Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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105 of 105 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great container gardening, October 31, 2007
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.
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49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Product . . . But Very Expensive Vegetables, April 21, 2008
I have one (actually five) and the EarthBox is a great invention if the cost of your vegetables does not matter to you. However, if cost is a factor, then these will be the most expensive tomatoes or peppers or cukes or melons or squash that you will eat this year. In addition to the initial cost of the EarthBox, you will also spend approximately $20 for potting soil (more for organic potting soil) and something additional for the plants. In a single box, it is recommended that you plant only two tomato plants, or four cucumber plants, or four melon plants, or six squash plants, or eight pepper plants, etc. (You can get more information at the manufacturer's web site located here: http://www.earthbox.com/consumer/faqs.php) At approximately $80 to $90 for the initial set up, the vegetables you grow this year, though very nice, will also be very expensive. Next year, you will need to purchase a replanting kit, which includes fertilizer, dolomite and two replacement covers, at a cost of about $12. The original potting soil can be reused for five years. As long as you regularly add water to the box and place it in a sunny location, your vegetables should grow. I've had success with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and corn. I was amazed that I could grow 16 corn stalks in a box and that the ears of corn were excellent. I have not had great success with melons, but will try again this year. Of course, it goes without saying that the quality of the seeds or vegetable plants you select is very important. If you select inferior tomato seeds or plants, then the tomatoes you grow will look great, but won't taste great. The same is true for corn. So be careful about buying mass-produced seeds or plants from the mega hardware stores, which will also not be organic, if that is important to you. By the way, it is not difficult to build your own earthbox-like planting box. Plans for these planting boxes are posted on the Internet. By doing so, you may save about half the cost. I plant vegetables both in a garden and in earthboxes. In my experience, the earthbox definitely produces more vegetables per plant and requires less work than a garden, but if cost is a factor, then a garden is less expensive. If you care for a garden, then quality is not substantially different from the EarthBox grown vegetables. But if you don't like to weed a garden or don't have the space for a garden, then the EarthBox is the way to go.
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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Veggies growing like weeds!, May 20, 2007
I purchased 2 EarthBoxes to test my green thumb with vegetables. For comparison, I planted 2 tomato plants in my first EarthBox and 2 tomato plants in some inexpensive flower/vegetable pots that use the same "water from below" concept. For the first week and a half, there wasn't much of a difference between the Earthbox and the pots, but soon after, the plants in the EarthBox started to pull ahead. After 4 weeks, the plants in the EarthBox are one and a half times the size of the other plants, have much more foliage and are much more mature.
I'm sure a number of variables combine to yield these results, and for me, that's the beauty of the EarthBox; it provides water and fertilizer, and the cover gives protection from weeds and from pests like snails and slugs. Plus, it's easy to set up and to maintain.
My second EarthBox is growing bell peppers, cucumbers and some peas that have grown so well, they look like they want to do battle with my wysteria. So far, I'm very impressed and highly recommend the EarthBox system.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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by Rose Marie Nichols McGee
