I said my peace here......

[Talon1189]

Welp........I went out to dinner today with 3 friends that I have known for over 30 years + a girlfriend. I told them that I will be making a couple of "earthtainers" and could easily make a couple more while I am at it. Both of them barked at my offer to build them for (labor) free + the cost of the materials. They are old school at 50 years old and do not want to change their ways I guess? How should I deal with stubborn people like this in the gardening world?

[rnewste]

Talon,

Show them these two photographs, in this sequence.

In-ground bed on June 19:



Tomatoes in EarthTainers on June 14 (5 days earlier in the Season) over the former in-ground bed:



Enough said!!!

(BTW, I turn 64 in three weeks, so no one is ever too old to learn)

Raybo

[Talon1189]

Beautiful plants buddy..........I can only dream of growing those in Michigan my friend I am jealous of your earthtainers........ I am impressed BIGTIME..........but you do have a great weather advantage in CA. Thanks for your posting my friend.

[rnewste]

Talon,

No dreaming!! Build a few, follow the Combo Mix instructions in the Rev 2.0 Guide, and you will be in tomato heaven.

THEN, invite your skeptical friends over in July/August to see your harvest.

Life is good!!!

(I spent a few years in Alpena, and I am certain that you will have excellent success in Detroit during your Summer)

Raybo

[Talon1189]

How is the tomato production going? Your plants are HUGE........are they producing enough fruit for you and your family?? Do you have any advice for me in Michigan?

[Talon1189]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Talon,

No dreaming!! Build a few, follow the Combo Mix instructions in the Rev 2.0 Guide, and you will be in tomato heaven.

THEN, invite your skeptical friends over in July/August to see your harvest.

Life is good!!!

(I spent a few years in Alpena, and I am certain that you will have excellent success in Detroit during your Summer)

Raybo

you are posting faster than I can type my friend

[pdxwindjammer]

Talon, you fly to Portland, OR, build a few SWC for me and I will take photos and email them to your friends. Growing huge tomato plants in the PNW is a challenge due to our short season.

I have looked at the instructions on how to build these but is seems a bit too complex for me to try to build.

[Farmette]

Ray:
Have you used those for pepper plants? If so, how many peppers do you put in one container?
Thanks.
Chris

[Dewayne mater]

Windjammer: I encourage you to give Ray's earthtainers a shot! Yes, the instructions are quite detailed and seem very complex at first. But this year, having no other choice due to foundation work at my house, I built earth tainers. I'm one of the least handy guys you'll ever meet and was a bit intimidated by the 20 page instruction manual. I found out it was my friend! Clear detailed instructions, great photos of most steps in the process and time made this a doable project even for me. In fact, by the 3rd one, I was constructing better and way faster than before, as the learning curve on tainer 1 is a steep. If you have a jig saw and drill (or can borrow one) you can do it. 3 tainers took me a full work day Saturday and Sunday, but by the third one, the total construction time was about 1/2 of the first one.

So far, the plants in tainers are rocking along, very healthy, flowering well and a few even have fruit set already. (early for DFW from my experiences) Go for it! The wost thing that can happen is it costs you some time and money, and for that, you end up with more maters than before. (a good trade off to me). Good luck.

[rnewste]

pxd,

They are really not that complex to build, as Dewayne says. My climate in N. California is not too different from yours, and as you can see from the June 19 in-ground prior garden when compared to the EarthTainer "Farm" currently, I am harvesting tomatoes 6 weeks earlier now.

Farmette,

Yes, I grew 3 'Tainers of Yolo Wonder, Cal Wonder, Fresno Chili, last Season. Here are a few photos:









All of these were even on a shaded deck with a 50% lattice roof overhead, so they received only partial Sun. Planted 6 per 'Tainer. This year, I have expanded to 6 PepperTainers including 3 for NuMex Chili Peppers.

Raybo

[Worth1]

Write them off, I have had this same thing happen with starting my own seeds and such.
Just let them see the fruits of your labor.
You cant change the world.

Worth

[amideutch]

Ray I noticed you are using a different cage system for your peppers. Homebrew or commercial? Ami

[rnewste]

Ami,

A couple of yeas ago, I had ordered this Pea Fence from Gurneys:

http://gurneys.com/Pea%20Fence/p/12826/

But never used it, as my Snow Peas reach 6 ft. or more, and the tomato cages actually support the vertical growth better.

I was about to give them to a neighbor last year, when I started thinking about how I was going to corral in the Pepper plants as they grew. I knew they did not need a lot of support as tomato vines do, so I pulled out the old Pea Fence and took some measurements. Turns out if you remove the seventh section of the Gurneys Pea Fence, the remaining 6 sections make a perfect rectangular corral that pops down into the 'Tainer.

Sometimes, you just get lucky!!

Raybo

[Farmette]

Great looking peppers, Ray. I might see if I can get one of these built for this year yet.

[Talon1189]

I bought my 30 gallon containers today at Target and 4 heavy duty tomato cages. I bought the lime and bought "2" 2 cubic foot bags of Miracle Grow potting mix (not moisture control) The potting mix was $10 a bag and there is a $4.00 mail in rebate per bag with a limit of 2 rebates per address. I was real happy about that deal. How many bags of potting mix per Earthtainer will I need? I am still about a month away from planting them outside so I want to build everything early. I am getting excited about growing monster tomato plants and being the envy of my neighbors and friends.