For best results, you should use the 3:2:1 mix combo as described in the Rev. 3.9 Guide:

[URL]http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/pdfs/EarthTainer-Construction-Guide.pdf[/URL]

At your construction stage it is not too hard to dig out the top 2/3'rds and make the recommended combo mix. Even though the HP contains some Perlite, I would add more in. Make sure you add in the 3 Cups Dolomite Lime to prevent BER.

Raybo;)

I have 5 Earthtainers going here in El Dorado Hills, Ca. I put the containers on furniture dollies and they are all sitting on a basketball court and they are pretty easy to move around. Plants are loaded with tomatoes and cukes and the tomatoes are already 5 feet tall measuring from the top of the Earthtainers.
I just installed the Auto Watering system and had a question regarding the water level in the bottom of the Earthtainer. I am sure you designed that 13" piece of hose and 16 inch pipe to give a specific water level in the bottom of the container. I was previously hand filling until I could see water just about to come out of the overflow holes. I put one of the auto fillers in a glass and it shut off right around 1.5- 2 inches. It looks like the tube length might be such that there is another 1.5 inches between the bottom of the tube and the fill shutoff point. Can you confirm what the design level is? We are about to leave town for a week and with the temperatures we get here I want to make sure the water level is adequate.

With the AWS, you should be at a constant 3 inches depth of water in the reservoir at all times.

I highly recommend you connect the main water feed line to an irrigation timer to permit a 1 hour "access" time to the AWS system. That way, if one of the 1/4" lines ever comes off one of the units, it will not be constantly running for the other 23 hours.

Raybo:)

Thanks Ray,
I was thinking on doing that since I currently am feeding it from a hose. Next step will be to plumb a sprinkler valve to control. Thanks for the 1 hour time setting. Since this fills a lot slower than the hose, that was also a question.

Mine take about 20 minutes to "top off" each day - - that cycle increases to about 40 minutes in the heat of the Summer when the plants are in full gear.

Raybo

Thanks,
Off to Home Depot to pickup a hose bibb timer.
Neighbors are blown away by the size of my Tomato plants.
With all of the rocks in the ground here in El Dorado Hills, these Earthtainers are a real solution to gardening.

I am seeing White Flys here in Campbell early this Season. Am alternating weekly sprayings of Take Down Garden Spray and Spinosad to keep them under control. Be on the alert where you are.

Raybo

Timer installed.
I did have a real problem with White Flys when we lived in Sunnyvale. Yellow traps were always full.
So far I haven't seen any white flys here. We do have hundreds of the little garden lizards and alligator lizards that I assume are eating lots of bugs. A walk through the yard will get at least a half dozen moving. Had a few aphids early on but have been taking care of them with the Safer soap spray. Will get some Take Down and Spinosad just to be prepared.

[QUOTE=Mischka;177116]How to build Ray's Earthtainer in PDF format. My thanks to Ray for this file![/QUOTE]

Can't wait to build my EarthTainer. Thanks for that.

Good morning, I decided that I'd like to build a few more of the Earth tainers but unfortunately I'm having issues finding the totes. Have you guys find a suitable alternative?

Lowes has stopped carrying the Centrex brand totes, which were guaranteed for outdoor use. You might want to email Centrex directly to see who else might carry them now.

Raybo:(

Raybo,

The link in post #31 is not working giving a 404 error. I tried several different browsers with the same result. I was looking for what the 3:2:1 mix is. Also, in the same post you refer to rev 3.9 for the EarthTainer. I could only find rev 3.8. Would you please provide a link for it or a newer version if there is one. Thank you. Rob

[QUOTE=robrpb;703518]Raybo,

The link in post #31 is not working giving a 404 error. I tried several different browsers with the same result. I was looking for what the 3:2:1 mix is. Also, in the same post you refer to rev 3.9 for the EarthTainer. I could only find rev 3.8. Would you please provide a link for it or a newer version if there is one. Thank you. Rob[/QUOTE]


[url]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiJss7Sy8bbAhULiqwKHUJYAHcQFggpMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomatofest.com%2Fpdfs%2FEarthTainer-Construction-Guide.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2opVH6EL4E1bBseRpih0GS[/url]

Thanks Worth1, that works much better.

I have misplaced my copy of the 3.9 Earthtainer Guide and the link above doesn't work. Can anyone give me a link to the 3.9 Earthtainer Guide?