Cheap DIY Earthbox

During a recent trip to Costco, I came across this little gem for $8.99:
 

 
I've been mulling ideas about building a larger Earthbox, and I thought this might just fit the bill.  In this build I'm going to attempt to go as cheap as possible, let's see how I do...
 
Here are the supplies and the tools in the now familiar operating theatre:

 
The components:
One $8.99 Tough Box a la Costco
One length of 1 1/2" pvc pipe. I ended up using a little over 6'.  This pipe I was what I had lying around, it could be any reasonable diameter.
Drill with 5/8" wood bit
Snips
Some method of cutting pvc pipe
Senor Sharpie
<not pictured> measuring tape
 
 
As I'm sure you all know, an earthbox simply consists of a layer of soil resting upon a grate above a water reservoir.  As long as the water level is maintained and there are holes in the grates for the roots to grow down through, you essentially have an idiot proof planter with plants that have constant access to all the water and nutrients they need at all times.  It's an elegantly simple design that combines hydroponics with the ease of dirt planting.  You could buy one from earthbox.com for $32, or you could build a bigger one for nine bucks plus the pvc pipe.  Let's get to it!
 
I was originally planning on using a piece of wire garden fence or something as the grate.  As I gazed at the box, inspiration struck.  I'm going to use the lid!
 
Have at you!

 
Full disclosure: trying to cut all this plastic off with snips was a royal pain in the @ss.  I switched to a jigsaw early in the process and I recommend you do too.
 
Edges removed:

 
The jigsaw is definitely the way to go.  Now let's cut out the corners for later soil packing.  This is needed so that the soil will wick up some of the water and keep the dirt moist and tasty.  We will also carve out a circle for the filling tube that will stick up and allow easy filling of the reservior.

 
 
Uh oh, that's 5 images... Time to start a new post!  Follow me!
 

Bump for moar pics.
 
Edit: For clarity it will only let you post 5 til someone else posts something. 

Continuing on... Here comes the hard part -  turning the lid into a grate.  I used the 5/8" wood bit and put the lid over a box so I could just punch through with no resistance.  Even so, this was an arm acher.  If you have a smaller drill or a long arm drill press this should be a piece of cake.  My cake was a lie.  I eventually settled on a pattern of 3x4 holes on each square of the lid, leaving the lower lines intact for strength.  This was the result:

 
Ouch.  Pause here for the refreshing beverage of your choice, you deserve it.  Those holes are a bitch.
 
Ready?  Ok, get yer drill one more time!  I used one of my existing earthboxes and measured how far down the drain hole was from the top of the box.  I assume that the bright guys over at earthbox have done at least some cursory research into the necessary depth of soil, so I'm using their measurements.  It turns out it is 8" down from the top of the box.  I put a single drain hole in the front of this box 8" down as well.

 
Getting close now!  Who's ready to cut some PVC?
 
Measuring up from the bottom of the box to the drain hole shows that the grate supports need to be 6".  I'm going to use several 6" lengths of pipe to support the grate and the soil.  Remember to drill a few holes in the sides of each one of the supports so that they can fill with water on the off chance that some poor root ends up inside one.

 
I cut nine 6" pieces as supports and one 18" piece for the fill tube.  I used so many supports because I didn't want any part of the grate to collapse once I started adding the soil.  Don't forget to drill at least one hole in the side of each support so it can fill with water.

 
Sweet.  These tubes are just placed in there, I expect the weight of the soil to hold them steady.  Next post we add the grate, the dirt, and a few new inhabitants!
 
With the supports in place, let's put in Mr. LidGrateTM!

 
Yeessssss!  That looks cheap and half-assed, just the way I planned!  Now all we have to do is pack soil down in the corners we cut out, fill it up with soil, use the filling tube to add water until it comes out the drain hole we drilled, and add some plants!
 

 
Sweeet.... needs more green though!
 

 
THAT'S more like it.  A couple of different Cayennes and a Kung Pao.  Suitably awesome.  Here is our cheap DIY earthbox next to a retail one:

 
 
So that's it.  Nine bucks and some PVC pipe I already had, plus about 20 minutes of fun in the sun and I have a substantial Earthbox clone that is larger and beefier.  I expect to be able to support 3 decent sized plants compared to the 2 a standard Earthbox will do.
 
Get your keys, go to Costco, and get started!  Once your plants are established you will be astonished at how easy this type of setup makes your feeding and watering maintenance.  Just add water everyday until it runs out the drain hole and you are set.  Happy peppering, yo!

Very nice. I picked up 3 of the same at Home Depot, paid .50 more but still a good deal.  I'm using 2 for a DWC set up and the other for mixing soil in. Will probably pick up a couple more while they have them.

Great idea, looks fantastic!

looks great..

Looking good!

Nice step by step . will the water reservoir not eventually just fill up with soil though seeing as the corners have dirt right to the bottom?? Maybe over the course of a season it won't be too bad??