Has anyone tried an Eco Grow pot?

[anabri]

I'm new to container gardening and was thinking about making some self-watering 5 gallon buckets to hold all of my cherry tomato varieties I am growing this year. I just found these online and am wondering if anyone had any experience with them. It looks like they are bigger, which I would think is a good thing. They also seem to be about the same price as what I would be paying for the parts to build the other type, without all of the work.

Am I missing anything here?

http://capcityhydro.com/collections/...o-7-gallon-pot

[schill93]

I think it is cool. My only complaint would be that it holds less than a gallon of water, and I wish it came in another color than black, which for people in very hot climates like the desert usually is not advisable. But for certain plants in the less hot climates, I think they might be good.

Also need to consider it is half the price of a plain Earthbox, but would only hold one plant as opposed to two, and don't know if they would hold up as well as Earthbox does.

[PureHarvest]

You could spray paint it white.

Also, you can do two plants if you pruned off lateral branches and trained them vertical...

[fonseca]

That seems like a fair price, especially if you only need a few.

If you wanted to build your own similarly sized container:
2x 5 gal buckets - $6 (or free from lots of places in food grade)
1x mesh basket - $2
1x PVC pipe - $2
weed fabric as liner

The 5 gal bucket that acts as a reservoir would only hold 1 gal as well. You can build one from a single 5 gal bucket, but then you have even less soil volume.

[luigiwu]

How handy are you? If $ is the issue, there are definitely cheaper ways to make a SIP container, like the alaska grow bucket for example.

[anabri]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, you have given me some great feedback and suggestions.

I live in the Utah desert, so heat will definitely be an issue. It sounds like I probably would have to paint the pots white if I ended up getting them.

I hadn't considered just getting the Earthboxes instead, since I figured two heirloom indeterminate varieties probably wouldn't fit. But if that is possible, Earthboxes might be a good way to go.

I also hadn't seen the Alaska grow buckets before, but they look like an interesting option. While I'm not particularly handy, they don't look too hard to make. Do you think an heirloom indeterminate variety (mostly cherry varieties but perhaps a few beefsteak) would grow as well in the smaller 5 gallon bucket versus the larger 7 gallon size?

[schill93]

Almost anything will grow in a 5 gallon bucket, but the size and yield (and how often you have to fill with water) is a factor. Plants placed in 7 gallon containers are usually better than 5 gallon containers, especially an indeterminate plant that usually grows tall.

Some of the most prolific cherry tomatoes grow huge like ten to 12 ft. high. Some cherry tomato plants are small and don't grow so big. If you were to select to grow in 5 gallons, I would probably plant one that doesn't want to get so big.

I made the comparison between the one you linked to the Earthbox, because the Earthbox holds 2+ cubic feet of potting soil (15 gallons) and holds 3 gal. of water.
So you would essentially have 7.48 gallons of potting mix for each plant, assuming you put two in one Earthbox, and 1.5 gallons of water available for each plant.

Not to say that the unit you linked is not good for the price. It is. It shows a price on Amazon for it for $34.00, but that is a price because manufacturer has discontinued making it and it is not available through Amazon. Two comments about it complained about shipping costs, but not it's functionality.

I love the concept of sip containers, as you can't over water them or underwater them.
But if you live in a hot dry climate like I do, they will go through that reserve water sometimes up to three times a day during the hottest months (Constant heat of 110-116 degrees where I live in July and August). Unless you can hook an automatic watering system to them through a sprinkler system or if you get an Earthbox they sell an automatic watering system for them that hooks up to you hose. Works great I'm told. I use my sprinkler system.

Just for your information, in case you decide on Earthboxes. They usually have a sale in December, where if you buy 3, all shipping is free. I only buy the box set up without the rollers, and I think the cost is around $32 for each when you buy three.
Hope the info helps.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by schill93

Almost anything will grow in a 5 gallon bucket, but the size and yield (and how often you have to fill with water) is a factor. Plants placed in 7 gallon containers are usually better than 5 gallon containers, especially an indeterminate plant that usually grows tall.

Some of the most prolific cherry tomatoes grow huge like ten to 12 ft. high. Some cherry tomato plants are small and don't grow so big. If you were to select to grow in 5 gallons, I would probably plant one that doesn't want to get so big.

I made the comparison between the one you linked to the Earthbox, because the Earthbox holds 2+ cubic feet of potting soil (15 gallons) and holds 3 gal. of water.
So you would essentially have 7.48 gallons of potting mix for each plant, assuming you put two in one Earthbox, and 1.5 gallons of water available for each plant.

Not to say that the unit you linked is not good for the price. It is. It shows a price on Amazon for it for $34.00, but that is a price because manufacturer has discontinued making it and it is not available through Amazon. Two comments about it complained about shipping costs, but not it's functionality.

I love the concept of sip containers, as you can't over water them or underwater them.
But if you live in a hot dry climate like I do, they will go through that reserve water sometimes up to three times a day during the hottest months (Constant heat of 110-116 degrees where I live in July and August). Unless you can hook an automatic watering system to them through a sprinkler system or if you get an Earthbox they sell an automatic watering system for them that hooks up to you hose. Works great I'm told. I use my sprinkler system.

Just for your information, in case you decide on Earthboxes. They usually have a sale in December, where if you buy 3, all shipping is free. I only buy the box set up without the rollers, and I think the cost is around $32 for each when you buy three.
Hope the info helps.

The sale starts on Black Friday. I love Earthboxes, I have 43. They come in 5 colors now. I grow 2 plants in each, indy, or det.