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HOMEMADE
SELF-CONTAINED GROWING SYSTEMS I really love my Earth Box self-contained growing systems. The strawberry plants growing in them now could not be happier or healthier. Once you have your crop planted in an Earth Box or similar growing container, all you have you do is water and watch for pests and disease. No weeds to pull. No fertilizer to worry about (it is only added at planting time). Far less water is needed. It only takes minutes a day to keep water in my nine Earth Boxes.
I suppose the only drawback is the initial cost. About $50 each. Not too much to pay but not cheap. So when I heard a garden expert say he found some good, easy-to-follow plans to build a homemade self-contained growing system, I took notice. When he said it could be built for about $10, I decided to look into it. As it turns out, the plans really are quite simple and easy. I see no reason why they would not work. It takes two 18-gallon storage tubs, a plastic pipe and a 5 inch pond basket to build each one. My lovely wife went to Wal-Mart, Lowes and Home Depot looking for parts, but could not find the right sized pond basket. We did find them on the Web and they may be available at aquarium shops. Turns out it will cost between $14 and about $20 to build each unit depending on the quality of the storage tub you choose. Here is the Web site with instructions and photos. |
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