First Earthtainer Grow - Looking for some Help

14 years ago

Hi,

I am going to try my first Earthtainer grow soon. I have the bucket assembled (it's an 18 gallon one) and was confused as to what kind of fertilizer and perlite/lime I should use and how much fertilizer I should use to make the fertilizer strip, as well as how much perlite/lime to use. I have two 11 gal. bags of Miracle Grow Organic Potting soil.

I was also wondering:

1) If anyone knows of a useful guide online that explains the feeding schedule.

2) Is 4 plants in an 18 gallon bucket at 4.5 gallons each enough space? I've heard the norm is 5 gal. per plant so I was wondering if 4.5 would be okay.

Any help would be immensely appreciated. Thank you so much!

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Comments (12)

demondmh
14 years ago
The earthbox website has planting instructions for their products. My eartboxes use 2 cups of regular fertilizer (3 if organic) and 2 c of lime. The earthbox takes 2 plants and doesn't get any additional fertilizer during the growing season.
azruss
14 years ago
Use dolomite or garden lime, about two cups, and mix this well into the top 6 inches of potting mix. Next, use a plant fertilizer formulated for tomatoes, TomatoTone if you can find it. Kelloggs is also good. If you can't find that, get one where nitrogen (the first of the three numbers) isn't the highest. Use about three cups of this. Dig a two-inch trench lengthwise along one edge, add the fertilizer and smooth soil over it. This is called a fertilizer strip.

I think four tomato plants is about two too many for one 18-gallon container. Earthbox recommends two, and my experience is that two are plenty per box.

There is no feeding schedule for self watering containers. The fertilizer strip you create just before planting should last all season.

I have read very mixed reviews for MG Organic Mix. Unless "organic" is paramount to you, if you can take them back and exchange them for regular MG Potting MIX, I'd recommend it.

Good luck. The Earthbox site has some good information for planting veggies in self watering containers. Link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Earthbox
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threeoneg
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the input.

I understand the instructions for the Earthbox and that it is designed for only two plants, however the earthbox reservoir is 3 gallons, where as my bucket is 18 gallons. So does that mean I use six times as much fertilizer and dolomite? That is what I am confused about...adjusting the instructions to accomodate for changes in design such as reservoir size.

Any more help would be immensely appreciated.
Thanks!
threeoneg
Original Author
14 years ago
To clariify my design is based off the DIY EarthTAINER not the small EarthBOX. I know they are basically the same thing but one is much, much larger than the other. I have been able to find instructions for the small 3 gallon Earthbox and very detailed instructions for Ray Newstead's 30 gallon Earthtainer, however an 18 gallon version suits my needs perfectly and I need to know how to adjust the fertilizer/dolomite/perlite quantities to suit that size of reservoir.

Thanks.
robeb
14 years ago
Here are a couple of my plants in 18 gal earthtainers, about 5 wks after planted out. These are indeterminates, one plant per container.

By the time these start to fruit, they are so large that 2 per container would be make it much more difficult to detect & control aphids, hornworms, fungal diseases, etc.

Also, at the end of the season when I pull my plants, the roots of each plant have spread through every square inch of potting mix. I would think that 2 per container could choke each other out. I know that others have grown 2 in one, but I don't think it would work for me.
threeoneg
Original Author
14 years ago
Robeb,

May I ask you how much fertilizer/dolomite/perlite you used in your 18 gallon Earthtainers? 2 cups? 3?

Thanks.
robeb
14 years ago
threeoneg,
I place 4 handfuls of Tomato Tone in each, plus 2 handfuls of epsom salts. I'm not sure the epsom salt does any good, I just do that to appease a friend who swears by the stuff.

Next year I may add a couple more handfuls to each container as I'm sure my 3 year old potting mix (Miracle Grow) has none of it's original fert left in it.
threeoneg
Original Author
14 years ago
Did you use any dolomite/perlite? If so how much?
robeb
14 years ago
"Did you use any dolomite/perlite? If so how much?"

threeoneg,

If you were asking me that question, no I don't.

I do replenish the potting mix I lose when I yank the rootball, so I guess they get some of the 3 month feed from the new Miracle Grow. That, the Tomato Tone and the epsom salts is it for me.
azruss
14 years ago
The reservoir for the EarthBox is 3 gallons, but that's water. Because of the shape, it probably is close to 18 gallons total. I made a couple 18 gallon Earthtainers out of Rubbermaid containers and used the same amount of fertilizer/lime as the Earthbox. It was fine. The water reservoir was just under 4 gallons.
mtbigfigh
14 years ago
ae you following guide and layout that Ray Newstead invented and TomatoFest has as freeware to download plans etc ? http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/
mtbigfigh
14 years ago
doesn't anybody use white pumice instead of perlite? it stays mixed better and you don't find it all floating on the top

First Earthtainer Grow - Looking for some Help

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