Earthbox vs. Garden Patch Grow Box: Any real difference?

[mshan]

I would like to try growing some tomatoes and lettuce to start (perhaps some peppers, cucumbers, and strawberries later on) on my patio and have found these two products.

Seem very similar in concept.

Any comments on whether one is better than the other? And if so, why?

Earthbox: Link
Grow Box: Link

 

[Proprioceptive]

MIL owns them both... she prefers the Grow Box... why, you ask? Dunno

 

[MikeMike]

They look like overpriced crap...

Go to your local hydroponics store... get some flower pots, get some flower and bloom nutrients, along with Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil... plant and then follow instructions for the nutrients... use rain water if possible to water with...

 

[spidey07]

I have earthboxes. Just planted today, 8 heirloom tomatoes. I can't compare to the other but have never been disappointed with the earthbox. More tomatoes than I can eat and they always turn out great. They're easily 6 feet tall. In the heat of summer I probably have to water every two or three days.

-edit-
looks like the growbox wants you to use their fertilizer. do not want.

 

[DayLaPaul]

Couldn't you just buy some pots and some soil from a nursery for 1/10th the price?

 

[Twofootputt]

Don't know about the GrowBox.

Have an Earth Box for third year now. Works great. Just growing tomatoes. One container, three plants, tomatoes up the wazoo.

 

[MovingTarget]

Dirt > *.

Those are neat products, but nothing you can't do yourself with a trip to home depot...

 

[Oceandevi]

Raised beds ftw

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Oceandevi
Raised beds ftw

 

[mshan]

My of my patio is concrete and the dirt there is is right up against a fence and may have poor drainage (I think there is a lot of clay a foot or two down). Fence obstructs morning sunlight at times, so I can pull containers away from fence and even up on makeshift platforms if plants need more sunlight.

I think I might try 3 of those Grow Boxes for $105 along with one of their trellis for about $30. Seems plug and play enough that it's worth the extra cost ($10 - $15 per box, I'm guessing, over DIY?), and according to this lady, tomatoes and peppers and lettuce are supposed to work real well: http://homesteadinginacondo.bl...x-by-garden-patch.html

I also found these pics of structure of Grow Box: http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp....Planters&cm_ite=M16756

I may later try a raised bed garden right against fence for lettuce if one or two Grow Boxes don't yield enough lettuce.

 

[mshan]

Now thinking about getting one of these for lettuce and an Grow Box with Grow Box Tomato cage for tomatoes.

Also, what do you think of this organic self-watering mix? Can I get the same stuff much cheaper at Home Depot / Lowes?

 

[mshan]

Just bought one terra cotta Garden Patch Grow Box with Bamboo Staking System from Unifire for about $60 shipped.

Pretty sure I am going to buy that 2 tier self-watering system (lettuce) from Gardiners along with some organic self-watering mix, but have to read some more customer reviews first.

 

[nerp]

Don't waste your money. Buy a regular planter box, buy high quality compost from a local farmer and you will have more vegetables than you know what to do with.

Before you grow anything, study how the root systems work. You will underestimate the amount of space each plant needs. And start from seed. You can't trust the seedlings from most garden centers. A direct seeded vegetable will usually outgrow a transplanted seedling because the transplant goes through so much shock. Some species can handle it but most can't. It's a bit late to start tomoatoes now, though, so I'd suggest getting seedlings for those.

 

[0roo0roo]

http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/

 

[spidey07]

I just received another Earthbox. This will be a total of 5. The design is MUCH better than my older ones that are probably 8 years old. Nice that it includes casters if you're doing deck planting. There is also tons of information on their forums. I especially like that you can hook up an automatic watering system as tomatoes need lots of water, consistently.

Sure I'm biased, but I love my earthboxes. Tomatoes are already flowering but I nipped those off. If you decide to use something like this pay particular attention to the potting mix.

The seedlings have already doubled at least in size and it's only been 10 days. Most are a foot tall now. If you want to plant tomatoes now get really large plants and bury most of the plant but I don't know your climate.

0roo0roo - that looks like a homemade earthbox. Pretty cool but for less than 50 bucks you get an earthbox and everything you need minus potting mix.

 

[mshan]

I got 3 Garden Patch Grow Boxes today and I am very happy with my purchase (haven't gotten the backordered tomato cage yet).

Have never seen an Earthbox in person, but the terra cotta Grow Boxes actually look quite nice, and it looks they took the Earthbox design and just pared it down to it's essentials.

I think it holds 3 gallons of water, while Earthbox holds 2, and 1.5 cubic feet of soil vs 2 for Earthbox (?).

Think I am just going to use Miracle Gro potting mix and provided fertizer / mulch this year, and may try organic soil mix and fertilizer next year.

 

[spidey07]

If you're doing tomatoes make sure you raise the pH of the soil by adding some dolomite. You don't want blossom end rot.

Also with these kinds of planters you're watering from the bottom up so the potting mix you use is important in how it wicks water up from the resivior. Just soil isn't very good for them at all. earthbox/grow box work off of the same principle.

 

[mshan]

I was thinking about using Miracle Gro potting mix this year, then maybe in the future try some fancier organic potting soil and fertilizer.

Regarding planting, can I pretty much mix any vegetables in the same box, as long as they are spaced appropriately?

(I'd like to plant cherry tomatoes and indeterminate tomato plant in one box, then perhaps peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, strawberries, carrots, radish, or peas in the others): http://agardenpatch.com/What_To_Grow-sp10.html

edit: also, when would I start summer lettuce from seeds? And should the dolomite be added preventatively, or can I wait and see what happens, then treat if it occurs?

 

[spidey07]

Some plants don't like to be next to each other and can inhibit each others growth and fruit so do check on that first before planting them in the same box. Conversely some plants do really we when paired with a different one, check out "companion plants"

 

[JDub02]

i'm trying upside down tomato plants for the first time. 3 out of the 4 are all wilty and sad looking. the funny thing is that all of the plants on the top of the planter are doing great. maybe i just suck at upside down growing.