httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE8OrdUZQKk

I have now pulled the bottom section out and drilled a hole for the watering tube. You can also see the water overflow holes that I just drilled. Because I drilled the filtration holes a little big, I am using fiberglass screen to assure that the soil mix dosen’t infiltrate down into the water reservoir. I also drilled many more holes since the last part because one purpose of this divider is to allow maximum airflow to the roots!

If you are on a budget, you can eliminate this fiberglass screen step by simple drilling lots of smaller holes. However, if have the screen and/or are making more than one grow planter, then I feel that it’s a better idea to add the screen (you can drill lots of bigger holes and let the screen do “the screening”). I am simply marking around the screen and will then take some scissors and cut it out on the outside of the line so that I have a little spare etc.

In this picture, I have: 1) Pushed the screen down and taken a razor blade to make relief cuts so I could lower both the wick container (soup can) and water fill pipe. 2) Cut a piece of pipe for the water filling and lowered it into the hole. 3) Taken the bucket top and cut out the middle with a bandsaw (you can use a jig saw or coping saw for the same purpose. Be sure to use some other type of pipe or hose rather than PVC for the water fill pipe because PVC can emit toxins when sufficiently heated.

In the third and final part, we will fill the container with potting mix, fertilize, add the plant and plastic mulch. I decided to break this project up to make it more digestable and also to write it as I had time to personally complete the steps etc.  Be back soon!

• A self watering system whereby moisture is provided to the plant roots consistenly via wicking from the reservoir underneath. Underneath air flow will also be encouraged to the roots as oxygenation is very important to plant growth and health!
• A self fertilizing system whereby a strip of fertilizer slowly disolves and is pulled downward to the roots via diffusion. The buildup of salts over time is easily removed when the strip is replaced.
• A stable planting medium which is covered via a plastic mulch so that evaporation is controlled and harmful organisms and insects are protected from the root system.
• Though not unique to just the earthbox, a container approach allows the plants to be moved or protected from weather extremes.

Once the unit is setup, the maintenance and hassle are greatly minimized with such a system. I have done much research on alternative DIY plans and have come up with my own innovation which I think is a very cheap and effective plan utilizing the commonly available 4 or 5 gallon buckets.  I decided to break this project into two different parts so as not to be overwhelming.  I have drawn a quick sketch of the basic unit so that you can follow along with the steps and concepts more easily.

The project requires two buckets, but with a little searching around, you should be able to readily find these from a bakery, painters, contractors, etc. I went to my local Walmart superstore bakery and they gave me 5 containers in which icing had been packaged (pictured on left). Referring to the sketch, our next step will be acquire a suitable container to hold the wick. In my case, I found a Campbell’s soup container to be the ideal size, and it will raise the water reservoir to accomodate about 1.8 gallons. I should also add that an alternative design could be accomplished by placing one bucket inside another (with the bottom as the water reservoir). However, it would require far more potting mix, water might not wick to the greater height efficiently, and you would compromise oxygenation to the roots.

In order to cut the exact height of the bottom screen section, simply take a marker and place on the wick container and then rotate the bucket all the way around.  We will eventually cut out a hole to accomodate this soup can “wick container” and it will fit down inside at the perfect height etc.

After the height mark has been made all the way around, we can then take a suitable hand saw (hack saw etc), and start a cut on the line whereby we can then insert a jig saw. We will try to keep this cut even (in the next step), but if we get a little off we can even the cut out with a rasp or hand plane later. One way we can do this is to place this cutoff section on a flat sold surface. Then you can mark any areas that touch and trim them a bit etc.

Next we insert the blade of the jigsaw (any blade will do) into the cut that we made and start carefully cutting all around the container. Try to stay on the line so the the cut is even because this cut will form the bottom edge of the water reservoir section. If it is too uneven, the potting mix particles will be able to infiltrate into this area.  However, we can even the cut out as described in the preceding paragraph.

Because the slant of the cutoff section will be opposite to the slant of the container when we flip it upside down, the sections will try to bind and not allow it to go down all the way. In order to get around this, I took my jigsaw and made several “relief” cuts as pictured. This will allow the plastic to bend inwards a bit and go all the way down inside the main container. Another way to get around this is to simply draw and cut the original line at 1/2 the height as we originally did. The choice is yours, but making these relief cuts only took me about 1.5 minutes.

Before lowering the cutoff section into the main container, I marked and cutout for the wick container. You can cut carefully with a jig saw or better yet, buy one of those inexpensive adjustable hole cutters that attach to a drill. As can be seen, I also have started drilling many holes for the separation screen. If I had it to do over again, I would drill these a little smaller – as I think I used 1/4″ and there might be some leakage of soil mix into the water reservoir. I also drilled 1/4″ holes into the bottom soup can so that water can get into the potting mix therein.

Well, that is it for now, and the next time we will: 1) Pull the bottom section back out and drill a hole for the water tube to be inserted. 2) Drill overflow holes for the water reservoir. 3) Cut out the middle of the container top – which will be used to hold down the plastic mulch on the top. 4) Fill the container up with potting mix, and.. 5) Place the plant, fertilizer, and mulch etc. I expect this entire project (not including the potting mix) to cost me..”next to nothing!” If you republish these plans, I only ask that you provide a link and reference to this post or site.

I then cut the stalks off, place into a paper bag, and store in a dry place where bugs and other critters can’t contaminate them. The pods will dry out and open and then the seeds will just fall out into the bottom. You then just remove the stalks, and “voila” you have a bag with plenty of free seeds. If you are then going to utilize the seeds for consumption purposes, you will need to later separate them from some of the chaff and clean them.

With so many seeds now becoming hard to find and rather expensive, this may well be worth the effort. I have plenty of broccoli stalks that I will harvest in this manner and I will save some for replanting in the fall – and others I will use for making broccoli sprouts. Be sure not to miss my blog on the health benefits of broccoli sprouts!

1. Attach three airstones to the ends of three airtubes and rest on the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket.
2. Hook the air tubes up to appropriate air pumps. If you don’t wish to use my exact setup, you can use one larger air pump if you like and use a gang valve such as is featured in this article.
3. Fill the bottom to about 1/3 full with rich fully matured compost. I use vermicompost because it is richer in beneficial micro-organisms. Also, the richer the composting materials that were used (manure etc.) the richer will be the “brew.” Make sure the compost is mature and if using vermicompost, remove all the worms as these can foul the brew.
4. Fill the container with water to within about 4-6″ from the top. Do not use tap water unless it has sat for awhile and is free of chlorine. I am using well water since the minerals should be beneficial etc.
5. While making sure that the air stones are resting solidly on the bottom, fire up the pumps. Now add approximately 1 oz of unsulfured molasses. This will provide food for the aerobic bacteria to thrive and greatly explode in numbers.
6. Continue this process for about 2.5 – 3 days and try to stir a couple of times daily (you may need to reposition the airstones). Stirring breaks up the particles and helps assure that air gets to all sections – we want complete aerobic bacteria dominance and no anaerobic sections to form. The mixture should smell pleasant, and if there is any garbage smell, something is wrong. Either the initial compost was not mature enough or else there is not sufficient air flow and circulation. Do not use a final product which does not smell fresh because the alchohol fermentation by-products and anaerobic organisms could be harmful to your plants!
7. When complete, allow the brew to settle to the bottom for about 15 minutes, and the resulting mixture can then be strained through a cheese cloth (or other suitable filter) into another bucket. Following this, the mixture can then be applied to your plant either via a sprayer and/or poured around the root zone. I plan to apply both a foliar spray and a root application. Just make sure that you use it all within about 2 hours or the bacteria will start dying off.

Compost tea which is prepared in this manner is beneficial for: 1) Providing plant nutrients in an efficient manner. 2) Building natural resistance back into plants which have been damaged from pesticide and chemical use. 3) Helping to fight pathogens in both the soil and on the plant surfaces. Also, the chitanase can help repel insects.

So are all these wonderful claims true? I suspect that disease prevention and treatment benefits have to do with the particular compost being used and also with the nature of the specific pathogen. However, I think that the nutrional benefits are more established and well understood.  I have a few diseased plants which I am going to try this brew on and I will post both before and after pictures. If you have experience in using compost tea, please comment on your results!

I then put a little tape around the nail to keep it from sliding through, and voila! I now have a stable support which will support the weight of the developing branches and fruit (which are getting very heavy!).  Notice that for tying, I took some old material and started a cut about 1.5″ wide. I then just start ripping the material, as it parts evenly all along the length. This additional drilling and tying process only took me about 1 hour.

Pictured here is a sample of the production I am already seeing on my tomato plants. As I mentioned previously, one thing that I am doing is heavily pruning out the bottom sections of plant growth. This will help prevent disease and pests, allow air flow, and allow me to keep a better eye on the tomatoes. I will be posting more pictures soon of amazing results that I am seeing by using all natural techniques (and not one ounce of commercial fertilizer!). 

Oh also, the temporary blossom drop which I wrote about has ceased and all of my tomatoes now appear to be setting. Seen here is one of my Black Krim heirloom tomatoes which was loosing blossoms. Though it may be hard to see in the picture, there are now about 25 tomatoes on this 3′ plant. Also, you can see an example of what I described above in attempting to keep the bottom part of the plant pruned free of vegetation.

In addition to reinforcement, this overhead wire grid will allow me plenty of area from which to drop down supportive ties for the tomato branches. In addition to old nylon stockings cut into strips and tied directly to the stakes for the lower branches, I will probably later use some sisal or twine and “corksrew” wrap the branches from the top when the plants get huge.  Heck, if the tomatoes get to over 8′ (which I intend), I will just train them up onto the overhead grid!

Here I have started tying some nylon stockings around the branches (regular string might damage the plant due to abrasion etc.). Another thing that works well for tying are old shirts (or other suitable material) cut into narrow strips. I have left the vegetation of this Sungold tomato plant a little thicker near the bottom than my other heirlooms (as I want the fruit a little higher up on those). Two reasons that I am aiming to keep the lower stems bare are: 1) This prevents disease from splashing upwards from the soil and forces the foliage/growth of the plant higher up and..  2) It places the tomatoes further out of the reach of predators (like raccoons in my case!). 

When tying the branches, I like to think of a funnel; The lower down stems I wrap a little closer to the stake, and as the plant grows taller, I extend the branches outwards a little more. This helps to prevent crowding and allows more airflow and sunlight.

The best part about this project is that I staked 12 tomato plants for just $28 (conduit and wire) and spent about 4 hours total including the tying.  Finally, if you have your own ideas and plans on tomato staking, feel free to comment.

PS: Here is an update to this article

Once I finally get the top section fairly full of food, I will lift it off occasionally and check that the bottom section is fairly worm free – and check that cocoons have hatched out if desired. Once I am fairly assured that this is the case, I will then..1) pour all the vermicompost out of the bottom section into a burlap sack for storage (or any other suitable storage).  2) Pour the top section back into the bottom, and 3) Start the process all over again.

I feel that by using this routine, I will not have to hassle with trying to separate all the worms with sunlight methods etc., and also, I can be reasonably sure that all the cocoons in the bottom section have hatched and migrated up etc. Soon I will be posting pics of my various worms in action (and hopefully videos on youtube once I can afford a camera).

Therefore, I came up with what appears to be a fairly good solution to climbing critters on fruit or nut trees. Referring to the photos (smaller one is a persimmon and the larger a fig tree), I bought some aluminum flashing and cut to length such that I could fashion a “tube” of the proper diameter (bigger caliber than the trunk to account for it’s growth etc.). I drilled through it at the ends and wired it together in a couple of spots with some copper wire in order to  form the tube. I then trimmed branches off the trees such that there were none less than 4′ from the ground. Then I drilled some holes into the flashing and suspended it from the lowest branches (string, wire, or “ties”) so that the animals had nothing to “grip” when they tried to climb, and so far it seems to be working well. Of course, you need to make sure that your fruit or nut trees are not close to other trees limbs or stuctures such that leaping animals like squirrels can simply make the jump.

If you have any other ideas in this area, please share them (so long as they are humane!).  Also, here is an interesting idea for repelling birds using monofilament line. I haven’t tried it yet so the verdict is still out.

Now, my vermicompost is not quite ready for me to add this top section, as the base section is only about 75% full. As previously mentioned, when  it gets full, I will then quit adding food for about 1 week to ensure that the worms are ready to “move on to higher ground” (pun intended).  Then I will attach this top section and start adding food. The worms will then leave the base and crawl in mass into the top section. There is a little ‘sag’ in the hardware cloth such that the weight of food added to the top will allow the worms below to traverse this region etc.  Of course, during this time I can start taking vermipost out of the bottom section as desired, but I can also just leave it for awhile to make sure that all the cocoons have hatched and new juveniles have had a chance to move to the top. To enhance cocoon production after worms are fully established, beds should be allowed to dry until the top 2 inches are barely moist. Then sprinkle sufficiently to restore normal moisture content.

My plans are to then remove the bottom section of vermicompost, and then dump the top section back into the bottom (thus starting the cycle all over again). Of course, more sections could be added to this stack as needed, and thus one can incorporate any logical system that they wish according to their imagination and goals.  So far my worms are loving their new wooden home and multiplying rapidly. I would be glad to hear any comments from any “worm experts” out there (as I don’t claim to be one)!

If you do not wish to build your own, you might consider one of these..Gusanito Worm Factory Farm Bin 5 Tray Stackable