The Bottom Line
Pros
- Watering is reduced to once a week.
- Weeding is reduced to practically nothing.
- Plants remain stress free.
- Able to move with the accompanying wheels.
Cons
- Extremely heavy to move, even with wheels.
- Can promote mosquitoes in watering section.
- Expensive option, if a large garden area is required.
- Stake kit is optional, but necessary for climbing plants.
Description
- Easy to put together. Ready to add your garden in minutes.
- Can move around on wheels to find the best growing location.
- Keeps plants well watered, and keeps weeds from growing at all.
Guide Review - Earthbox - Self Watering Container Garden
The Earthbox is a self watering container garden. It has a large reservoir in the bottom, that contains enough water to allow the plants a constant supply of moisture for about a week. It is filled through a tube in the top, so watering takes about 3 minutes to accomplish.
My Earthbox kit came with a two reversible covers, the potting mixture, fertilizer and wheels. Setup took about 10 minutes to complete. The directions were very clear and included full color photos. The hardest decision was deciding what to plant. I chose fast growing cucumbers, zucchinis and hot peppers, because they require the most moisture and heat. I wanted to see how well the self watering concept worked, and how well it held up in my driveway under extreme conditions.
The zucchini and cukes were planted as seeds and the peppers were seedlings, in 2 inch pots. After 2 weeks, the pepper plants died. No apparent reason that I could see, the other plants from that tray are still growing and producing on my farm, planted in the ground.
The cucumbers and zucchini had the opposite results, however. In the Earthbox, they are exploding! The already have fruit coming and are full of blossoms. On the farm, they are growing well, but just barely have any blossoms and look at least a week behind.
An added bonus is being able to move the Earthbox. I have had numerous hailstorms, and was able to roll the container into the garage for protection. On the farm, I have had losses with each storm, as the hail damaged the crops.
I recommend the Earthbox for anyone suffering from a water shortage, with little space to garden and with poor soil. It is a sturdy, well designed container garden. The support offered at the site is superb, and this is an all around, long lasting solution for many gardeners.
Update for 2009, my Earthbox finished the second growing season unscathed, unfaded, and working perfectly. It still remains a 5 star product in my opinion.
