Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Why We Grow in Sub Irrigated Planters (SIPs)

August 6 harvest
I could never grow this in my relatively large Chicago courtyard with composted soil.
There's no sun there.

Tomato Caspian Pink
Victory Seeds

Up on the roof, tucked into a SIP
plants have everything they need:
sun, organic fertilizer, and water


Eggplant Black Beauty
Victory Seeds

Not everything goes as expected. We lost three SIPs with black beauty eggplants due to nefarious factors still unidentified. But one recycled bucket planter keeps on producing.

Crop failures: 3 eggplant + one Abe Lincoln tomato
It happens. Gardening teaches patience.
Don't give up.






4 comments:

Bruce said...

Nice photo at the top of your post.

Did you ever figure out why the eggplants died?

When I look at this list of plant diseases, I see three main categories: Wilt, Blight, or Rot.

Then of course there are the bugs, followed by who knows what else.

H2 said...

Makes me laugh, Bruce.

Wilt, blight, and rot--the three horsemen of the apocalypse. Never figured it out but replanted today: some kale babies nurtured in Bob Hyland's pop bottle planters (can you make this a link, BF?).

Greenscaper said...

It could also be a more mundane light/water relationship problem. I highly recommend using a soil probe to check soil moisture reality vs. what you think is happening with the soil moisture. I also use a 1/4" clear plastic tubing pipette to check the level of water in the reservoir.

H2 said...

Here's the link I was trying to leave before: to Bob's Pop Bottle Planters.