REMAINDER OF THE NITROGEN IS CONTROLLED-RELEASE TO PROMOTE OPTIMUM TOP GROWTH DURING THE
GROWING SEASON. BEST LANDSCAPE COLOR ALSO HAS UNCOATED PHOSPHATE AND POTASH TO ESTABLISH EARLY ROOT DEVELOPMENT, ENHANCE
BLOSSOMING AND ALSO AN EXCELLENT MICRONUTRIENT PACKAGE TO ENHANCE VIGOROUS GROWTH.
BENEFITS: BEST LANDSCAPE COLOR

With the addition of an expanded minor element package, BEST LANDSCAPE COLOR provides
the plant with all of the nutrition required in most conditions during the growing period.
 The controlled-release nitrogen in BEST LANDSCAPE COLOR is derived from POLYON® Reactive
Layers Coating (RLCÂ) to provide the most precise release of nutrition available in the industry. Release of nitrogen is
controlled by osmosis and is not affected by media type, moisture level, pH, or microbial activity.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
TOTAL NITROGEN (N)............................................... ............................ 14.0000% TOTAL NITROGEN
4.15% Ammoniacal Nitrogen 4.15% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
9.85% Urea Nitrogen * 9.85% Urea Nitrogen *
AVAILABLE PHOSPHATE (P2O5)............................................ ................ 14.0000% TOTAL PHOSPHORUS
SOLUBLE POTASH (K2O)............................................. ........................... 14.0000% TOTAL POTASSIUM
Magnesium (Mg).............................................. ........................................... 0.5000%
Sulfur (S) .................................................. ........................................... 3.0000%
Copper (Cu) .................................................. ........................................... 0.0500%
Iron (Fe) .................................................. ........................................... 1.0000%
Manganese (Mn).............................................. ........................................... 0.0500%
Molybdenum (M0).............................................. ......................................... 0.0005%
Zinc (Zn) .................................................. ........................................... 0.1000%

SOIL / MEDIA TEMPERATURE
RELEASE RATES
50°F 10.5°C = 6 months
60°F 15.5°C = 5 months
70°F 21.0°C = 4 months*
80°F 26.5°C = 3 months
90°F 32.0°C = 2 months

At $0.80 per pound I think this is a better option than the 14-14-14 Osmocote CRF that is about $4.00+ per pound. Plus, it has the Micros that Osmocote lacks.

I am not using a fertilizer strip in the Peppers or corn this year - - but with the CRF properties, I'm just mixing in 2 Cups per 'Tainer along with adding in the Dolomite Lime, about 6 inches deep. My goal with the CRF is to do the one fertilization treatment at the beginning of the Season, and with the release rates as stated in the datasheet, I should not have to fertilize again for the Peppers and cucumbers. For the CornTainers I will supplement with Gurney's Sweetcorn Fertilizer as the stalks mature.

Here is the link to the full datasheet:

http://techsheets.simplot.com/Best/7...cape141414.pdf

Raybo

Here is the correct Link:

http://techsheets.simplot.com/Best/74160_landscape141414.pdf

aclum,

I am spacing the Pepper plants about 8 inches apart. These are a combination of NuMex, California Wonder, Early Thickset, and Parks Rainbow Collection (random colors of purple, orange, while, brown, yellow). We'll see what they look like in a few months.

Funny, I was at Yamagamis today to pick up a Sweet Success cucumber, and asked about the Dona. They claim is is a Hybrid, but were not 100% sure. I remember the label on it a few years ago said: "Hybrid", but that word was not on the label of the Dona plant I bought from them this Spring.

Raybo

Thanks, Raybo. It'll be interesting to see the results later.

Raybo: I'm ok. Could use a hot tub soak! lol. Regarding my plants, tomatoes have undergone a good bit of stress as of late with the roller coaster weather, but all of them survived fine. They just got a bit ugly. I need to watch out for blight. I probably have a dozen or so tomatoes already growing, some of them only 2-3 weeks away from being ripe & picked. =) I'm a bit worried about my peppers though. They're in my cold frame, but with all this cloudy & rainy weather, they've stayed at about 1-2 inches tall for I swear the last few weeks. I'd take them indoors & put them back under the lights, but my wife would kill me! She's already demanding I clean up my "plant room" so she can have it back...lol.

- Steve

Ray- Looking most excellent! Those peppers from last year really have bounced back! I remember seeing them what a month ago and they looked lifeless. I almost did that my self this year as I too left some peppers over the winter in a box but I replaced them at the last minute. I bet those peppers give you a nice bumper crop this year. I've been out of town since Monday and just got back home earlier today, things are comin along great here as well. I've got some tomato plants in the ground that are over three feet tall now. Looks like were heading for some really nice weather now!

Damon

Looks great Ray! I am interested to see how your Goose Creek comparison with the traditional pot turns out. Keep the pics coming!
Caroline

Damon,

Several of the plants in the photos (Paul Robeson, JBT, Brandywine Sudduth, Druzba, etc.) are the ones you gave me!! Yep, looks like the weather is FINALLY going to mellow-out and get back up into the mid 70s. Staining the deck this weekend, so hopefully we will be in for a streak of nice weather.

Caroline,

I am doing the "pot to 'Tainer" trial just for fun to see how a conventional pot does vs. the EarthTainer. I used Goose Creek seeds from exactly the same tomato - - fertilizer, Lime, etc. are all the same, so this should be an interesting experiment.

Raybo

Looks great Raybo!

Hey Timmy,

What do you hear from our old friend "Bingster"? I miss his posts and photos of his container farm.

Raybo

Hi Raybo,

Thank you very much for sharing the Earthtainer plan with all of us. I am building 30G Sterilite Earthtainers for the first time. I intend to start with corn in 3 Earthtainers. I see that you have 15 corn plants in one Corntainer. Is that the right number of corn for one Corntainer? I also read that having beans in between the corn is beneficial. What do you recommend? If I include beans too, what do you recommend the number and spacing of corn and beans?

I don't have any "science" on what the right number of stalks per 'Tainer is. My first year, I had 4 rows of 6 stalks each, and this was definitely too crowded. The following year, I cut it down to 3 rows of 6 stalks and overall yield improved significantly. Last Season I cut it back a bit further with 3 rows of 5 stalks each. Best corn crop to date.

I think it also depends very much on your own Sun exposure. I am not in full Sun all day, as would be in a Farmer's field. If you get Sun exposure from sunrise to sunset, then you might go with 3 rows of 6 stalks each, to start with.

I have no experience at all growing beans, so I can't give you knowledgeable advice.

Raybo

beans produce nitrogen which would great for corn. look up three sisters planting of corn beans and pumpkins. your container size would determine the amount you can plant.