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Post by ricksgarden on Jun 27, 2023 16:50:01 GMT -5
Nothing with my AeroGardens per se, but purchased a "City Pickers" raised garden grow box with a self contained watering system  , to grow outside. So now I need to decide what to transplant from 2 AeroGardens, a Harvest 360 w/a cherry tomato and a jalapeno plant that are at 4 months or a Harvest XL w/a ghost and banana pepper plants and another cherry tomato at almost 2 months. |
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841 
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Post by slw on Jun 29, 2023 21:43:16 GMT -5
Nothing with my AeroGardens per se, but purchased a "City Pickers" raised garden grow box with a self contained watering system , to grow outside. So now I need to decide what to transplant from 2 AeroGardens, a Harvest 360 w/a cherry tomato and a jalapeno plant that are at 4 months or a Harvest XL w/a ghost and banana pepper plants and another cherry tomato at almost 2 months. Rick--I have been looking at those and the similar Earthboxes for a while. I noticed that Home Depot and Amazon have the City Picker 20" x 26" box for around $25 so I bought a couple of them. That is something like 55% off the regular price. I hope you will update once you get yours set up and tell how you like it.
I'm not planning to use mine until I start my fall garden. It is too hot in Houston to start any outdoor gardening project for a while. I will probably start some seeds in an Aerogarden in August to plant in the City Pickers in September or so.
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Post by swimmom500 on Jun 30, 2023 6:13:22 GMT -5
I have several earthboxes and highly recommend them. Once they are set up all you need to do is make sure they have water. I also have a city picker box I bought years ago but have never been able to find replacement covers for it. I see Amazon sells those so I may get that going again.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Jun 30, 2023 12:24:15 GMT -5
I have several earthboxes and highly recommend them. Once they are set up all you need to do is make sure they have water. I also have a city picker box I bought years ago but have never been able to find replacement covers for it. I see Amazon sells those so I may get that going again. I'm excited to try the Picker boxes; I got 2 and then ordered one more from Amazon. Certain colors were on sale for $25!! I read that some people use regular landscape fabric to replace the cover, cut to fit and taped in place. Not sure how well that would work, though. |
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jun 30, 2023 13:53:02 GMT -5
I have several earthboxes and highly recommend them. Once they are set up all you need to do is make sure they have water. I also have a city picker box I bought years ago but have never been able to find replacement covers for it. I see Amazon sells those so I may get that going again. I live just outside of Las Vegas and ordered a couple of earth boxes. It’s so difficult to keep things watered here with summer temps over 100. Do you need to use any particular soil in them? I saw somewhere to use potting soil. |
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Jun 30, 2023 17:33:52 GMT -5
I have several earthboxes and highly recommend them. Once they are set up all you need to do is make sure they have water. I also have a city picker box I bought years ago but have never been able to find replacement covers for it. I see Amazon sells those so I may get that going again. I live just outside of Las Vegas and ordered a couple of earth boxes. It’s so difficult to keep things watered here with summer temps over 100. Do you need to use any particular soil in them? I saw somewhere to use potting soil. Pat, They recommend a potting mix that is peat-based and has vermiculite for good drainage. There are several videos on youtube with instructions for setup and here is the info from their website. earthbox.com/learning-center/recommended-growing-media |
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Post by ricksgarden on Jul 22, 2023 14:59:22 GMT -5
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Post by swimmom500 on Mar 24, 2024 16:11:57 GMT -5
How many squash plants did you put in your City Pickens? Also is that the cover from Home Depot? I need a new cover for mine so it is sitting empty at the moment.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Mar 24, 2024 17:05:55 GMT -5
How many squash plants did you put in your City Pickens? Also is that the cover from Home Depot? I need a new cover for mine so it is sitting empty at the moment. According to the City Pickers instruction sheet, 5-6 squash plants will fit in the 20x24" planter... so naturally I put 6 in there.  That cover is the original that came with the planter (this is the first year I have used them). They are also available on Amazon. I don't know if it's the same as the Home Depot covers or not.
I got some Earthbox "knockoff" planters from Amazon that don't have covers at all. I'm not sure whether to try to make some type of cover or just put some straw or mulch on top.
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Post by swimmom500 on Mar 24, 2024 17:58:57 GMT -5
Will the Earthbox cover fit the Earthbox knockoff? The cover that came with my City Pickens only lasted one season. I tried to use it with no cover last year but the squirrels or chipmunks kept eating my seed.
I guess I need to order a new cover as well as start more zucchini seeds since I can put 6 in there -although that does sound a bit aggressive. Your plants look great! 😀
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Mar 24, 2024 18:26:13 GMT -5
Will the Earthbox cover fit the Earthbox knockoff? The cover that came with my City Pickens only lasted one season. I tried to use it with no cover last year but the squirrels or chipmunks kept eating my seed. I guess I need to order a new cover as well as start more zucchini seeds since I can put 6 in there -although that does sound a bit aggressive. Your plants look great! 😀 Unfortunately, the Earthbox cover won't fit the knockoff. Believe me, I tried!! Yeah, the 6 squash plants are going to be a stretch; I might end up pulling a couple of them if they get shaded out. The City Pickers covers are pretty cheap and seem to be a better fit than the elastic Earthbox covers.
I have one more Earthbox and one City Pickers box to plant; I'm waiting on my Cherokee Purple tomato seedlings to get big enough. They are almost ready!
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Post by swimmom500 on Mar 24, 2024 19:08:48 GMT -5
I only have 5 of my Earthboxes here. When my daughter went to our other house last week, I asked her to bring more Earthboxes from the yard. She brought 1. They are a pain though because you have to empty them, pull of the wheels and disassemble the trellis. I have 4 with 2 tomato plants each and 1 with 6 peppers. I think I have 3 more that I need to get down here. I haven’t planted my City Picker yet since I don’t have a cover. I also have 4 4x4 foot raised beds. I will be begging people to take some of this stuff off my hands in a couple months! 😂Your plants seem to be a little further along than mine and they look great.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Mar 25, 2024 9:09:41 GMT -5
Yeah, we have an early season; my outdoor gardens will be pretty much done by mid-June. Here are 4 of the City Pickers; from the bottom of the picture... bush beans, zucchini, dwarf okra, and yellow squash. The raised beds in the background have cucumbers and tomatoes.
And these are the Earthbox "knock offs"...
My Earthboxes don't have built-in trellises. I use free-standing metal trellis that I push into the ground behind the planter. I'm going to try cutting some metal tomato cages to see if I can get them to fit in the boxes but they aren't planted yet. Still waiting on the Cherokee Purples!
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Post by swimmom500 on Mar 25, 2024 14:47:42 GMT -5
Nice setup! I never thought of putting my earthboxes or city pickers on the pool deck. When they drain do you get dirt on your pavers?I have all my berry plants behind the pool sitting in a mulch of sea shells. My other gardening raised beds and earthboxes are next to the fence off to the side. How do you like the metal on planters and which ones did you get? I have looked at them many times and put them in my Amazon cart, but never pulled the trigger since what I have still works and they are all set up already. My raised beds are some kind of composite material and I have had them for years. My only issue with them is that they are so old the side are beginning to bow.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Mar 25, 2024 15:41:39 GMT -5
So far I haven't noticed any dirt problems on the pool deck. I have the knock-off planters situated so that the drain is on the back side. If I see any dirt while filling them I can just hit it with the hose. I'm concerned that the deck might get too hot, though. I have an alternate plan to move them to a flower bed along the back fence and let them sit on mulch so we'll see.
I don't want to kill the lawn but I may have to regroup later and change things around. I like having them relatively close together with the raised beds so I don't have to drag the hose for miles when watering.
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Post by swimmom500 on Mar 25, 2024 16:43:49 GMT -5
I looked at that one just this morning! I like the 2 foot width because my other raised beds are 4x4 and I find it hard to reach the back to plant/harvest. I hate stepping in them because I don’t want to compact the soil. I do have a 2 foot area along one side of my fence that has no sod so I definitely have space.
I would think when he gets hot the planters would be too hot on that pool deck. You need a plan b in case that happens.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Mar 25, 2024 19:36:53 GMT -5
My husband said if the boxes get too warm we can get cinder blocks to raise them up higher above the pavement. Not sure how that would look around the pool, though.  |
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Post by swimmom500 on Mar 25, 2024 20:32:24 GMT -5
Keep us posted. Your plants all look beautiful. So healthy and vigorous!
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 841
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Post by slw on Apr 4, 2024 0:22:32 GMT -5
So far, so good! I have a ton of little yellow squashes and zucchinis! Everything is thriving; this "grow box" thing is a great for a lazy gardener (me).
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Post by lynnee on Apr 4, 2024 9:46:44 GMT -5
Your photos give me outdoor trellis envy! Do those green ones come with the City Pickers boxes, slw? You say you're a lazy gardener, but someone is putting a lot of work into planting and weeding and watering those raised beds and boxes! |
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That cover is the original that came with the planter (this is the first year I have used them). They are also available on Amazon. I don't know if it's the same as the Home Depot covers or not. 
