The New EarthTainer III "Convertible" Guide Now Available

[Riceloft]

I signed up for the newsletter and got a generic $5 off $30 purchase code. Says its good 1 time per customer. Better than nothing, for now. Code is BN53

[z_willus_d]

Thanks all-

I'll definitely sign-up for the newsletter then. I can hold off on my purchase for a while, for something juicy like 20% off or better.
-naysen

[rnewste]

You can also Google "Burpee Coupons" and sometimes find a useful code. I found one last year for free shipping, which saved me a good amount. Be sure to order at least 2 cage sets at a time, as the price for 2 sets comes down significantly.

Also, with regard to the 31 Gallon totes at Lowes, go to your local Post Office and ask them for a "relocation envelope". Inside you will find several retailer discount coupons including a Lowes 10% off everything. This brings down the cost of the containers, PVC pipe, tools, nuts and bolts needed for the EarthTainer by 10%.

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

Affirmative on the Lowes coupon. I found it in the relocation pack. It was a nice saving on my $360 bill.

[z_willus_d]

Here's a question for folks on handling full EarthTainers. I have bought fourteen 31-gallon Rugged totes from Lowes, and the stack rests on my front porch as I type this. I plan to make seven EarthTainers for next year, but before that I need to use these fourteen totes to transport over 500 bottles of wine from my current domicile to the new some twenty miles away. I plan to load each tote with around 40 750ml wine bottles. If I conservatively estimate a full 750ml bottle of wine weighs 3.5lb and I need to transport 40 per tote, I then require the totes to bear ~140lb of bottle weight. That's too heavy for my back, and I suspect the handles might give out even if I could lift upwards. I think I need some kind of dolly perhaps with straps or bungees to tote around the totes.

An EarthTainer loaded with saturated grow media must weigh about the same as my estimated wine load, so I'm curious how folks who commonly move their Tainers from place to place do so. What's the best tool for this application? I'm willing to buy a new Dolly and associated apparatuses. So, if you could buy a tool for the job, what would you choose?

Thanks in advance for your ideas/experience--
Naysen

[rnewste]

Naysen,

Simply put, no one can lift a fully loaded EarthTainer on their own. It is just too heavy when filled with Mix and water. The best you can do is to rotate them around 180 degrees mid way through the Summer to give equal exposure to the Sun. I call it "The 'Tainer Tango" (add music here).

For your wine moving project, I would absolutely get yourself one of these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/19-inch...ruck-2758.html

It is a very reasonable investment which will prevent you from doing damage to your back and other parts....

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

Ray, thanks for the quick response and platform truck recommendation.

With that wheeltruck, I could pre-load the Tote, fill it up, roll it up the truck ramp, and then I would have to deal with the job of lifting the tote off the platform to the moving truck and then back on the platform at destination, roll down the platform, into new home and again have to lift off.

So, If I can find a way to lift the tote on/off the platform truck, and assuming my stair steps don't present an insurmountable obstacle, this should work.

In my mind, I had envisioned the ideal solution might look like a dolly with a very wide and long base platform and inflatable wheels capable of cushioning the load on step up/down transitions.

[Elizabeth]

500 bottles of wine?

You will also need to have a stop of some kind if that cart doesn't have a brake. They have the tendency to scoot away as you are loading them (esp heavy stuff that you "walk" into place)

[z_willus_d]

500 bottles now, and later another 1500 from the underground storage facility. But that will not come until I have a "cellar" room built to house the burden. Collecting at its extremes is indeed a burden.

Good point about the braking requirement.

[lakelady]

Ray, my eyes are crossing from reading so much tonight, but didn't you originally do 2 tomato plants in the 18 gallon container, or was I hallucinating? Just wondering if they need the larger size for just 2 tomato plants or not.

My problem is that now that you've opened Pandora's Box, I keep thinking of all the other things I could grow if I had a lot of earthtainers, and of course, come January and February, I'll be itching for something gardening related to do

[rnewste]

Nothing preventing you from planting 2 tomato plants per 18 gallon container (this is what I am doing for the InnTainers this Winter), but my experience is that 2 large tomato plants like Brandywine, etc. will develop better in the 31 gallon EarthTainer. There are approx 3.2 cubic feet of Mix in the EarthTainer, so divide that by 2 and this is what each plant will have to play in.

Do the same calculation for the 18 gallon container, and you will see my point.....

Raybo

[lakelady]

ahhhh...very good then!

A thought just ocurred to me, I wonder how much weight my dock can support if I put a bunch of earthtainers down there ? oh boy. This is a very very dangerous thing Ray..but thanks for helping me indulge myself!

[rnewste]

If you need something "mobile" on your dock, then use the EarthTainer overflow hole location, and use it with the rest of the InnTainer design (eliminating the water level tube). Then again, you could just move your Winter InnTainers outside and use them as is, on the dock.

Remember, you will then have to design your own tomato cage support system, instead of the Burpee cages I use with the EarthTainer, as they cannot be adapted to the 18 gallon containers.

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

I've gone a bit overboard with my EarthTainer preparation of late. I now have all materials required to build seven 31-gal and five 10-gal containers. I'm moving the wine (and all the rest) tomorrow and Monday. After the move, the totes are available for Taining/construction.

I only have space inside for three 18-gal InnTainers, due to limited rack area and artificial lighting, but I have twelve Dwarf plants that need a home. I can support 10 of the 12 in the five InnTainers. So, I need to find a home for my remaining two InnTainers. Something I've been tinkering with in my mind is the though of surrounding the InnTainers, and maybe a few more, with a sort rectangular column structure of PVC frame and then covering the frame with that green-house transparent plastic. I'm wondering if I made individual frames to surround each Tainer, if I could have a kind of independent "green-house," each dedicated to individual Tainer systems. I worry that this might result in too small an environment, leading to cooking the plant, or mold, disease, etc. The alternative would be to just build a full blown mini-greenhouse. That's a whole new area for me to investigate.

I'd be interested in whether anyone else has tinkered along these lines.
--naysen

[lakelady]

hmmm...If I could put a few earthtainers on the dock and setup some sort of wicking system to just take up lakewater, I wouldn't even have to do any watering, how neat would that be?

I've got to put these ideas to rest right now, too many other things in my head and that is one that will require some creative thought. I'll let you know when I'm ready Raybo

Naysen, if you used the plastic, you would need a ventilation system of some sort or just poke a lot of holes into it for ventilation. Or you could make flaps that open in strategic locations. Depending on size, probably put a fan in there too. I'm thinking fungus would be very happy in that moist environment with out air circulation?

Good luck on the move!