'Earthbox' style growing

[Newtothis]

Hi

Has anyone tried the 'earthbox' as a growing system.
We don't have an allotment and want to try some GYO in our back garden.
I'd like to know if anyone has had good results with this container system and what grew best?

Thanks

David

[Florence Fennel]

Hi David. I've no experience with "Earthbox" the brand, but started out growing vegetables only in containers. It was so successful I decided to dig up the lawn for raised beds. However, there are still things I grow in troughs, planters, tins, in fact all manner of containers. If you do a search on here, you'll get plenty of advice. If you are able to afford the "Earthbox" system then go for it, I'm sure you'd be successful.
Happy Growing

[solway cropper]

I'm sure it works but then so does growing stuff in old dustbins, flower buckets or any other type of container. The only advantage I can see is the self-watering system if you are going to be away for some time but it seems a lot of money to pay just for that dubious benefit. With two cubic feet of compost in it you are not going to get much of a crop either. Two tomato plants, half a dozen small cabbages, something like that. Could you not make a small raised bed in your garden? It would probably work out cheaper and allow you to grow much more stuff.

[Patchninja]

It does look expensive. A lot of us on this forum do square foot gardening (SFG) have a look at the link - you can make frames very cheaply and it's a lot of fun.
Square Foot Gardening Foundation Whatissfg

[Newtothis]

Ah well - I meant to say earthbox type system - not actually the 'earthbox'.

I'm planning to make a 3foot x 6foot planter from old pallet timber, and line it with some blue plastic that we have left from some building work that we,ve done. That and a bit of old conservatory roof drilled with air holes and 3 pots that are usually used for pond plants - the ones with slits all around - to make the wicking system. Oh, and a bit of spare white waste pipe to fill the water trough. Not a lot of expense there!

Just wondered if anyone else had tried the system, but I am a fan of SFG and have had good results with beds before. Just like the idea of no weeding and no feeding all season long! Seems too good to be true though.

I'll try and put some pictures up if anyone would be interested?

Thanks

David

[Florence Fennel]

Very interested David and it's good to hear you're not splashing out on an expensive ready made system, we should have known you'd be thrifty like the rest of us. Good luck with your project, do let us know how you get on.

[Jono]

Definitely interested in how you get on!

I have an allotment, but have grown some veg with much greater success in containers. Salad leaves, mange tout and peas are my favourites so far.

This is quite a good book: Vegetables in a Small Garden: Simple steps to success RHS Simple Steps to Success: Amazon.co.uk: Dorling Kindersley: Books

I got in touch with my local council's waste department and asked if they had any old recycling boxes that they didn't want any more. They're not that pretty, but are the perfect size to grow in.