I'm a convert!

[feldon30]

After 2 years living in Denmark, I was anxious to get back to gardening, but instead of rehabilitating and renewing my raised beds, I found myself with only a driveway to grow tomato plants in.

After initially deciding that I could go another year without tomatoes, I was coaxed into giving container growing a try. So I downloaded Ray's Earthtainer instructions, and then I made several trips to Lowe's* and spent over three hours of cutting and fastening. I also bought two 18 gallon containers with 2" water reservoirs at the bottom because they were cheap, and I suppose as a control. Surely, I thought, the time to make just one Earthtainer just wasn't worth the effort. I was wrong.

So far, I have harvested over 40 tomatoes from a Cherokee Purple and Big Beef I planted in a single Earthtainer, and there are another dozen tomatoes still on the plants. The tomatoes have had a great flavor and while most have been on the medium size, a few have been nice and big. I am blown away by the results and would absolutely recommend this setup to others in the future. Although I'd say -- build 3-4 Earthtainers at the same time, as it won't take much longer than it took me to build one!


Thanks, Ray!!

[greyghost]

That's a great harvest from just a few square feet! Beautiful tomatoes!!

[cythaenopsis]

^ Congrats!

I imagine with all of your tomato growing experience, you got a major boost in doing container growing right. Very impressive yield. The SWC (self watering container) has certainly transformed container gardening. I learned about them this year and finally decided to give it a go. I'm getting very close to reaping my first tomatoes. I'm completely inexperienced with tomato gardening, so it has been quite a learning curve for me. But I'm enjoying it and it's all thanks to sub irrigation.

Next year, I may try building Ray's Earthtainer. I just have to make sure I've got enough room!

[feldon30]

I'm just astounded at how much "plant" and fruit is being supported by such a small amount of soil, and that the flavor is not impacted at all. Who knows where I will be gardening next year, but even if if I am back to growing in the ground, you can bet I will grow a few of these Earthtainers.

Thanks all.

[Zana]

Been container gardening now for more than 10 years. And I'm continually surprised how much fruit can be grown in "smaller" pots than what you'd think of using for a SWC. One huge advantage here in Canada, is you can work the soil in a pot/container earlier in the spring than the ground....and move them closer to the house to take advantage of radiant heat...or use driveway/concrete patios too for radiant heat to extend your season. I've had plants still producing into mid November in containers here in southwestern Ontario!

Welcome to the "dark side", Feldon!

Zana

[rnewste]

Feldon,

That's great news to hear! When you have the location and time to move up to the 31 Gallon design, I think you will be very happy with the results.

Raybo

[Worth1]

Now you need to change your location to something besides "Between Gardens".

Worth

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Feldon,

That's great news to hear! When you have the location and time to move up to the 31 Gallon design, I think you will be very happy with the results.

Raybo

I made my Earthtainer out of the 31 gallon Ruggedtotes, and then I bought two 18 gallon pots to grow alongside it.


In the smaller containers are a Brandywine, and what was supposed to be Black Cherry. The Brandywine have been small, but still I got over a dozen fruit which was surprising. And the "Black Cherry" came out totally off-type -- it's a revolting, tasteless teardrop shaped brown tomato. Oh well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad.

[TexasAngel]

Very well done! Lovely photo. I may have to work on making an earthtainer.

[Vespertino]

Congrats on the tomato bumper crop!!!! I love how easy earthainers are, and how it makes it possible to garden with in small spaces or problem-prone climates. It's so much fun, too