BUILD AN EARTHBOX.wmv

Tips, Tricks

1. How does this wick water like an earth box? PVC is used for main water supply to houses and up to cold water faucets.
2. Just cut at the interior grooved edge of the lid. Skip the cardboard.
   You don't need to draw a grid. Just drill a bunch of holes. Use sand or gravel instead of cutting a zillion little pieces of PVC pipe. And you need a wick. Otherwise, the water will never get to the soil underneath the plants. Why place the lid ring back on top if you aren't going to place a plastic bag sheet cover over the top?
3. Thanks for the video!  :D
   Concerning the point, that the pvc-pipe can be toxic - isn't the bucket made of pvc too?
4. Nice.  Thanks.
5. You seem to have overlooked cutting out a hole for a center wicking basket to go into on this project. If your not going to do that, I am not sure how any wicking action will take place for this diy model and your soil and plant will not end up being very healthy. PVC is not a problem when using stock pvc pipe that is for your home. It is used in most homes and is rated for such use. Some bins do indeed break down quickly, but RubberMaid ones do not and are safe to use. Home Depot sells the large black with yellow lids bins that cost just below $10 bucks each. They hold up very, very nicely and are a good investment for this type of diy project.
6. Suggestions only: If your worried over the correct size of the lid, then go to Lowe's and purchase one of the 10' sections of black corrugated drain pipe fir $6.55 and cut down some sections that are about 12" or less in size. Put six of the black pipe pieces into the bottom of the bucket beneath the lid your going to use and they will become support pieces to hold the lid up off the bottom of the bin. The black pipe can easily be trimmed to the correct height for this use and it can even be longer if you want the inside lid raised up higher or cut shorter if you want the inside bin lid to set lower. Much easier than cutting 20 pieces of 2" pvc pipe that can't be changed easily to raise or lower the inside lid.
   
   You didn't mention cutting the water fill pipe at about a 45 degree angle at the bottom end. If you leave this pipe flat there, it can easily clog or create a suction that prevents water flow.
   
   Use Rust-Oleum truck bed paint to paint the bin with. It will provide the UV protection and costs maybe $8 bucks a can. The tan color is dark enough and makes the plastic bin look nicer.
   
   Take an end cap and push it onto your water pipe inlet at the top. It will prevent mosquitoes or insects from entering into the water reservoir and can easily be pulled off when watering. Do not glue it into place though.
   
   When your done with making the box, use some black plastic and drape over the soil mound with a cut out for the plants. This will retain moisture into the box/bin from any evaporation. You can use the cut lid on top of the bin to secure the plastic in place and then trim off excess.
7. A couple of suggestions:
    
   1. You should likely use a container that is black or otherwise dark colored and light-proof. Saves the time, expense, and toxicity of paint.
   2. Like the container in your video, if you get ones that are built to stack, the inner indentation will be the exact size of the bottom (best to confirm with tape measure), so you can likely skip the cutout step.
   3. If you are really concerned about leaching from the PVC, the best thing to use is probably PEX, what they now use often inside houses for water lines.
   4. You are missing a good wick mechanism. I would suggest cut out a hole in the middle the size of a good net pot, so that the medium actually comes in contact with the water to wick up into the medium
8. I think I'll stick with my 'REAL' Earthboxes. My time is a lot more valuable and I don't think the support system for this particular design will hold up under the weight of the growing media. Also, the growing media should be in contact with the water in the bottom for the wicking action to continue. No wicking equals dead plants. Just saying. There are more designs kind of like this but when you figure out what it takes to make one it's just not worth the time.
9. You have nothing going down into the resevoir from the potting mix so how does it wick. 
10. THANKS.. just what I was wanting to learn about.. growing lettuce indoors
11. LOL - He needs protection from his wife for making a mess in the living room!
12. Power tools and gloves don't mix imo.
13. The other Earth boxes had packed soil in two containers that were on both corners to draw moisture up. Using a plastic container that isn't opaque is another answer to painting the Earth box, isn't it? Do you recommend any specific soil mix?
14. he had said use black irrigation pipe at the end of the video. My daughters like fluff so we will be using the empty containers from that or you could find water bottles that seem sturdy that are bpa free. Another thing we will try to use is soda bottles by cutting the round parts off and those are pretty sturdy. Just to let you know though in this video the person did forget to add the wicking hole. But other than that this was the one diy video I was looking for. Thanks GreenSolarDude
15. Like others have pointed out, this design is lacking the wick (soil in a cup with holes to allow the earth to touch the water and draw it up via capillary action.) Humidity alone won't moisten your soil enough. Plus you shouldn't use PVC pipe due to the leaching of chemicals. There are other videos on YouTube which show better designs.
16. This is a good idea except the drainage hole needs to be above the grid not below. 
17. what kind of yield did you get with this? What vegetables did you grow and how did they do in this box you built? I am interested in making one
18. hmmmm- maybe you could support that soil platform with some ground wire from home depot instead of little pieces of pvc- they sell it in little rolls, loop it thru the two outermost holes on each side then either drill some holes to secure the wire at the top of the bucket or wrap it around the handle somehow
19. Thanks for taking the time :)
20. I've been in the emergency room quite often as a child, used to enjoy it immensely.