Rev 1.1 of the EarthTainer Guide now posted at the TomatoFest Website

[rnewste]

An updated Rev 1.1 Construction Guide (freeware) has been posted at Tomatofest.

The significant change has been a reduction in the size of the wicking orifice to now 2" by 8". This 16 sq. inch wicking surface should help to keep the plant's root systems from getting too wet.

http://www.tomatofest.com/pdfs/Earth...tion-Guide.pdf

Ray

[JohnnyRock]

Hi Ray,
Very nice documentation! I also inverted that type of cage for some of my inground plants (with some side-bracing as well), and that worked pretty well. Several of those plants got taller than the double-stacked cage. So, perhaps rather than sawing off the top extensions, you might add a note that the builder leave them on and bend them 30-45 degrees or so to give the tops of the plants even more growing room.
JR

[rnewste]

Hi JR,

Bending the inverted legs inward is an interesting idea (except if you live in a lightening-prone area). Right now, the dual cage design tops the EarthTainer by 78". Add 16" for the height of the container itself and the cage tops 94" from the surface of the ground.

My personal "rule" is that if I need a step-ladder to reach tomatoes, then they are too high.

Along the theme of: "You can raise the bridge - - or you can lower the water", one could always bury the 'Tainer 16" deep into the ground.....

Ray

[kelleyville]

Awesome! you are an inspiration! I have been wanting to make these containers for a year now and printed several different instructions for my husband who never got around to it....well this year we are gonna get around to it! Thanks for including that barcode from the tomato cages at walmart!

Kelley

[tumbleweed]

Ray, is there a rule of thumb relationship between the wicking basket interface area relative to the volume of the planting mix?

Is there an advantage in having two wicking baskets that are spaced apart on opposite sides of the box?

I am building a 5-gallon paint bucket SWC, with stacked buckets. The container mix is plain vanilla Miracle Grow. The volume of the container mix in the upper bucket is just under 5 gallons, the reservoir in the lower bucket is 1.7 gallons and the wicking basket interface area is approximately 7 square inches (3 inches diameter circular cut-out). Is that too small?

[rnewste]

tumbleweed,

I am no Hydrology Expert by any means, and I have come to the 16 sq. inch wicking orifice simply by trial and error. Currently, some of my 'Tainers have a wicking orifice areas of 76, 40, 24, and 16 sq. inches. The large area orifice 'Tainers show very "wet" with my moisture gauge, and I am getting leaf curl and wilt. The ones with a 16 sq. inch orifice show a "moist" range on the gauge, with healthy plant growth.

Therefore, I have concluded that for a container with approx 3 cubic ft. of potting mix, the 16" sq. inch orifice is optimal. I know there is an argument that the the size of the wicking orifice is "non-linear" to actual moisture distribution in the container, but I will leave that quadratic equation discussion for others more knowledgeable on the subject.

All I can tell you from real world experience is what works best for a 31 gallon EarthTainer.

Ray

http://earthtainer.org/Home_Page.html

[tumbleweed]

Last season (Spring 2007) I made several SWC using 18 gallon Rubbermaid containers. The water reservoir was 6 gallons (0.8 cu. ft) and the upper chamber was 12 gallons (1.6 cu ft). Used same Miracle Grow container mix (+ lime). The wicking orifice area was 25 square inches. This provided a ratio of about 16:1 (sq. inches wicking area per cubic foot of mix).

The mix stayed very wet, and had heavy BER on the tomatoes in nearly every container. From this it looks like the 16:1 ratio may be too much.

In my double bucket trial, the ratio is about 10:1 [7 sq. inch/0.67cu ft]. Your optimum ratio looks to be about 5:1.

Will trial these 10:1 SWC for my fall crop tomatoes. Stay tuned.

[feldon30]

Dumb question but have you measured the exact capacity of the water reservoir? I'd be curious to compare it to Earthbox.

[rnewste]

Morgan,

While I have never filled the 'Tainer with water via a gallon bottle, a simple ratio might help. The 31 gallon 'Tainer is 16" high, and my overflow hole is at the 5" mark. So divide 5 by 16, then multiply that ratio times 31. Should come out about 9.5 gallons, or so considering the slight taper of the container walls.

It is my understanding that the EarthBox has a 2" water reservoir. Don't know the lateral dimensions of the reservoir area though.

Ray

[Vince]

Ray,

Beautiful earthtainers. Your plants look awesome. My only concern, at $50 a pop, how long do you think these things will last?

[rnewste]

Vince,

I look at the "lifetime" issue in 2 parts. First, the inner Aeration Bench and attached wicking basket and cage system ought to last 15+ years. Inside the 'Tainer there is nothing that should deteriorate or fail before that time.

Regarding the outer shell, yes, I do anticipate that UV rays from the sun will eventually break it down. I am planning on rotating each 'Tainer every season to try to balance out the UV deterioration. By doing this yearly, I am hoping to get a 7 year service life from the outer container. At $9.97 for the replacement, that is less than $1.50 per year to amortize for the 'Tainer.

Ray