Posted on 06/18/2010 4:59:42 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
An earth box is a soil/hyronic planter box. There is about six inches of water on the bottom and about a foot of soil on top of that. You seal off most of the top and it keeps water from evaporating and thus more water for the plants. We have ten boxes that we can place in a very sunny spot. We grow tomatoes, and squash and cucumbers in the main garden and grow basil, egg plant, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, beautiful flowers, etc in the boxes. It doulbes our garden output and uses less water. You can grow on decks with the boxes so good for condo dwellers.
It was just dirt and a bit of sand at first so I added some top soil and manure to and then tilled it.
I put down that black ground cover and then planted them. When I am stepping between the rows the ground seems rather "lose", not firm. I am thinking about pulling up the black sheets. If you can't see the leaves too well I'll take another picture today when I get home so you can see better.
Thanks for the info.
Looks like they need water to me.
Wow, they sure do look droopy. It sounds like your soil texture should be okay.
I wonder if there is lack of drainage and the soil is too wet? You might wanna try digging down about 6” or so and feel the soil if it’s very moist or just too dry.
Being that you are in upstate NY, I wouldnt think that it’s too hot. My tomatoes are experiencing 95 degree weather righ now and i water every other day.
Other than too much or too little soil moisture, the only other thing that comes to my mind is if your soil is high in salt content. Do you have bare spots appearing in your lawn? To check that, i guess you would have to take a sample to a local county agent.
Have you checked for bugs on the plants such as aphids, etc?
I’m stumped. The leaves are all green in appearance, yet the stress is obvious with the droopy leaves.
Yeah, and I agree, you might ought to remove the black plastic ground cover. I dont see any need for it.
Maybe the plastic covering isnt allowing enough water to reach the tomato roots?
I’ll pull the black sheet out tonite and see how it goes after that. There is a LOT of direct sun back there so that makes sense that the sun is reflecting back to the plants.
It is has been VERY hot here in NY ..we are experiencing a very warm spring/summer and the rain we get is only a quick burst lasting 5 minutes or less. temps in the high 80’s and low 90’s.
Thanks!!
Is that ground cover plastic film or is it a woven fabric that landscapers use? Your tomatoes really really need water...
LOL... the period I worked for the crop duster was during the DDT era so goodness knows what I was showered with...
It is the landscape cover. woven.
I really give them a LOT of water everynight, or so I thought. I was afraid I was over watering them but when I look at them at 5:30 am they are looking rather perky. When I get home at 4PM they are sad and droopy. I have peppers behind them that seem to be doing well.
Anyway I found my box of DDT. We bought the last one on the shelf back in the late 60’s, to sprinkle a little underneath the sinks in our trailer.
When my husband was getting his master's in zoology, he was doing an experiment with german cockroaches, that was accidentally overturned. We tried everything to get rid of them, and nothing worked. After the DDT, they were gone, no more problem.
We probably have enough left to serve our needs and our children too when we are long gone.
Consider yourself BLESSED ... with the ability to THINK AHEAD ... !
LOL. I do feel blessed, but I wasn’t thinking ahead so much.LOL. I just don’t like to waste anything, so we keep it till we use it up, or it’s no longer viable.LOL.
The black plastic wouldnt reflect the heat - it would soak up the heat and make the soil around the plants hotter.
Also, when you water are you watering into the soil or is the water collecting on top of the plastic?
Yea now that you say that, I have two plants that are not near the plastic sheeting so you are right...
Initially I was using a sprayer to water the plants and have just recently started setting the hose onto the ground under the sheet ...
I soaked the ground really well tonite. Can’t believe the difference just in a few hours.
SO you were right. They just weren’t getting enough water.
The “garden” is about 10’ long so I just laid the hose down in the middle about every 3’ and just let run for a little while.
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