EarthBox Organic Garden Kit - Additional Information
Posted by Chris Wong on December 08, 2012 0 Comments
Why We Love It:
The EarthBox Organic Garden Kit is used around the world by commercial farmers, hobbyists, and home gardeners alike. The reason why it continues to be so popular is that it really works and makes gardening as simple and as easy as possible. It has a small footprint and comes with rolling casters, which makes it portable and easy to move should you have only a small space to put it or if you end up moving. Young Urban Farmers is proud to be an official Canadian supplier of the EarthBox and its accessory parts.
The EarthBox also comes with two excellent accessories - a 4' staking system, and an automatic watering system. The staking system attaches directly onto the EarthBox and comes with two outriggers to give it additional stability and strength to hold up your climbing or tall plants like cucumbers and tomatoes. Each automatic watering system can keep up to 30 EarthBoxes watered when connected within 200 feet of the spigot. It comes in a two-, six-, and twelve-box accessory product.
Why Our Customers Love It:
Our customers love the EarthBox because it is one of the easiest to grow systems they have used. After the initial pouch of organic fertilizer and organic dolomite is placed into the box at the beginning of each season, there is no need to fertilize or add additional nutrients to the box.
The other reason our customers love the EarthBox is that it is very rugged and durable. It can be left outside during the winter to freeze solid and left outside to bake in the heat of the summer sun for years and years without adverse effect. Maintenance is also a breeze whether you water manually or with the automatic watering system. The reservoir can hold up to 3 gallons of water and the mulch cover reduces the moisture loss during evaporation and eliminates weeding.
Additional Information:
The EarthBox is easy to setup and easy to assemble as it comes with written and visual instructions. Download a pdf copy of the EarthBox setup instructions. If you are setting up the box yourself, you will need two cubic feet of potting soil and your transplants (or seeds) and you'll be ready to go. We suggest putting the EarthBox on a tarp when putting the potting soil into the container as this makes things easy and neater to clean should some extra soil not make it into the box.
For information on the EarthBox accessories, read EarthBox Staking System Additional Information and EarthBox Automatic Watering System Additional Information.
When growing indeterminate tomatoes in the EarthBox, a staking system is highly recommended. Make sure you weave the branches through the netting before they get too big and to ensure they get adequate support
Herbs are also easy to overwinter in your EarthBox. The following spring, we suggest adding in additional organic fertilizer and dolomite into your box to ensure the plants get adequate nutrients to keep on producing new and strong growth. You can continue to use the same mulch cover if it is still in good shape, or you can use a new one. Perennial herbs like chives and thyme can be divided for additional plants or left intact for another year of growing.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Where is the best place to put my EarthBox?
A. A South-facing location that gets full sun is best, as veggies and herbs love the sun. The EarthBox can be placed directly in the garden, on a deck, patio, balcony, rooftop or wherever you have a flat and sunny surface. As long as your plants get at least 4 hours of direct sun, you can grow greens like lettuce, mizuna, and kale and many herbs .An East- or West-facing balcony can work, though yields and grow will not be a strong and vigorous. 6 or more hours of direct sun is recommended and will allow you to successfully grow more varieties of plants.
Q. What kind of plants can I put in an EarthBox?
A. You can put almost any kind of plant in there, however you should keep to plants that grow to about the same height to avoid having one crowd/shade out the others. For that reason we do not recommend putting tomatoes and herbs in the same box, nor we recommend putting cucumbers and lettuce together. The smaller herbs or greens will most likely get shaded out by the taller plants. If you want to grow multiple kinds of plants, we suggest getting multiple EarthBoxes.
Q. How many plants can fit in one EarthBox?
A. It depends on what kind of plants you want to grow. We can fit a maximum of 2 tomato plants per EarthBox, while herbs we can fit a maximum of 6 different kinds. Refer to the EarthBox setup instructions for more details.
Q. What is the staking system?
A. The staking system is an add-on that is highly recommended for tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, and other climbing plants. It gives the plants support while they grow and attaches directly to the EarthBox unit. It is available as an add-on purchase for $55 + HST. Read more about the EarthBox staking system.
Q. How big are the EarthBoxes?
A. Each EarthBox measures 29″ L x 13.5″ W x 11″ H
Q. How much do the EarthBoxes weigh?
A. The weight of the EarthBox depends on what you have growing in the box, how much water there is, and how large the plants are. Empty, it weighs 3.6kg or 8 pounds. When fulled loaded with large plants like tomatoes, it can weigh over 36.3 kilograms or 80 pounds.
Q. What is the EarthBox made of?
A. All of the EarthBox components are manufactured from #2, #4, and #5 plastics, all of which are food-grade and recyclable. In addition, the plastic UV-stabilized and frost proof so you can leave it out in the sun all summer and let it freeze in the winter.
Q. What kind of growing media should I use?
A. almost any brand of peat-based growing media for containers or hanging plants will work. You’ll need 2 cubic feet (60 dry quarts) per EarthBox.
Q. Can I use liquid fertilizer or fertilizers that are mixed with water?
A. Years of scientific research have gone into determining the type, quantity and placement of fertilizer to maximize plant health and production. Liquid fertilizers defeat the purpose of the EarthBox system, as nutrients are not provided on a constant stable basis. An occasional shot of liquid fertilizer, in addition to the fertilizer strip, is okay, but not necessary.
Q. Do you ship The EarthBox across Canada?
A. Yes
Q. I have another question not listed here
A. Please contact us at info@youngurbanfarmers.com for more information.
Order your EarthBox Organic Garden Kit from our online store today.