Root Temperature - Page 2

hald · July 10, 2007

Still averaging over 100 degrees and having to water several times a day. I gave them some hydroponic nutrients and repeated shots of calcium to ward off BER. So far so good. The plants are very productive, though the white flies are getting them; I'm trying to stay organic, but I'm going to use safer soap on them today.

The Sunbrust and sweet 100's are the best tasting. The early girls are huge (plants and toms). I have a couple labeled "large red" that aren't very good for eating, more like paste tomatoes I think.

The eggplants, planted just like the toms, are so tall and loaded with eggplants they want to fall over!

Next planting I'm going to try a combination earthbox and ebb&flow method. I'll remove the water reservoirs from the pots, set them in the ebb &flow trays, and use a timer and pump to water them, keeping the water level at approximately the same depth as it is now. Maybe this will solve the watering in heat problem? I'm going to plant a couple new toms and I'll let you know how it works out.
-Hal

Jonathan_E · July 11, 2007

Hal,

If you are using the store-bought Earthbox, one thing you might want to consider for the future would be to build your own version with a bigger water reservoir. I just finished doing that; pic attached. I used 8-in lengths of PCV pipe as supports for the screen separating the growing medium and the water revervoir; I would estimate the the reservoir is twice as big as the one in my Earthbox.

Best,

Jonathan

kelleyville · July 11, 2007

Jonathan
Do you have pics of the inside of your HEB as you built it?
Kelley

Jonathan_E · July 11, 2007

Kelley,

No, I don't, but I generally followed the procedures suggested by this web site: http://hometown.aol.com/jmalt31/ , although I must say that it is more than a bit confusing. Another is here: http://www.josho.com/Earthbox.htm , but I prefer Jmalt's because it only involves one container per box, which drastically cuts the cost.

hald · August 7, 2007

I like your idea and have thought of building some boxes myself, but never found the time. I made water level indicators for the earthboxes with bamboo barbecue skews and styrofoam; they fit in the watering holes and I marked a full line.

I decided to use gravity watering next year instead of ebb & flow. Basically, you connect all the container water reservoirs together with tubing and connect them to the controller, which is a container with a float valve set to your desired water level. The only drawback is the work involved in leveling all the containers to one another.

It will be interesting to see next year what effect constant warm water will have. It was 108 here on Saturday, with very low humidity. I'm still hand watering so the roots are cooled several times a day. I'm astonished by how much water they use.
-Hal

July 11, 2007	#19
Jonathan_E Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 111	Kelley, No, I don't, but I generally followed the procedures suggested by this web site: http://hometown.aol.com/jmalt31/ , although I must say that it is more than a bit confusing. Another is here: http://www.josho.com/Earthbox.htm , but I prefer Jmalt's because it only involves one container per box, which drastically cuts the cost. Last edited by Jonathan_E; July 14, 2007 at 05:45 PM. Reason: typo

July 10, 2007	#16
hald Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 23	Still averaging over 100 degrees and having to water several times a day. I gave them some hydroponic nutrients and repeated shots of calcium to ward off BER. So far so good. The plants are very productive, though the white flies are getting them; I'm trying to stay organic, but I'm going to use safer soap on them today. The Sunbrust and sweet 100's are the best tasting. The early girls are huge (plants and toms). I have a couple labeled "large red" that aren't very good for eating, more like paste tomatoes I think. The eggplants, planted just like the toms, are so tall and loaded with eggplants they want to fall over! Next planting I'm going to try a combination earthbox and ebb&flow method. I'll remove the water reservoirs from the pots, set them in the ebb &flow trays, and use a timer and pump to water them, keeping the water level at approximately the same depth as it is now. Maybe this will solve the watering in heat problem? I'm going to plant a couple new toms and I'll let you know how it works out. -Hal

July 11, 2007	#18
kelleyville Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Covington, GA 30016 7b? Posts: 321	Jonathan Do you have pics of the inside of your HEB as you built it? Kelley

August 7, 2007	#20
hald Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 23	I like your idea and have thought of building some boxes myself, but never found the time. I made water level indicators for the earthboxes with bamboo barbecue skews and styrofoam; they fit in the watering holes and I marked a full line. I decided to use gravity watering next year instead of ebb & flow. Basically, you connect all the container water reservoirs together with tubing and connect them to the controller, which is a container with a float valve set to your desired water level. The only drawback is the work involved in leveling all the containers to one another. It will be interesting to see next year what effect constant warm water will have. It was 108 here on Saturday, with very low humidity. I'm still hand watering so the roots are cooled several times a day. I'm astonished by how much water they use. -Hal