Apr22012

EarthTainer Update #3

Wow, what a difference two weeks has made! The last time I updated, the tomato plants in our EarthTainer were maybe ten inches tall.

In just two weeks, they’ve grown about two feet and we barely managed to get cages up around them before they got too big. They’re filling out like crazy, too, and the main stalks are nice and thick.

We had some warmer days last week, getting up to about 85 or so, but then the wind blew in over the weekend and brought the mid-60s back with it. They don’t seem to be affected at all, and the Sweet 100s continues to kick out blossoms. The beefsteak is taking its sweet time, but looks great otherwise.

I’m trying to talk Mike into getting started on a couple more containers. We wanted to wait and see how the tomatoes did first, but by the time they fruit I’m afraid it’ll be too late to get anything else going, especially with our heat.

What are you planting this year?

Mar152012

EarthTainer Update #2

earthtainer

We’re just about four weeks into our EarthTainer tomato project, and if you look at the pictures I took two weeks ago you can see how much they’ve grown since then. They’re going nuts!

They’re nearly a foot tall, and we’re going to have to get the cages up around them this weekend since they’re also spreading out quite a bit, and we don’t want to hurt the branches getting them set up. I also carefully trimmed off the lowest branches earlier this week since they were dropping down onto the container, and this weekend I’m going to tackle the suckers that are sprouting up, too.

The best part:

The Sweet 100s are starting to blossom!

Feb222012

EarthTainer Container Gardening

EarthTainer Container Gardening

Three years ago we set up a little container garden in our front patio area (it’s enclosed and gated, as you can see here, so it’s not as weird as it sounds).

We planted tomatoes and several different peppers, and though we were able to harvest a few tomatoes, the majority of the project failed as soon as the infamous Las Vegas heat hit the valley in mid-June.

We’ve wanted to try again and have casually researched different methods since the last attempt, and this past fall we started prepping the patio area again. Since it was the end of the season, we were able to get a good deal on a solar shade that Mike installed above the courtyard. It will still let plenty of sunlight through, but not enough that it’s going to bake whatever we’re trying to grow (and it will also cut down on the amount of heat coming in through the hundreds of windows that for some reason circle the courtyard). Read More