Wooden earthtainer

[tnkrer]

I have a large SWC that was built using the instructions from Family Handyman (I think April 2011 issue). I did not use their recommendation for grow media. Instead I used the grow media from Raybo's earthtainer. This SWC has done very well this year.
I also built an earth-tainer this year and see its benefits.

Pros of the wooden SWC -
1. aesthetics - Looks better. Wife cares about aesthetics and does not want the plastic earth-tainers in the front of the house.
2. Longevity - I am expecting 25 years of life out of that SWC.
3. strong - Its wood
4. workability - Its wood.

Cons of large wooden SWC-
1. Size - I think earthtainer is the perfect size for containers. It supports enough grow media volume for the plants to reach their potential. You can leave distance between the earthtainers and let the plants grow wild. In the big SWC, that becomes difficult, since the plants start intruding in each other's space. So more grow media is wasted when you make the size of the container larger than the earthtainer. And I suspect that smaller size may not provide enough grow media. Also earth tainer's aspect ratio allows easy adaptation of pea fences as cages for the container.
2. difficult and more time consuming to make - You need more tools and basic woodworking skills. Wood is heavy.
3. costlier.

Here are the pictures of the two containers. I intend to make the wooden one in the aspect ratio of the earth-tainer. It uses different mechanism for water storage. Grow media is used as wick similar to earthtainer, though no net pots are used. When I actually start making this, I intend to create another post with step by step photos and instructions. Right now I wanted to get some ideas from others on this combined design and any other suggestions you might have. Thanks

Large SWC (design discussion here and here)



earth tainer

[rnewste]

Wow! I really like the looks of your wooden 'Tainer. If you have the time available to build them with wood I would strongly prefer this to the Lowes plastic version. Please post design specifics when you have time.

Raybo

[Dork Fish]

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=22916 Here is mine...

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[Ken4230]

I get a threat warning from my antivirus when i click on your links.

I have the magazine and intend to build a couple of the planters this winter. I think i will build them using the Pex decking boards. I intend to lower the bottom at least 4" in order to have deeper soil.
I have a somewhat similar planter now that i am using. It's only 24"x 32"x 18" and built out of pressure treated 3/4" plywood. The bottom is filled with capped and covered 4" black drain pipe.
I sat a tight fitting piece of 1/4" Alucobond with the center cut out on top of the pipe. For insurance, i used 4 pieces of curtain sash core as additional wicks. The thing has worked good for several years and is putting out zucchini and eggplant with abandon.

[Dork Fish]

Mine or his?

There is a link to the instructions on the last page of my thread.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[tnkrer]

Raybo - Many thanks to you for your detailed earthtainer guide. That allowed me to make my SWC successful. Handyman had good information, but if I had used the mix they suggested, I doubt it would have been a great success. (Link to handyman article from Dork Fish's thread)

Dork Fish! We built ours around the same time. Last year was my first year with the planter. (I posted about it on the other site, I didn't know about this site back then) If I were here, I would have compared notes with you. I spent a ton of time routing those edges for it to look better! I used untreated pine (instead of cedar). What pipes did you use? Here is mine when the pipes went in



Ken, the links are working fine for me. (they are from gw)

Also, I think that making containers big wastes a lot of grow media. (and that is one of the costliest part of the whole container garden). So I want to make them smaller and then make multiples. It will also make them portable. This huge beast that I have is almost impossible to move.

[rnewste]

Here is a photo someone sent me some time ago, which could be used as a "faux" container outer shell around the Lowes container, for reference:


(photo credit to the original owner)

Raybo

[tlintx]

That's my plan for next year -- build standard Earthtainers but make cedar fence planter boxes to set them in for aesthetic purposes.

The fence pickets are cheap, surprisingly durable, not very heavy, and hopefully will protect the plastic.

[JamesL]

Fantastic stuff gang! Loving the Woodtainer.

[Ken4230]

Originally Posted by Dork Fish

Mine or his?

There is a link to the instructions on the last page of my thread.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

His, yours were fine.