I previously mentioned that I put my Earthbox on a stand, so I didn’t have to keep bending over, after I ruptured a lumbar. Well, I also picked up an Earthbox Staking System, as my peppers are getting a bit wobbly. Nowhere on the staking kit does it say that it’s incompatible with the Garden Stand. However, after being baffled on assembly, I searched online and only the stand says that it’s incompatible with the staking kit. (Not vice versa)
Earthbox basically makes one product, with two different accessories. Why would they decide that the accessories would be mutually exclusive? A simple redesign could solve this problem, but it’s set up so that they both need to attach to the same part of the Earthbox lip.
The kit is a good, though overpriced, idea for newbie gardeners, but at this point, it’s become a typical box with a water reservoir and some fertilizer in it. (And to state the obvious, I’ve alternately used bamboo stakes and ties.)
Kim,
Sorry to hear about your frustration! It is strange that Earthbox would make such a manufacturing/engineering error on a device that’s so simple to begin with. We always recommend using bamboo stakes, in place of the trellis, when using the Earthbox garden stand. Another alternative is using pvc tubing to create a frame that goes around and above the box; then using trellis netting to bind your plants to it. Hope that helps.
John
It’s actually not an engineering error at all. The earthbox staking system adds about 4-5 ft to the top of the earthbox container. Combining both the garden stand and staking system would have potentially made the setup very top-heavy, and there would have been a danger of the entire setup blowing over with a strong wind, or heavy plants, or some combination of both.
Using the bamboo stakes was the better (and safer) bet.
John: That’s good advice. I mentioned above that I went with bamboo stakes, and I think it’s working better than netting.
Dudley: That makes sense. But… Earthbox printed NOTHING on the packaging of the staking set to say that it’s not compatible with the stand. I looked very closely. And since it’s opened, and I lost the receipt, I was unable to return it.
How and why I invented The Self Watering Rain Gutter Grow System!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL6AutZy14s&feature=g-upl&context=G29c636fAUAAAAAAABAA