Hello! So am pretty much a newbie at gardening of all kinds (last year I planted two tomato plants in my back yard and got a grand total of four tomatoes for the whole season, though in my defense my husband did say they were the four best tomatoes he'd ever eaten).

This year I got a couple of Garden Patch Grow Boxes, which are a cheaper version of the Earth Box. I figured even I couldn't botch a garden if I put it in a self-watering container. However, evidently I can botch almost anything.

I planted two tomato plants in one and some herbs and peppers in the other. After that I bothered to read the instructions all the way through :-\ and discovered that I was supposed to use potting *mix* not potting *soil*, and of course I used potting soil. I asked someone at the local garden center and she told me there wasn't really any difference, that different companies just have different names for the same thing ... but after looking around online I think she was probably wrong.

So here's my question: should I run out and get some potting mix and un-plant everything and make a huge mess, or can I still use these grow-boxes as-is even though I'm using potting soil?

The soil does seem really dry on top so I'm wondering if the water just isn't getting drawn up through the heavier soil the way it's supposed to. I put my hand in the soil and it seems moist but not saturated. How much water should be in the soil at any given time?

Can I just water these boxes the way I would a garden and still get decent results? And if so (here's a really newbie question) how often and how saturated should the soil be? My husband was convinced that last year's failure was because I over-watered.

Thanks in advance!!!!

Becki