Earthbox fruit are often a little more watery at the first truss, but they rapidly improve after that. Peebee, the fruit you will harvest in 5 weeks will be right there with those in the ground.

The soil is M.G. soil mix with Niu compost. The compost was a mistake. I thinking thats what brought the ants. Anyway , after some thoughts. I now came to the realize, I can only use this soil for a year or so. Then I have to lug them to the dumpster. That got me started with the soilless idea. I'm still on the fence.

Still waiting for someone to comment on the hydroton / perlite mix. Any ideas ?

Hydroton is clay pebbles, right? Not a good choice along with perlite, neither is particularly able to wick up water. Use something peat based. I love PromixBX , plenty of perlite in it.
Lamberts is another good choice but it could use a little more perlite.

Earthbox has a bunch of recommended soilless mixes right on their website. Just follow their directions.

Thank you for this information. I will consider your suggestions. Aloha .

You are welcome.:)

Good advice Marsha! My son just moved to Florida. Quite a climate change for him!.

Disclaimer; None of my comments are about flavor, and I have no ripe fruit yet this year.

I'm a little confused about what you mean when you say "soil" (perhaps Miracle grow is "soil"), but I would have to agree that the "soiless mixes" seem to be the way to go with Earthboxes. I especially like ProMix HP (for high porosity ), but usually find bx.

[URL="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/products/pro-mix-bx-mycorrhizae/&ved=0ahUKEwjsr8GQ3prVAhXpv1QKHVobCUAQFggdMAA&usg=AFQjCNE0GK9spcXELMTTfk3DK4FIdOzDuQ"]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/products/pro-mix-bx-mycorrhizae/&ved=0ahUKEwjsr8GQ3prVAhXpv1QKHVobCUAQFggdMAA&usg=AFQjCNE0GK9spcXELMTTfk3DK4FIdOzDuQ[/URL]

[URL="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/products/pro-mix-hp-mycorrhizae/&ved=0ahUKEwjsr8GQ3prVAhXpv1QKHVobCUAQFggoMAE&usg=AFQjCNHk2edir67JQV9WY48l4QQWiQybVw"]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/products/pro-mix-hp-mycorrhizae/&ved=0ahUKEwjsr8GQ3prVAhXpv1QKHVobCUAQFggoMAE&usg=AFQjCNHk2edir67JQV9WY48l4QQWiQybVw[/URL]

I often read that adding compost doesn't turn out well over time, so I avoid it. I'm not sure how much tomatoes depend on bees, but I'm sure they make things easier.

I have collected about 9 Earthboxes over the last 10 years, almost all growing tomatoes and peppers in a hot and dry climate, on my deck with drip irrigation.

I have several other SIP's, mostly from Gardener's Supply, and I use ProMix there as well, but not with the strict EB setup and, this year I am exerimenting with other types of "wicks", still ProMix, and with hydroponics, using the two 10 gallon bucket set up, net baskets, and hydroton. I can't imagine hydroton working in Earthboxes , and hydroton and perlite is a bigger stretch. Can't say why exact, but im thinking it has to do with wicking and particle sizes.

I linked an article in a thread about hydroponics vs wicking somewhere in here, and I believe it discussed factors related to your medium as well. I will try to find it.

Here is a quote;

"The solid media used is better divided in two, the first media is a highly absorbent, capillary efficient media (like rice husk combined with sand 1:1) which is put in a small cup or container while the second media is a non-absorbent very capillary deficient media like gravel which is used to occupy the rest of the available space. Other coarse media can also be used to fill the rest of the container like vermiculite or other types of rocks"

ETA here is the link
[URL="http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2010/08/completely-passive-non-recirculating-hydroponic-systems-some-tips-for-large-plants.html"]http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2010/08/completely-passive-non-recirculating-hydroponic-systems-some-tips-for-large-plants.html[/URL]

The second and third pictures are of overwintered "Scotch Bonnets" from saved seed from my MIL's plants. One is in a net basket supported with hydroton, with Maxigrow for nutes, the other, much bigger plant n a Gardener's Supply SIP, fertilized with Osmocote, and supplemented with Foliage-pro.