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Thanks for the offer, it's very kind of you, and I will keep in in mind. At the moment I'm leaning toward seedlings because for the few plants I'm thinking of planting it would be cheaper, and less messy just to get seedlings.

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The most dangerous food to eat is wedding cake.
Proverb

I totally get that - I haven't started seeds in several years.

My lettuce is up today!!!! It's truly spring!!!!!

Is it safe to direct sow lettuce in the earthbox now?

We just received 5 on friday and I'm dying to give them a try. We were going to try one with romaine / spinach and I was hoping it would be ok.

We're newbies so please go easy on us!

Sometimes seed pkgs give the germination temp. If so, then stick a thermometer in your box and take its temp! There's a graph here, which, if I'm reading it correctly, indicates that lettuce seeds will indeed germinate anywhere above 32°F, but that seedlings take forever. Me, I wouldn't seed until the temp hits, say, 55°F in the box. But that's just me.

Geo

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Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

I'm watching it snow right now......what happened to spring?

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The most dangerous food to eat is wedding cake.
Proverb

I take it you received 5 types of seed?

I think it's dependent on a lot of things. First, part of the city are actually a different zone (5B) than the suburbs (5A), so it depends on where you are. Here is a zone map. Also, it depends on if you have protection you can use in case it gets really cold. Also, the EarthBox soil temp may be warmer than the ground (even if left to overwinter) because it isn't surrounded by a lot of other cold ground. On the other hand, it is probably more affected by temperature changes.
A frost chart is helpful to determine dates.

Here is some general inforelated to when to plan different things.

I've read conflicting info about when to direct sow lettuce. The conservative approach would be 2 weeks before your frost free data (the frost free date is May 15th in the city, so that would be May 1). But, some information suggests you can plant as early as 6 weeks, which would be April 1.

Most packets of lettuce come with lots of seeds. You could always try a small section of a row now and then try the next section in 3 weeks and see what happens.

If you have a way to protect the lettuce - row cover, cold frame, even a blanket - then you might be fine with earlier. I have a cover I can put over them in case it looks like it will get below 31. Lettuce does prefer well drained soil and doesn't like being soggy, so take that into account, too.

I chose to sow inside on April 1 or thereabouts. Before I move them out, I have to "harden" them - which simply means to get them used to being in the cooler temps and the direct sun. Usually you start by putting them outside in the shade for short time, then in partial sun for a short time, then sun, etc. until they can tolerate being out all day and night.

I will move mine out for good around April 25 or so, at which time I'll direct sow some outside. I'll direct sow again on about May 15th. By early to mid July, unless I can move this to a shady spot (which I'm not sure I have), I'll harvest all the lettuce and plant something else.

Here's a good article on lettuce.

Jeesh - you got that right! It's 33 degrees at my condo right now. Tomorrow the low is 27!!!!

At least it's back into the 50s in a couple days and looks like that will stay for the next week or so.

Wow ViewsAskew

Thanks a lot for the detailed response, I really appreciate it.

I'm going to hold off for a week or so and maybe try to sow some seeds in the next couple of weeks. Probably one row and then wait two weeks and do another row in the same box. That way we've got some spacing as well.

We got 5 boxes, and then turned around and ordered the automated watering system and one more box (its cheaper to order the 6 box AWS than enough for 5 boxes -- strange pricing they have there)

I guess we'll be waiting a while longer for some seedlings for tomatoes, beans etc.

You are welcome. Hope it helped. There is a TON of great info on the internet about gardening; lots of good books, too. I know I have a bunch of them, lol. I hope some of the links I gave you will help in figuring out the basics, like when to plant.

Ah - you recieved 5 EBs! Cool! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Even though I prefer having a large garden, I love city living and the EBs allow me to enjoy what I miss living in the country. And, get my own wonderful tasting produce, too.

Are you starting seeds for everything? Some things are much better sown inside than being direct sown. Tomatoes and peppers are two of them (in fact, some might not even mature given the growing season length it can require based on type). Not sure what you're planting, but a good start might be to find out if direct sowing or a head start indoors is preferrable.

The plan is to start some spinach this weekend. But everything else (Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Beans , Peas etc will be seedlings we'll buy at a garden store). We missed the boat on starting seedlings this year -- hopefully next year.

we also love living in the city and when I grew up we had a huge garden 120' long by 20' wide! It was awesome. Troy Bilt tiller and everything. We grew so much, but the earthboxes are new to us.

That's a good sized home garden! Mine was only about 40 by 30 and I still had the tiller, lol.

The EBs are new to a lot of us who've gardened more conventionally or even who've used square foot gardening, but now need to find a way to grow succulent, juicy, fresh produce on our roof, deck, walkway, or small backyard.

It's different than traditional backyard gardening. I admit I don't love it as much--the actual doing of it. But, I like it just fine and LOVE the results. I hope you do, too.

Stopped by HD yesterday to pick up some lime / fertilizer to complete the earthboxes and they had just gotten in two racks of pretty nice looking seedlings.

We purchased 3 romaine lettuce, mint and rosmary along with some burpee salad mixes. The mint / rosmary went into conventual planters and the romaine / salad mix was planted into the earthbox -- A good friday today!

Now we're crossing our fingers and waiting for results!

BTW the HD on Addison also has a bunch of nice looking Tomatoes / Swiss Chard and green onions, but we thought it might be a little early for Tomatoes yet!

Hi,

Why are you buying lime? Our regional soil here is not very acidic, the lime will only make it sweeter. In the northeast, they do need to add lime because their soil is acidic. Unless you have some compelling reason to have the lime, you may as well return it and buy something you really need.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

The earthbox takes "Potting Mix", which as the peat breaks down turns acid. They recommend 1 - 2 cups of dolomite lime added approximately 2 inches below the surface

http://www.earthbox.com/consumer/instructions.html

Saturday I was walking around my house aimlessly (My Mom is currently in Hospice care because of her lung cancer and has been given only 2 weeks to live) so I decided to plant some seeds. I bought a Burpee starter tray from Home Depot, and I’d bought one of the heating pads for starting seeds off the internet last week. I got everything setup, planted seeds for peas, dill, jalapeno and cayenne peppers, and a few others I can’t remember at the moment. I looked at them this morning before work and both the jalapeno and cayenne peppers have sprouted. It’s nice to see some new life considering what my family is facing in the coming weeks.

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The most dangerous food to eat is wedding cake.
Proverb

Mike, I am so sorry to hear about your mom. How wonderful you were able to find something to do that brings you some hope for the future. Plants have a fascinating way of doing that, seeing those teeny sprout poking up out of the dirt, growing exponentially fast. May they continue to bring you joy in the coming weeks and months, as I imagine you'll want and need some.

Based on Tyrus and others experiences last year we purchased 6 boxes and the AWS a month ago.

I finally got around to setting up our earthboxes this year.

The AWS is awesome! I'm really looking forward to the convenience

A few shots below:

Our Broccoli is going nuts! We also planted a salad mix and romaine and its doing great!



A few more shots here:

Hopefully it's not too early for Tomatoes

Can anyone tell me how to 'refresh'/reuse my Earthboxes without buying their kits? My plan was to wash the containers out with a mild bleach solution, then use regular potting soil and get some dolomite and fertilizer? Will that work (and if so what type of fertilizer should I buy?).

What did you do with your potting media from last summer?

I simply removed the fertilizer and roots from my boxes last summer and bagged them.

You can buy fertilizer, lime, and dolomite at your gardening center. I did.

Have you spent some time on their forums? Folks there are doing amazing things and share fertilizer, guano, info, etc.


I bought an ocean based fertilizer that seemed to work fine last summer for some of my subsequent rounds of planting.

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Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening

It's still in the Earthbox (sitting out on my patio). I'm not sure if I should reuse it as the squash I grew in one of the boxes got a powdery fungus-looking condition affecting the leaves. I was planning to start fresh.

Oh I lucked up with no powdery mildew, that's what it sounds like.

Go check the forum. You may not need to start over, just supplement.

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Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening

You can re-use the potting mix if you do not plan on planting anything that can be affected by powdery mildew (squash, zucs, cucs, tomatoes, etc). If you'd like to plant that stuff, recycle your potting mixture to your flower pots and start fresh after sanitizing your boxes with a bleach solution. An easy way to go is Miracle Grow Organic potting mix. I used this the first year I used EBs and it did fine. The next year, I used a great product - Bacto and found it at Gethsamane on Ashland. Also use a balanced organic fertilizer - a 5-5-5 or 7-7-7 or something close. You will also want to mix in a couple of cups of dolomite or garden lime (found in most garden centers). Here's a quote from the EB website, clarifying the garden lime situation:

"Dolomite is ordinary garden or agricultural lime that also contains magnesium. If you look at the ingredients, you can see if it's there. Some bags even say dolomite somewhere on the bag. One thing, though.... you may not be able to get it in small quantities. Even so, the 40lb bag generally costs about $4. You want the pulverized/powdered version. An exception: Espoma Garden Lime is pelleted, but dissolves readily, so is ok. You need 2 cups for all your veggies.

Hydrated lime is NOT the same thing. We advise against using it except to treat BER."

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

Small correction: Gethsemane is on Clark St., not Ashland Ave.

Gethsemane Garden Center
5739 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60660
(773) 878-5915

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Food & Flowers: Andre Jordan's sweet doodle for a cold winter's day; diary of an unhappy restaurateur, circa 1881; winter project - try a terrarium

I started my seedlings indoor last week of Feb. Am a little worried that maybe I started them too early. This year, if I remember correctly, I am growing Romain Lettuce, Carrotts, Beets, Basil, Cilantro, Watermelon, Squash, Tomatos, Pumpkins and Onions. I use Growboxes and love them! They make it so much easier for me

That's great information, thanks. I usually get seedlings from Gethsamane (after I accidently kill off the ones I start from seed). I will try a potting mix, dolomite and a balanced fertilizer. Should I worry about the powdery mildew affecting herbs?

Sorry, just saw this. I never had an issue with powdery mildew and herbs. I've grown basil, oregano, sage, thyme and parsley with great success and I typically have planted them in my lettuce box after it gets too hot for the greens. I doubt it would be an issue but I'm not an expert - just had a little experience with the EBs.

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

Oregano is very susceptible to powdery mildew, if planted in an environment infected with the spores. Be very careful to disinfect the boxes, and don't reuse potentially infected soil if you plan on planting oregano.

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Food & Flowers: Andre Jordan's sweet doodle for a cold winter's day; diary of an unhappy restaurateur, circa 1881; winter project - try a terrarium

In reusing the boxes, the soil will have compacted as it decayed; over time, it's very fine and mushy. You can use it again, but I found it holds much too much water and some plants are not happy. I've switched to using a soil mix of bark, perlite and some peat, with the bark component being approximately 1/8 to 3/8" in size. 3 parts bark, 2 parts perlite, and 2-3 parts peat. It still wicks OK, but it doesn't hold as much water or break down as fast.