How many times can I replant / reuse the growing media?Updated a year ago

We recommend reusing the same growing media over and over, up to 8-10 growing seasons. The reason for this is: 1) it’s a lot easier to leave it in place, and 2) it’s better for your plants NOT changing it each year. The continual addition of dolomite each growing season allows for better concentration and readily available elements to be taken by the plant, resulting in a decreased rate of BER in tomatoes and peppers. In our company garden, we tested tomatoes using a new setup and a replant setup, and the tomatoes showed less incidence of BER in the replanted system vs. the new setup.

We recommend scraping off the top layer of the old fertilizer mound each time you replant, and also freshen up the system by adding new dolomite, fertilizer, and ideally a little fresh growing / planting media to create the mound on the top.

Note that if your garden previously suffered from any plant diseases, such as blight, be sure to get confirmation of the disease from your local extension service by having a sample tested. Plant diseases generally cannot overwinter through extended periods of freezing temperatures. If you’re unsure what your winter temperatures will be, you can opt to discard the contents of the EarthBox® gardening system, sanitize the container and all parts, and start fresh the following growing season.

If you feel the need to discard the contents of the system due to plant disease, do NOT compost or reuse elsewhere in your yard. Place the contents in a double-bagged trash bin and tie the bags in a knot to seal the contents inside. To sanitize your container garden, mix 1 part of chlorine bleach with 10 parts of water and soak each affected part for 30 minutes. Rinse well and dry completely before replanting and replacing with new planting medium.