If you’re interested in comparing EarthBox vs City Pickers then you probably want to know which one is the best self-watering planter.
Overall, these growing systems share several main features, but there are a few key differences that we’ll cover in more detail in the following article.
EarthBox Kits
EarthBox 80155 Garden Kit, Organic
The EarthBox Organic Garden Kit (Buy Online) is one of the best self-watering planters on the market. This patented gardening system makes it easy for anyone to grow a bountiful garden with less water and very little effort.
This 4-piece gardening system comes with the EarthBox growing container, aeration screen, water fill tube, 4 casters, and 2 mulch covers. You also get 1-pound of organic fertilizer along with 1-pound of dolomite lime.
Dimensions
Length: 29-inches
Width: 14-inches
Height: 11-inches
Volume
Soil Capacity: 2 cu. ft.
Water Reservoir Capacity: 3-gallons
EarthBox 80601.01 Junior Garden Kit, Standard
The EarthBox Junior Garden Kit (Buy Online) is a more compact version of the original EarthBox gardening system. This smaller self-watering planter works great as a flower box, or for smaller spaces like a balcony. It also makes a great herb planter on a window sill, or you can even use it on a kitchen counter.
The EarthBox Junior Garden Kit comes with a similar set of accessories as the Original EarthBox Planter. You get q smaller growing container, aeration screen Jr., water fill tube, 2 reversible b/w mulch covers, and an overflow saucer.
The EarthBox Junior Garden Kit also comes with 1/2-pound of 7-7-7 fertilizer and dolomite lime that can be used to increase the pH of your soil.
Dimensions
Length: 23-inches
Width: 9.5-inches
Height: 7.25-inches
Volume
Soil Capacity: 1 cu. ft.
Water Reservoir Capacity: 1.15-gallons
City Pickers Kits
Emsco Group 2350 Bountiful Harvest Raised Bed
The City Pickers Bountiful Harvest (Buy Online) is an easy to use raised bed grow box that can make anyone a great gardener. This portable self-watering planter is perfect for people who have limited space in their yard for a garden.
The City Pickers Bountiful Harvest can also be moved around easily since it has 4 built-in casters. This will let you move your plants around to follow the sun during the growing season.
Also, the casters make it easy to access your plants from all sides, which can be a big help in tight spaces.
The container itself is made of food-grade BPA free plastic, and it’s also made of UV protected resin. That means the plastic won’t become brittle and crack when it sits outside exposed to the elements.
Dimensions
Length: 20-inches
Width: 24-inches
Height: 9-inches
Volume
Water Reservoir Capacity: 2-gallons
Emsco Group 2370 Hydropickers Compact 24” x 20”
The Hydropickers Compact Gardening Kit (Buy Online) is an easy to use hydroponic system for beginners. This hydroponic system doesn’t use any electricity, so you can use it even in areas where you don’t have access to an outlet.
The Hydropickers Gardening Kit has a sealed lid with 4-mesh grow pots that can accommodate plants of all sizes. The black plastic lid also protects the nutrient reservoir from light so it won’t grow mold or algae.
This kit comes with a grow box, 4 mesh pots, top lid, caster, water fill tube, and structural support tubes. You also get a pack of growing media to use in the pots along with a bag of nutrient mix and a pH test kit.
Dimensions
Length: 20-inches
Width: 24-inches
Height: 9.75-inches
Volume
Water Reservoir Capacity: ~20-gallons
Big City Picker Raised Bed Grow Box – Extra Large 48” x 20” Design
The Big City Picker Raised Bed Grow Box (Buy Online) is perfect for growing large plants that need lots of space like tomatoes and peppers. It’s the same width as the standard City Pickers grow box, but it’s twice as long at 48-inches.
The extra space makes it suitable for larger plants, but you can also use it to grow more small plants like lettuce, carrots, and flowers. To accommodate it’s larger size it has 6-casters instead of 4-casters, which makes it a little easier to move around on rough and uneven surfaces.
Dimensions
Length: 20-inches
Width: 48-inches
Height: 9.75-inches
Volume
Water Reservoir Capacity: ~2-gallons
Emsco Group Big Easy Picker Raised Bed Grow Box
The Big City Picker Raised Bed Grow Box (Buy Online) is perfect for anyone who wants to avoid all the bending and crouching that comes along with maintaining a garden. This large raised bed grow box can easily hold up to 8 tomato plants, or you can grow a nearly endless supply of herbs and small vegetables.
The best thing about this raised bed grow box is that it comes with 6-legs that raise the growing surface to a height of 30-inches. That puts the plants right at waist height, so you can easily tend to your garden with minimal strain or effort.
Overall, if you’re looking for an elevated self-watering planter than the big Easy Picker is one of the best options on the market. Also, Earthbox doesn’t even offer an elevated model, so this is one area where City Pickers hands down beat out Earthbox.
Dimensions
Length: 30-inches
Width: 48-inches
Height: 20-inches
Volume
Water Reservoir Capacity: 4-gallons
EarthBox vs City Pickers – Accessories
EarthBox Planters come with a nice set of accessories. They make a trellis system that can support large plants and beans.
You can also get an automatic watering system for your EarthBox that will take some of the work out of maintaining your garden. They also sell plastic mulch covers that are reversible from black to white if you want to heat up or cool down your garden soil.
City Pickers produces fewer accessories, but they have been improving on their selection recently. They now sell plastic mulch covers that fit all of their grow boxes, Also, they even make legs for their large planter box for people who want an elevated garden.
Overall, City Pickers is geared more towards a DIY type who would rather use commercially available gardening supplies to customize their self-watering planter.
EarthBox 81100 Replant Kit, Standard
The EarthBox Replant Kit (Buy Online) comes with everything you need to re-use an EarthBox self-watering garden. You get 1-pound of fertilizer, 1-pound of dolomite, and 2 replacement reversible black & white mulch covers.
You can also get the replant kit for the EarthBox Junior model, or the Root & Veg gardening system. Also, it can be purchased with either Organic or Standard nutrients as included in the package.
EarthBox Mulch Kit, Black/White
The EarthBox Mulch Kit (Buy Online) makes it easy to replace the included plastic mulch covers if they get worn out or punctured. This kit comes with two plastic mulch covers with a white side and a black side.
You can also get a red mulch cover which can help improve the yield of tomatoes according to some studies.
EarthBox, 81015, Staking System
The EarthBox Staking System(Buy Online) will let you grow large plants and vines without having to deal with them flopping over. The Staking System comes with 2 T-Connectors, 1 trellis net, 2 rim clams, 2 casters, and 2-outriggers.
The whole system stands 60-inches tall when fully assembled, and it can easily support large tomato plants and many other types of vines.
Emsco Group 2355D City Pickers Replacement 2 Pack Mulch Cover
City Pickers Mulch Covers (Buy Online) will warm up your garden soil to help speed up germination. This reusable mesh mulch cover is made of durable Polypropylene that will last for many seasons. It also has a built-in drawstring that keeps it firmly in place, so it will stay put even in windy weather.
EarthBox vs City Pickers – Cost
EarthBox planters are a little more expensive than a City Pickers grow box, but they do come with more accessories included as part of the growing system.
Every Earthbox Growing System comes with fertilizer and dolomite lime, which are items that you’ll need to purchase separately if you go with a City Pickers Grow Box
City Picker self-watering planter boxes are generally a more budget-friendly option. They usually cost less than comparable EarthBox models, but they don’t come with fertilizer or mulch covers.
EarthBox vs City Pickers – Learning Resources
EarthBox has a website that offers plenty of useful learning resources. They also have an active blog and they even have a forum where you can connect with other EarthBox users,
There are plenty of videos and articles online about the EarthBox Growing System since it is one of the most popular self-watering planters.
City Pickers has fewer learning resources, but you can apply most of the information about growing plants in an EarthBox towards growing plants in a City Pickers Grow Box since they are so similar.
As City Pickers Grow Boxes become more popular more people are sharing videos along with tips & tricks which will make it easier to set up a City Pickers Raised Bed Garden.