The EarthBox Container for Gardening

The EarthBox solves a major challenge for gardeners who wish to plant in containers. It is mobile and has a unique watering method.

Most vegetables do well with an inch or more of water per week during the peak of their growing season. During the hot part of the summer you may need to be watering several times a week. For many gardeners that is impractical, so a great alternative is to use an EarthBox container. These planters have a built-in reservoir that wicks into the root system to keep the moisture where it needs to be for optimum growth.

A tube is located in one of the corners and used as the filling point. (You can spot the tube in the back left corner in the photo below.) A garden hose end easily fits in the top where you add water. But how do you know when it is full? When the reservoir is full, the water will drip out from the center bottom of the planter and that is your clue to stop adding water.

This allows for watering less often and is an efficient method because the roots are receiving the water, instead of waiting for the water to trickle down to the roots.

Despite what the name says, this "self watering container" does not actually do the full watering job itself. It would be more accurate to call it a planter with a built-in water reservoir. Plumbing is not connected to the plant; you simply fill it with water let the reservoir provide proper moisture over an extended period of time. You do have to learn the ample time in between fillings, but after that, you will appreciate the ease of keeping your plants properly moist. This is especially true if you travel or cannot tend to your plants daily.

The advantage to any container garden or planter is that you can put your flowers or vegetables in spots that are not in-ground gardens, like patios or apartment balconies. The EarthBox also has wheels on the corners so you can roll it to change it's location or to protect your plantings from last spring or early fall frost, you can roll it to shelter and back out the next morning. Occasionally, we move the planter into more sun or shade which is easy with its mobility.

A staking system is also available to help you grow climbing vegetables or flowers.

The EarthBox is made of plastic material but looks terra cotta-like. This gives it an earthly look and feel to fit in with most landscapes. We have two planters placed in a symmetrical setting located on each side of a cement bench. Our boxes are over 15 years old, still functional and have gained a worn-look feeling but still pleasing to the complete look.

Since your self watering containers will be outside, what better water source is there than collected rain in a rain barrel.

Collecting rain with a rain barrel is easy and while the original investment may take a few years to make up, the investment is, at the least, two-fold: 1) you are using a natural resource and 2) nothing is better for your outdoor plants than what Mother Nature gives us.

In 2015, North Central Texas received a record number inches of rain in the spring. For weeks, we didn't use the water in our rain barrel. However, when the rain stopped, and the temperature climbed to the upper 90's, I used our collected rain for two weeks before using hose water. That is definitely $avings!