Coco mix for earth box

[me545]

Hey everyone

I was thinking of building a earth box and transplanting my plants into it. On the earth box site they say you need potting mix with peat in it.The problem is that i don't think i can get peat here.

I can't get perilite or vermiculocite either.

I know i can get coconut fiber and bark. Is this ok?
The things i can get easily are top soil, manure, worm castings, sand, broken clay pots.


http://hometown.aol.com/jmalt31/myhomepage/Earthbox.PDF

This page has the design i want to make. It's the 5th design named " a hybrid design"

what else could i use to help wick the water from the bottom?

[Manila_Housecat]

Hey! Thanks so much for letting me know how to make earthboxes! I've wanted to know ever since I saw and EarthBox ad about 18 months ago! I'd probably have just bought one or something but now I'll never have to!

[me545]

Do you know how the earth boxes are for growing weed?
I havn't seen any grows with the earth box but it sounds looks pretty good and convenient.

[Manila_Housecat]

I feel like it would work great, ask Z! :D;)

[Oldbay]

Hey everyone

I was thinking of building a earth box and transplanting my plants into it. On the earth box site they say you need potting mix with peat in it.The problem is that i don't think i can get peat here.

I can't get perilite or vermiculocite either.

I know i can get coconut fiber and bark. Is this ok?
The things i can get easily are top soil, manure, worm castings, sand, broken clay pots.


http://hometown.aol.com/jmalt31/myhomepage/Earthbox.PDF

This page has the design i want to make. It's the 5th design named " a hybrid design"

what else could i use to help wick the water from the bottom?

The main point of what you grow in is a few fold. So you will want to make sure you can hit the right ph. The soil drains/holds water at the rate you want it to, and that you can get the right nutrients into it. What I am getting at is that if you can't get exactly what you want, at least know what you want and try to get close to it. Sure we would love to have all our house plants in thier ideal matching climate, but at the end ofthe day, it is a weed, it will crank out buds in pretty crappy conditions, and you can only do the best you can do. Get the Ph right, don't overwater/overfert (an epidemic that doesn't get the media attention it should), don't let the roots rot from too much constant wetness, or dry out for days on end. Give it a go and at worst it will teach you something. Catch the ones that effect anything you grow, and you'll be smoking. It can go uphill quite a bit from there, but it is a good place to be. Please post some pics in a diary of sorts as I would like to see how it goes too.

[sttony]

... don't let the roots rot from too much constant wetness, or dry out for days on end. Give it a go and at worst it will teach you something. Catch the ones that effect anything you grow, and you'll be smoking. It can go uphill quite a bit from there, but it is a good place to be. Please post some pics in a diary of sorts as I would like to see how it goes too.

Yeah, like Oldbay says, "don't let the roots rot from too much constant wetness." Id love to see em' too so, post some pics. :)


I'm allways looking for good grow ideas and the earth box looks like a good idea.

I have a few suggestions:


Put an airstone in the res chamber.

Put a drain valve on the res chamber (About 1" from bottom) so that you can monitor the res for TDS AND pH.
(It would allow you to draw out a cup or two for testing the TDS and pH values. It would also allow you to drain the res completely if needed)



As to your original question. Cocotek (http://nationalgardenwholesale.com/ngw/gardening_supplies.aspx?request=COCOTEK-ORGANIC-GROWING-MEDIUM&title=Growing%20Media&type=product) (made of coconut fibers) boasts that its an alternative to stonewool. I've never used the stuff myself so, I can't tell ya. However a friend of mine used Coir block, (I think its the same kinda of stuff) told me that that it absorbed water really well.

[me545]

Put an airstone in the res chamber.
Put a drain valve on the res chamber (About 1" from bottom) so that you can monitor the res for TDS AND pH.
(It would allow you to draw out a cup or two for testing the TDS and pH values. It would also allow you to drain the res completely if needed)

I was thinking the exact same thing about the airstone and drain.

I'll do a spring time grow in a earth box and in one of the soma type soil beds if i get the chance.

I just ordered my rainforest 66 and my continous ph/tds/temp meter and that's going to be my next grow.

If the water level is kept shallow using a drain placed lower down so you have about 2 in of water in the bottom, with those pourous pvc pipes zandor talks about in the KBS buckets it would be pretty damn nice. You could water the thing let it wick up and then use the drain to drop the water to about 2-3 inches. Keeping 5-6 inches of airspace between the soil and the lower water area seperated some kind of grill and the cloth that lets roots go through.

Shit i'll close off the two pvc pipes in the center(on design #5) and put airstones in them.