Farmboy - That is exactly why I built 6 earthtainers for this year's tomatoes. Although they did outstanding in the sfg last year, they occupied 16 linear feet of valuable trellised real estate. I know Sinfonian and Judy have great success with mel's mix in their swc's, but I chose to make my own homemade Pro-Mix.

EG

I just built 8 SWCs today with friends, assembly line style, with plenty of fun breaks to pass the time. All were 18 gallon but one for my cantaloupe.

I grew 2 tomatoes in my Mels mix filled 18 gallon SWC last year with great success. This year I hope to duplicate it with 6 plants in 3 SWCs. I expect great results.

Hehe despite my profound respect and admiration of EG, I'm still skeptical over something that has nothing even close to resembling dirt to fill my SWCs. Hehe.

Good luck!

thanks you two always read your posts when i c your comments,value your opinions,totes it is,anything else work exceptionaly well in them?

Farmboy - Thanks. You can grow pretty much anything in the swc, if the spacing is right. I'll grow corn in mine every other year, to rotate things a bit. If I can ever help you with anything, let me know.

Sinfonian - You know....that's the same thing I thought about Mel's Mix before trying it, but as you already know -it works great! I have alot of confidence in the homemade Pro-Mix, as that is what the earthbox people use.

EG

I used Mels' mix in my swc last year and my stupice did very well, but EG is a research fanatic, so I may try pro-mix in one or two this year.
I've seen some great pics of corn grown in swc's, also. I will probably try eggplant this year in one of the larger ones. I have four 29 gall and three 20 gall swc's for this year.

Research fanatic? Definitely! BTW Carolyn....how did you like the taste of Stupice?

EG

I really liked the taste of the stupice, but most of the tomato folks on the forum don't seem to care for it. Mine were great, and extremely productive. If I count the green tomatoes I pulled off in the winter, I probably got two hundred tomatoes off the thing.

What is a SWC? Fill some of us sfg folks in on the secret.
please

Lowraine, a SWC is a Self Watering Container. If you've ever seen the Earthbox on TV or in a store, that is basically what a SWC is. You fill a bottom reservoir with water and then put a screen on top of that and fill the rest with soil. A pipe leading from the top of the container to the reservoir lets you refill when necessary.

That's probably a bit confusing, so just google self watering container if you need more clarification.