EarthBox 80101.01 Garden Kit, Dark Green

This is my first year using the EarthBox system and I am wonderfully impressed. I will be using this item for many years to come. I did container gardening last year and used many types of containers from standard pots to the upside down garden. I had pretty good results but had a difficult time keeping up with the watering. I didn't know that once tomato plants get large, they are very, very, very thirsty! I debated between the EarthBox system and another sold by Gardener's Supply. The EarthBox system offered an optional automatic watering system and that was the deciding factor. Set up of the system is pretty simple. Open the box, add good potting mix, water and seeds/transplants. Fertilizer and dolomite are included in the kit. There is a plastic cover (an extra is included) that goes over the box to prevent rain water etc from entering. Since the plants get all of their needed water from the reservoir in the bottom of the box, additional water from above could result in over watering. I started with two boxes and loved the system so much that now I own seven. My deck garden now has tomatoes, eggplants, cantaloupe, watermelon, varieties of peppers, zucchini and butternut sqash. After 4 weeks my pepper plants are taller and healthier than last year's plants at the 12 week mark. They seem to be able to handle most vegetables as I've planted okra and seen others with 6 to 7 ft tall corn and pole beans. I'm not the best when it comes to dealing with bugs and another great benefit is that since they are on my deck, these are bug free. I also no longer have to worry about uneven watering and taking care of them while I am on vacation. I added the automatic watering system which fills the reservoir whenever it is below the desired level. I was able to leave home for a long weekend and return to plants that were just as healthy as when I left. The current Amazon price of $39 is excellent. The lowest price found locally for me was $69. The system will require an additional investment in years to come as you eventually need new plastic covers. Fertilizer can be bought anywhere so that isn't a problem. Living in Minnesota, I don't have a very long gardening season. So having a system that produces such healthy and fast growing plants is a huge benefit. And so far, I have found this to be the most low maintenance system I have seen. My neighbors think I am an amazing gardener when all I really did was follow the instructions. I added photos and will add more as the season progresses.

I am a Zone 7 gardner with a day-job and other time-intensive hobbies that have conspired against my attempts and intentions to be a better farmer. There are several inevitabilities in my garden. First, the slugs will eat the basil, second, there won't be any edible produce until about a week before the first frost when suddenly I have more than I can handle and the slugs will devour it all while I sleep anyhow. Finally, the sad anemic-looking eggplant will have 1 little flower and then poop out when the fall rain starts. Not this year! This year, I bought 2 earth boxes when the family didn't come through on the birthday list. I paid what I thought were outrageous amounts of money for plastic planters, but have had friends raving about them so what the heck, why not! Summer around here did't start until approximately August, but I bucked the trend and planted in mid-June (for the record about 2 months late but it was very very soggy this spring). So, I wasn't expecting much of anything out of them this year. I have to admit that I planted the challenging plants in the earthbox. I always kill the basil, so I put 2 of them in there. To compensate, I put a sungold cherry tomato in with the basil. I also had a few sad, slug-munched eggplants that survived the great drowning of Mid-may but were looking pretty awful. So, I threw those in the other planter box with a pepper plant. The instructions say to use potting soil, but I used "garden" soil because it was cheaper and (as above) I didn't expect much. Other than that, I followed their (fairly well written/illustrated) instructions. Those 2 little earth boxes were worth every penny. My basil thrived, the eggplants revived, and (since I didn't have the staking system and forgot to cage it) the tomato proceeded to flop over and take over the walkway. I think next year, I'm going to get a couple more to do more herbs. I think the strength of the system is that (1) they warm up the soil more quickly and consistently than planting in the ground does. So, in cooler climates (not that we're bitter) heat-loving plants tend to do well in the boxes when otherwise they wouldn't survive. Unlike regular planters though, these are self-watering. This simply means that there is a resevoir at the bottom that you fill every day or every other day when it's warm out. So, for the more absent-minded of us this means that you can't drown or dehydrate your plants too easily. Using the plastic mulch cover thing also helped with pest (read, slug) control. The kit from Amazon came with an extra mulch cover that I could use if I were going to change the planting arrangement next year (since you have to cut through it to plant). My rotten neighbor with the green thumb (although not so rotten, since he shares!) has been able to grow greens in the winter -- I think I'm going to try that this year with my earthboxes and see how that goes.

This video will show you the difference in the boxes. This is my first year growing stuff.. i was skeptical because i can barely keep a bush alive but i blame it on my clay soil. :) I wasn't sure what would work better and be cost effective and so on so i got the 3 types i could find info about and here are the pluses and minuses... Growbox: my least favorite but works fine. This was the third box i received and initially i was a little put off because it didnt seem as well built as the earthbox and i couldnt get the two pieces snapped together forever..finally did (there was a little warping on the backside). I dont like that it doesnt have wheels since i will move my boxes when its stormy but its still doable. I dont like the patch thing on top of it that has the fertilizer because as you can see it curls up and can possibly blow away. I do like the fact you can see how much water is in it through the lip thing on the front and i mainly got it because the price was overall cheaper.. however i will not buy this again. note: things do grow fine in it so far and it does get the job done. approx: $30+$7 shipping (takes around 1.5CF potting mix) Earthbox: I have two of these so far and i will buy more. I like the shape of this and the growbox because when comparing to my homemade ones you have more space overall and more planting room. It comes with the fertilizer that is good for the whole season, dolomite, and several covers (2-3 depending on where u buy) This one is a little deeper than the growbox but takes 2 cubic feet of potting mix.. the stuff i bought was 16.99 a bag (happy frog organic potting mix) so after all of that on my porch we spent hundreds..but it was fun and you can reuse for like 4-5 years so i read. I love the wheels and the over all clean look of the box. Note: you can also buy this for like $30 plus shipping if you just want the box. Otherwise it is $49 on amazon, $56 locally for me, or 50-56 plus shipping online. My plants look great so far and im very impressed with the box over all. Home Made containers: I like these because they cost me about $6 each to make. These are great because they are deep and you should probably use them to plant deep rooted veggies like carrots, onion etc. I dont like the fact that they take alot of dirt and have such a small top area (5 gallon bucket size) They are cheap and a little labor intensive but you also have to buy fertilizer which i read is to be replaced every month whereas the earthbox and growbox is like each crop or something like that. So that can get spendy. They also dont have wheels and are not worth it to me to make any. they are semi easy to drag to move since they arent huge. As you can see my plants are flourishing in these. Overall im not sure how long the plastic will last with the homemade ones but i read the earthbox has lasted others since they became established 15 years ago. from now on i will just add to my collection with earthboxes. (they have a great forum too) Use neem oil to keep the bugs away! my spinach was infested with white fly and i was devastated but it got rid of them. the only problem i have is green worms on my broccoli and cauliflower and i just keep watch to pick them off.

I went all in with 12 boxes my first year using these, mostly for tomatoes. I'm no expert gardener by any means, and last year was the first time I really made an effort at planting a vegetable garden - mostly in overcrowded, regular containers that required constant watering and produced meagerly, but what it did produce had me raving in my own mind about the absolute superiority of home-grown heirloom tomatoes. I thought it would be a step up this year growing in the Earthbox, but flavor-wise, I found it's a step back from even the worst growing conditions in regular soil with regular watering. I readily admit, the plants in my Earthbox have absolutely outgrown anything I put in the ground or regular pot. I planted tomatoes & eggplant in the Earthbox and the ground at the same time, and both Earthbox tomatoes and eggplant are at least four times as large as the ground plants. That is not an overexaggeration (possibly underexaggerating). Fruit-wise, again, the Earthbox plants definitely outproduce the ground plants. The thing is, even though the fruits in the Earthbox are beautiful and big, it tastes watery & weak compared to anything out of the ground. There is a certain earthiness in the flavor of fruits out of the ground that is just not there with the Earthbox. While I was raving about the superiority of home-grown fruits last year with the fruits out of my poorly taken care of containers, this year's fruit out of the Earthbox has me shrugging my shoulders thinking "at least it's as good as the supermarket stuff". This may be because the Earthbox plants have unlimited access to water 24/7 so the plants get bloated and watered down. In nature, plants don't drink all the time, and perhaps that's for the best. Unfortunately there's no way to tell a plant to stop absorbing water and concentrate on flavor. If I'm taking the trouble to garden at home, I don't want it to be only "as good as the supermarket", I want to be raving about the superiority as I was the year before with the regularly grown stuff, even if the production is less. I'm not throwing out my boxes because of this, nor will I stop growing in them. It's just I wouldn't necessarily recommend this product as the first choice in growing method for crops in which you really want to appreciate the robust taste or subtle flavor differences in various varieties of the plant. I would more recommend this for crops in which depth and subtleness of flavor are not as important (in my case peppers & cucumber), or flowers & other plants you're not growing to eat. All said, this product is still great for producing a large quantity of produce in a small area, as well as allowing novices at gardening to grow plants well, and for that I am grateful.

The planter boxes are exactly as represented. They are complete, except for planting mix that is wisely and widely obtained locally. This is as expected. They are ready for planting in less than an hour, all five, and the only packaging that has to be recycled is the corrugated shipping boxes and some plastic bags. The directions are well written, and well illustrate. The illustrations are a help to those who may not know to put the planting mix inside the box. The casters are a nice touch, but since my paver deck has some drainage slope, I had to chase them down and set the locks so they don't roll. Operator error? The boxes are on the North side of the building, and the casters let me easily move them to chase the Sun. I can maximize the growing season this way. And, they can be rolled into the garage when freezing weather is expected. The recommended plant spacing was a pleasant surprise. One can grow a lot of stuff in just one of the boxes. Refilling the water reservour is trial and error. The trick is to stand close with your feet under the over-fill drain. When your shoes are full, move to the next box. Repeat until all boxes are refilled. It would be nice if there was a gage or sight glass, or something to let one know the reservour is/isn't full. I'm just sayin'. Unfortunately, perfection is overpriced. Good enough is the best use of resources. Hydroponics will get cheaper as the pot laws are relaxed or all-out ignored. Those growers have some pretty good ideas as to how to keep ditch weed healthy. (Not my thang, however. I just grow food, not entertainment.) I expect their automatic watering systems will be very useful and adaptable to different weather, climates, plants and water consumption rates. I like the fact that the instructions offer clear information about renewing the nutrients in the planting mix for subsequent seasons. You can buy the big bags, locally, and save some money, but it is hard to beat the pre-measured and balanced branded kits from EarthBox for convenience. The rating is a solid 5, folks. It is what it is. You can make something similar yourself, but it will cost about as much, last only a season or two and the boxes you make will be butt ugly. Ask me how I know.

The Earth Box is an innovative approach to container gardening. The reservoir system ensures that the plants get exactly the water they need. All you have to do is keep the reservoir from drying out, which requires you to fill it every other day or so. You can't over-water - you just fill the reservoir until water comes out the overflow hole. Plants use different amounts of water at different times of their growth, so when I fill the Earth Box every other day, I sometimes topped it off quickly and sometimes needed to fill nearly the entire reservoir. When plants are using more water, it can take a lot of time to fill the reservoir. I set up a rain barrel with a 1.5" flexible tubing and a spigot, which fills the Earth Boxes very quickly. It took forever using a watering can. The fertilizer strip system works wonderfully too, providing adequate nutrients without risk of burning the plants (you don't use slow release fertilizer in the Earth Box). You can use the Earth Box to grow transplants, or to plant from seeds. One word of caution - make sure the cover doesn't cover your plants, especially your emerging seedlings, or the sun will burn the plants. I cut out a square instead of an X for each plant (if the plants are too small to rise above the cover), which increases the chance of weed seed getting into the potting mix but decreases the chance of sunburn. My plants were a little slow to take off, but they out-grew and out-produced my garden plants. The Earth Box is easy to set up and easy to maintain. However, they are heavy once filled. I use a hand truck to move them in for the winter. They are made of durable plastic, but they can be punctured - one of mine got caught on a protruding nail head and now has a hole in the bottom. Also be aware that the Earth Box requires ongoing purchases - at least of the covers which will need to be changed every year. However, you can use your own potting soil and fertilizer.

I have an in ground garden area, but it seemed to be hit or miss if my plants grew. And soil preparation and weeding was very time consuming I read reviews on the Earth box and decided to start with two to see how they would work. They were easy to set up just by following the short instructions. I liked that the boxes came with wheels so I could move them as the sun got hotter over the summer. I planted plum tomatoes in one box and bush green beans in the other. I started both from seeds and when they got big enough, i transplanted them into the boxes. I put 6 tomatoe plants in one box and 7 bean plants in the other. You cut a hole in the plastic cover and gently pull the plants through. That was a little tricky. I watered every other day by just using the hose to fill the plastic pipe fill hole. There is a drain in the bottom center so you can tell when it is full. I had more green beans than I have ever grown before. Although I live in hot Texas, the plum tomatoes are still producing and there are plenty of blossoms. Normally by this time of the year, my garden is almost dead. I am thrilled with the yields I have gotten and decided to purchase 2 more boxes and start a fall garden. These Earthboxes are a great and easy way to garden. I doubt that I will go back to my in-ground garden.

This is a very nice growing system. I have an upstairs deck that doesn't really get used for much, so I purchased a couple of these to see if they would work. I have several different types of veg & herbs growing. If it wasn't late in the season, I would like to have about a dozen more of these things. Being able to roll around the vegetable garden or herb garden is really convenient. We can grow all year long in San Jose, CA, so I am looking forward to rotating through some seasonal crops. The only thing I am not sure of yet is what to do with the root systems in the boxes. I am thinking of adding worms to let them do their thing in the soil, but being organic, I am not too hip on adding 777 or some other crappy fertilizer to the soil. I may just have to dump the soil and reload, which would not be convenient. All in all, this is a great invention. I like the fact that you can do an entire farm with these things, or just a little backyard deck and there is no risk of wrecking the water system, over watering, fertilizer leakage, weeds or massive upkeep. Just brilliant. (Wish I had thought of it!) J