EarthTainer Guide Revision 3.6 May 3, 2012 Now Available

[rnewste]

Following some user suggestions, I have revised the Construction Guide inputting their suggestions. More "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary" updates.

http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/pd...tion-Guide.pdf

Enjoy!

Raybo

[linuxman51]

Thanks for sharing/updating/expanding on these! I love the two earthtainers I built last year, I'm going to expand the empire this year as soon as I get done moving.

[rnewste]

A "smaller" version of the Rev 3.6 Guide was published last night. It is dated "May 6" for reference. Download is now 1.7 MB versus 3.1 MB for the prior .pdf.

It seems saving the Word file in Office 2010 EXPANDED the size of the resultant .pdf. I went to one of my older computers and saved it in Office 2003, then converted it into Adobe .pdf using Acrobat Professional Ver 7.0. Now, a much smaller file size of 1.7 MB.

So much for the "improvements" with Microsoft's Office 2010.

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

Thanks Ray, I still need to build my EarthTainers. I have material for around 7. My problem is I need a good workspace and table outdoors. I burnt through the last of my wife's goodwill finishing off the sixth InnTainer on the kitchen table several months back. It's all outdoors or the door from now on.

[JamesL]

Ray, Brilliant as usual!

Naysen,
I am in the same boat as you. Was trying to get planted last weekend, and did not get to finish my build. That and the wife kicked me outside too. She got tired of the late night power tools in the basement....
Looks like a Thursday night build session and planting on Friday.
The weather turned bad here anyway, cold and rainy. I could have planted a month ago and we were having 80 degree days. Now struggling to get to 70. Go figure.

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by rnewste

A "smaller" version of the Rev 3.6 Guide was published last night. It is dated "May 6" for reference. Download is now 1.7 MB versus 3.1 MB for the prior .pdf.

It seems saving the Word file in Office 2010 EXPANDED the size of the resultant .pdf. I went to one of my older computers and saved it in Office 2003, then converted it into Adobe .pdf using Acrobat Professional Ver 7.0. Now, a much smaller file size of 1.7 MB.

So much for the "improvements" with Microsoft's Office 2010.

Raybo

Ray,
Try "Primo PDF". It's a free download that can be installed on any computer. I and many of my professors use it all the time.

-Lyle

[linuxman51]

I use foxit reader on my machines, seems to bring less pain and suffering with it vs adobe products.

[z_willus_d]

Lyle, my best to you in your struggles to build and plant. I know the pressures of that spot. I'm actually a bit better off as I've got 90+% of my vines planted and off to a good start. I wanted many of those to live in EarthTainers, but scheduling, travel, and other commitments pushed me to quicker, less elegant solutions. I've still got several plants that need a home, and I want to build at least 3 EarthTainers for the experience.

Good luck!
-naysen

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by z_willus_d

Lyle, my best to you in your struggles to build and plant. I know the pressures of that spot. I'm actually a bit better off as I've got 90+% of my vines planted and off to a good start. I wanted many of those to live in EarthTainers, but scheduling, travel, and other commitments pushed me to quicker, less elegant solutions. I've still got several plants that need a home, and I want to build at least 3 EarthTainers for the experience.

Good luck!
-naysen

Naysen,
I appreciate your good wishes. However, I think you meant to address JamesL. My setup is 3 EarthTainers on a 2nd floor apartment balcony, fyi.
-Lyle

[z_willus_d]

Yikes. I did. I apologize for the name dyslexia, James, Lyle.

[JamesL]

No worries mate! I answer to and have been called, much worse than a wrong name...........

[z_willus_d]

Ray, I'm in the process of filling-up five newly built EarthTainers -- takes about as long to fill as to build. What happened to the recommendation to include Epsom salts with the lime? I've been adding around 1.5 to 2 cups per Tainer to be safe, but I'd like to know why you pulled that step out.

Thanks,
Naysen

[rnewste]

Naysen,

I had very inconclusive results with the Epsom Salts trials. While the plants were more vigorous, I experienced far more tomatoes with BER - so the net bottom line was that adding in 1 or 2 Cups of Epsom Salts at plant-out time wasn't beneficial.

Having said that, I do think adding a teaspoon at a time on top of the soil and watering it in does have beneficial results. Similar thing with the Calcium Nitrate "Snack" that several tomato growers apply.

As none of the Commercial SWC box manufacturers reference Epsom Salts in their Instructions, I believe it is best to have folks experiment with it themselves.

Maybe in the future I will add a "Tweaks For Geeks" section regarding Bat Guano, the "Snack", Epsom Salts and other potential additives after I have spent time on their trials.

Raybo

[z_willus_d]

Ray, your response made it back just in time. I'll leave the salts out of my 3rd, 4th and 5th Tainers. Maybe I'll try one altogether w/out, another with the Calcium Nitrate snack, and the last with Epsom salt snacks. In any case, I will not have a good comparison as the varieties are so different. If I see BER on the first two and not the others, I'll know why.

Thanks.
-naysen

[z_willus_d]

Yes, my EarthTainer farm is quite meager in contrast to what Ray has going, but I'm proud none the less. It took around as many hours to build five EarthTainers, and easily another five to get them filled and planted. Now these are the dregs of the dregs of my seedlings going into these Tainers, so it will be a real test to see how they handle the worst I can throw at them. Of course, I'll be doing everything in my power to make them happy in their new homes -- Mycos, Actinovate, Excel-LG, Great-white, Roots Excelurator, Amino Treatment, and the list goes on. Of course, not all at once -- for now they're getting nothing but water and the grow media.

On that, I used a 3-2-1 mix of Sunshine #4 Advanced ($38 a 3cf bag at the local shop -- I love them), Decorative micro-bark, and Perlite. I mixed-in a cup and a half of Green sand as well as another 1.5 c of Garden Lime, then later a 2nd 1.5c of lime was troweled into the top media. Two of the five Tainers were given 1-1.5c of Epsom Salts, mixed the upper crust with the Lime. And, of course, the obligatory 2c strip of Tomato Tone down the center.

I have the Tainers setting on wire racking shelves that were residual from my InnTainer rack builds. I'll be adding more micro-bark atop the Tainers for mulch. As you can see from my pictures, four Tainers will be devoted to tomatoes (exept for one half given to two pepper plants); the fifth Tainer was just seeded with 30 Sweet corn seeds. (I'm aiming for 3 rows of 5.) You can see where my existing corn stands in the re-purposed InnTainers. The other set of InnTainers are growing six happy Dwarf plants: left-to-right: 2x Yukon Quest, 2x Iditarod, and 2x Perth's Pride. Check-out the tomato clusters on Iditarod. That's one productive, fast start tomato plant. Anyway, these are my Summer trials for next Winter's InnTainer garden.

The final pick shows my Eggplants with a two pepperoncini plants to boot.

All good stuff. I haven't posted any pics of my main garden yet, but I plan to soon. It's thriving in a way I've never experienced. It's an exciting time at the homestead.

Thanks for the designs Mr. Newstead.
-naysen