Gardeners - I LOVE my Growbox!!

As some of you may know, I live in the desert, and have a heck of a time trying to grow anything. Last year I tried a Topsy Turvy for my tomatoes, and had the best crop I'd ever had, but that's not really saying much, since I've never had a good crop before. The only problem with the Topsy Turvy was that it completely desinegrated due to the blazing sun hitting it all season. So...this year I saw an ad for a Growbox and decided...what the heck, why not try it? I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

My two tomatoe plants have been in it for approx 6 weeks now and I have oodles of fruit on the vine. Plus, when I purchased my teeny plants, I didn't realize there were actually two plants in each 3.5 inch pot, so I planted the 2nd plant in a regular pot to see what the difference would be. Boy, what a difference there is. The plant in a regular pot is only about 8 inches tall and still hasn't even gotten a bloom in it, whereas the one in the Growbox is at least 2 feet tall, and...well, take a look for yourself. Now, there are actually two tomatoe plants in the Growbox. One is a Celebrity 100 (on the left) and the other one is a Champion. Next to the Champion is it's "companion" in the pot. Sorry, it's hard to tell how small it actuallly is because it's next to my oleander.



Here is a close-up of some of the Champion tomatoes themselves:



And just because, here's a pix of some of the Celebrity 100's:



Sorry, I'm just so excited about this thing. It's the best thing since sliced bread, at least for us who live in places where the growing conditions suck!!

MY hubby says he wants to weigh all the tomatoes we get to see just how much per pound we end up paying! I said it issn't the cost, because just wait until he tastes an actual home grown tomatoe. (he claims he doesn't like tomatoes ) I notice, though, that everyday he lets me know just how they're coming along, so he's getting interested in them, and say's he can't wait to try one. It is true, though, that this first year, because of the investment of the box, etc., these tomatoes won't be as cheap as those "imitations" they sell in the store. But it's been such a fun experience that who cares!! And I plan on using the box this fall to plant another crop of winter vegies, plus more tomatoes next year. Next thing you know, he may be eating brussel sprouts!!!!!!!!!!

On the internet. www.AGardenPatch.com, or I think they also have them on Amazon.com. Just google Growbox. There is also something out there called the Earthbox. Growbox got better reviews. So far, I cannot rave enough about it!!

I"ve had some friends who've done pretty well with raised beds and shade cloths, but nobody has done well with tomatoes, that I can recall. Problem is (and I'll have this problem as well), they won't set once it gets over 95 degrees, so you have to get them going early. We're starting to be consistently in the mid 90's, so what I have on the vine now may be all I get, unless the weather changes. And that's what's so great about this box, that I already have so many tomatoes on the vine. On the plant that's in the pot, I don't even have any blossoms yet!

Not sure about using less water...I have to fill this thing up twice a day, but I attribute it to all the maters sucking it up (and the heat here)!! "course, the reservoir isn't all that big! AS far as watermelons go, I think there are people who have planted watermelons in these boxes...naturally the vines spill onto the ground to grow. Did you check out their website? You can see lots of pictures of different things growing, and depending on what you are growing, I think you can plant up to 16 plants in one box. For "maters", only 2 plants though. It comes with a diagram of where to position what in the box, and if you want to pay extra, can even buy extendable "cages" as things grow up (don't think they would hold melons, though.) It's really pretty neat. Next year I may fork out the buck for those cages though - my dowels aren't really doing the job