This summer, I’m trying my hand at container gardening with the help of EarthBoxes. These babies are not cheap, but given that I had no supplies to start with, I figured it was worth the extra money for self-watering containers. I wanted to chronicle my experience with the EarthBoxes on the blog as I did a lot of research on these before purchasing them and liked reading people’s experiences with them first hand. I hope this hopes someone else considering them in the near future and feel free to contact me if you have questions. First off, the planting process!

When you first get the EarthBox, it comes with an aeration Screen, fill tube, casters,  fertilizer, dolomite and germination covers. I purchased two cubic feet of potting soil and plants. I planted two tomatoes in one box and five peppers/rosemary in the other. The company has a handy planting guide online that details the planting configuration and how many plants should go in each box.

The first step is to add the aeration screen, fill tube, casters to the EarthBox. Next, you’ll want to take your growing media (make sure its a little moist) and pack it in the top corners.

Continue filling the box with the moist potting media until you have about two inches in the container remaining.

Then, you’ll want to take the dolomite and spread it evenly. The dolomite is lime that contains calcium and magnesium – it lowers the acidity of the soil and acts as a secondary fertilizer.

Then, cover the dolomite with growing media to the top of the box. Then create a trough for the fertilizer and add it in.

Then, top it all off and create a mound above the rim of the box.

Then, you can finally plant! Add the cover and cut holes where the plants will go. After the plants are in, add water to the reservoir via the fill tube. You’ll know when its full when the water comes out via the overflow hole at the bottom.

Planting two Earthboxes took much longer than expected, probably close to two hours once it was all said and done.

I’m a little concerned that they aren’t getting enough sun, but with the casters I’ve been able to wheel them around on my little porch. I planted them last week and so far they are doing good. My mom got two EarthBoxes as well with tomatoes and peppers. Hers are in a spot that gets lots of sun, so we’ll see if she does any better.

Are you growing anything this year? I’d love to hear if you have any container gardening tips to share.

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