Yeah ... any time I hear the phrase "deviations can have undesired consequences" or any variation on that theme, alarm bells immediately go off. You do realize that he is not, and has not been for many years, a commercial grower any more? He puts all his time and effort into the Earthboxes and the "Earthbox Research Center" - where they have Earthboxes lined up on asphalt in what looks like a parking lot. I would like to point out that once allowances are made for the reservoir in the bottom and normal clearance at the top, this thing is only 8" deep. And its a VERY expensive solution for a commercial grower - hydroponics would be a ton cheaper and easier than dealing with hundreds and hundreds of containers. $33 apiece for a container that allegedly will grow 2 tomato plants at a time is an awful high initial expense. This is NOT a feasible solution to the problems of a large grower. It does, however, work for a minority of folks who have extremely limited growing space and options for container growing. Whether or not the fertilizer strip is at all useful is arguable - but not very. Tons of people use SWCs just like the Earthbox, with no covers or fertilizer strips. The Rubbermaid container based versions can work better than Earthboxes because they're deeper (within limits) - they just don't hold up to the sun. And that's the root of the situation - soil volume. Because of the limitations of a self-watering system, there is a limit to how deep any SWC can be. Personally I have found that limit to be unacceptable - which is why I have stopped using SWC and have gone to drip irrigation and mulched containers. When I'm top watering I can have a container that is sufficiently deep to let the plants I grow root well, without becoming root bound. In an apartment situation, where there is no garden hose to hook up, its a whole different ballgame. If you can't water regularly - and I am sometimes not to be trusted to handwater in a timely manner - a self-watering system becomes much more attractive. Earthboxes work well - WITHIN THEIR LIMITS. And those limits are imposed by physics. Some of us just choose not to be limited and seek more optimal growing conditions for our plants - because we have the space, the desire, and the know-how. You know, it's clear you're a convert. That makes it very hard to respond to you without sounding overly harsh. But here are a few things you might just think about, if you could. Earthboxes are expensive. Earthboxes are low-capacity They were "invented" for a particular purpose in a particular environment - growing a couple of tomatoes in a hot, humid area with heavy rainfall during one part of the season, Very few people actually live where those conditions exist Peppers are not tomatoes. Eggplants are not tomatoes. Carrots are not tomatoes (and need way more than 8" depths for many varieties). Even tomatoes are ... well, they're tomatoes, but they don't all have the same growth requirements. None of that is meant to detract for their usefulness in some circumstances for people who are limited in their growing options by space, Nazi homeowner's associations, demands on their time, etc. Earthboxes have advantages, and they have limitations. When one outweighs the other, then a person makes their choice accordingly. But a system that insists you must slavishly follow a cookie-cutter pattern regardless of the plant you want to grow or local conditions is already flawed from the outset. That doesn't mean that your tomatoes or other plants are going to die in an Earthbox, because Nature is way more flexible than that. And any method of growing things needs to be flexible as well, because everybody does better when we adjust to reality. You can only push things so far. A Wall-o-Water may extend your growing season in Chicago, IL - but it isn't going to do much for you in the Antarctic. You like your Earthboxes. We get that. I once had a couple myself. They were fine. But over time I realized almost any other container worked better for me, in my varied conditions, than the Earthboxes. Earthboxes and their ilk - including the home-made, unapproved, heretical versions - have their place, in some situations and for some people. Just not in all situations or for all people and plants.

Confusion comes from some people referring to the caps as lids. The screw on caps are thrown away. The lid people remove as weather warms is the top part of the container after it is cut. For milk jugs that is the part that is cut either partly and left with a hinge and then taped shut or the bag that is placed over the window, or the U flap that is raised or lowered. For 2L that is the top part that is cut and shoved into the bottom half. Throw those caps away. On some of my 2Ls I make venting cuts at the bottom of the top part, upside down vee, and lift the lid a little as venting is needed. Others I haven't made any cuts and haven't needed to add any venting other than the original neck hole. For cups and other containers with their own covering, that is the lid or the plastic bag, or plastic covering, etc. Hope this helps.

I'm new to selling my soy candles, I'm trying to figure out how much to sell my candles for and how much to charge for shipping. How o you pack and ship your candles and ship within US?

Depending on the wick size you use, a five wick candle mold could be rather large. That said, you can make a candle mold out of just about anything that 1) won't melt or break when you fill it with 180 degree wax and 2) if it's to be a pillar, you can get the candle out. Milk cartons and coffee cans work, but foil might be a light weight.