Growing in an Earthbox® Self-Watering Container

The EarthBox® is a self-watering container that grows vegetables and herbs with incredibly little effort. Plants grown in an EarthBox® grow much faster and get much larger than plants grown in the ground. (EarthBox is a registered trademark of Novelty Manufacturing Co.).

Below, Graham from Kind Gardens explains what an EarthBox® is and how you set it up.




The EarthBox® was invented by a Manatee County farmer named Blake Whisenant. He's well into his 80's now but his family still runs the EarthBox Garden Center in Ellenton, Florida.

There are other companies that make self-watering containers that are similar to the EarthBox®. Some are less expensive, but they are not as durable as the EarthBox® brand, and don't have as many accessories available, like automatic watering systems.

You can also make your own self-watering containers for less money, but the durability and ready-to-plant ease of the EarthBox® can't be beat.

Advantages to using the EarthBox® include:

• EarthBox® gardening requires less fertilizer.
• Nutrients do not leach out of the EarthBox® into our waterways.
• EarthBox® gardening requires MUCH less water than a conventional garden.
• EarthBoxes® generally have fewer soil-borne diseases than a conventional garden.
• EarthBoxes® do not require weeding. Should I repeat that? That may be the only reason you need to switch to EarthBox® gardening.
• EarthBoxes® are made out of food-grade plastic, so harmful chemicals do not leach into your food.
• EarthBox® plastic does not deteriorate in the sun like other plastics. It is designed to last more than fifteen years. Commercial growers have proven the durability of the product over that period of time.

I garden exclusively in EarthBoxes®. Below are some photos of my garden.

Swiss Chard (left), and Collards (right) growing in my EarthBoxes®.

A great crop of Romaine Lettuce growing in an EarthBox®. I grew six plants in one box.

I even grow sugar cane in a self-watering container. This is not an actual EarthBox®, but is one of the copy-cat boxes. Not as strong, but it was cheaper. Won't last as long, but it got the job done. Wheels broke off prematurely.