One of the sponsors that caught my attention at the Garden2Blog conference I attended early this month was The Garden Patch, inventors of a self-watering container garden system called Grow Box. The minds behind the product are no newbies in the industry – they are responsible for another similar product with a name known throughout the world.
When the nice folks at Garden Patch sent me a Grow Box of my own to try, I couldn’t wait to get started. As luck would have it, my package arrived yesterday just after I picked up 5 colorful sweet pepper plants at the local farmers market, so I decided that these beauties would be the perfect test case for my first season trial with the Grow Box.
In this photo you can see the prepared Grow Box snapped together and filled with a good quality soil. A small bag of granulated fertilizer is provided and can be seen in the center stripe. The mat that is folded back will act as mulch, both keeping moisture in and insects away.
Putting the box together isn’t complicated. It arrives in two pieces that will snap together fairly simply. One word of caution though: there are pieces that must be snapped away from the molded plastic and they can be sharp. Wear gloves and use caution. In addition, care must be used when snapping the pieces apart. There is a small “bridge” piece that should remain intact and hinged on one side. One of my pieces snapped completely off and had to be attended to.
The package contains guidelines for plant spacing based on what you want to grow. I am growing peppers and was surprised to see that they company suggests 8 pepper plants in this one container! Because I only bought 5, I planted five and spaced them evenly by cutting slots in the conveniently-numbered mat. No worries if you are concerned about getting the spacing just right – the instruction pamphlet tells you exactly where to plant! Think of it as paint-by-numbers for the garden!
From start to finish I was able to put the Grow Box together out of the box, fill it with soil and plant it in less than 30 minutes. All that’s left is placing it in a sunny spot and keeping the reservoir full of water.
I’ll post regular photo updates to The Garden Rockstar Facebook page so you can follow along and see how the Grow Box does in the Transformation 2012 Garden.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Attendees at Garden2Blog 2012 including myself received transportation, accommodations and meals during the event. Event sponsors provided samples and product giveaways at no cost or obligation, including the Grow Box. All opinions are my own.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I love these – but do you know of any company that makes them out of something besides plastic? I’m trying to get away from plastics as much as possible, especially when it comes to my food.
Thanks!
I do not know of a source for a non-plastic model, but will be happy to speak with the folks who provided me with the GrowBox to pass along your request.
The “plastic” is actually a food grade resin, with no BPA concerns if that helps. :-)
Love the Grow Boxes and am trying them for myself as well.
Shawna
This is my 5th season with my 9 grow boxes and I LOVE them. After back surgery, I can’t grow a conventional garden anymore. The yield from my grow boxes far exceeds my conventional garden! All I need to do after planting each year is fill the reservoir once a day, twice a day during the hottest months for squash, cukes and tomatoes. No weeding, no fertilizing. What a pleasure.
This is my second year with 6 growboxes. I highly recommend them! No weeding, no fertilizing- just water. And if you’re handy like me, I devised a multi port fill from the garden hose to each box with an auto timer. So, I don’t even have to water them anymore- I just reap the rewards. I cannot say enough about these boxes, I get WAY more veggies with these than in the regular garden. I am currently growing 3 types of tomatoes, cukes, 2 different types of zucchini, 5 different types of peppers and WATERMELON!
Hi there! I just started my Grow Boxes and have never gardened before. I had a question. I have limited space for my cukes, squash, and zuchinni to grow. I put 6 plants, 2 of each, in one box. Can I trellis them up? Also, I think I may of had 2 seedlings in some of the 2″ x 2″ packs when I transplanted. I may now have 2 plants in one hole. Is that a problem? I was hoping for some advice, as my plants are about 18″ high now and getting pretty big quick! Thanks for any advice!
I’m glad you’re growing this year, Samantha. You can trellis all of those plants, just make sure that you have a very sturdy support system in place. With the GrowBox they will be stronger and more productive, so there will be more weight to be supported. Please let us know how things are growing this season for you.
As for the extra seedlings, I like to separate extra seedlings when I transplant them. As you haven’t done that and they are pretty sizable now, I recommend just clipping the smaller seedling from each pair close to the surface of the soil. They will compete for nutrients and production will likely be stunted if they are both allowed to grow.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate the information. It was a huge help! I’ll keep you posted! Best to you with all of your adventures!
My grow box is growing like crazy. I took the extra plants out, leaving one of each in each hole. I even have a few zuchinni already. For some reason though, some of the zuchinni leaves seem to be drying up even though there is plenty of water. Is that normal? I have been cutting them off, because there seems to be enough good ones. The plants seem okay, should I be trying to keep them all growing up? The plants don’t seem to want to bend as easily, a often I end up with a kink in the stalk when I move them, like it is going to break? Thanks again for helping me get them off to a good start. I’m going to be picking my first zuchinni soon, and can’t wait!
Don’t move the vines so much that they are stressed to the point of possibly breaking. Gently guide them in the direction you want them to grow but also remember that nature will do what it thinks is best for the plant, so don’t be too strict on them or they won’t produce as well.
still haent received my12 boxes i ordered 3 weeks ago. seems there there are excusesmall over. , sms
Stan,
I just spoke with Ken McDowell. He found your order and apologized for the glitch. He assured me that your order will be on its way to you today.
Happy Holidays!
Michael
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