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spacing and raised beds

18 years ago

I'm thinking I'll build a 4'x10' raised bed for planting the garlic I ordered last night. I've read the recommended spacing to be 5". Is this spacing East-West as well as North-South, that so the garlic will be planted in a "grid"? This would allow me to plant 8 rows wide by 24, for a total of almost 200 plants. Does this sound about right?

What is a good height for the beds? I'm thinking 8-10". Is garlic deep rooted so that I'll need to ammend 10"+ of soil under the 8" or 10" raised bed?

Also, can the garlic be planted in the same place year after year? I know that some veggies need to be rotated for the good of the soil. Is garlic one of them?

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Comments (3)

username_5
18 years ago
Garlic doesn't require rotation as it isn't a plant that is usually bothered by pathogens that overwinter in the soil. Some say that if you continue to replant what you grow the garlic 'evolves' to grow better in your soil year after year.

5' spacing is fine and yes, they can be 'grid' or sq. ft. gardening style planted.

Garlic is both shallow and deep rooted. Unless you are really careful when digging the garlic up you will only ever see the thicker roots that are usually a couple inches long. The roots go deeper, but they are super thin and fragile. How high to raise the bed? Well it doesn't matter that much. I would suggest 6" with the soil underneath being preconditioned with compost being worked into it to 6" and that should be plenty. In other words shoot for about 12" of quality growing depth in total and that should be plenty. I have seen garlic grown in containers with less soil depth and they did fine though.

For best results keep the garlic growing (same with onions) and that means make your planting mix well amended with compost and/or organic (cause they are very slow release) fertilizers. Additionally supplement the garlic once a month or more often with additional feedings and keep the soil moist. Dry soil results in lost growth time.
UncleJohn
18 years ago
I made raised beds this year for the first time, and will be moving my garlic to a couple of them this fall. The four foot width worked well for me, and the 10" x 2" (rough cut) sides were perfect, just high enough for the wheelbarrow to empty over. I worked the soil beneath the beds before building them to provide additional depth.

I am planting my cloves at a variety of spacings, though 5" will be by far the most common. I will probably provide them with more space between rows than within the row (this is to provide more light), as much as 8".

I will probably continue rotating my garlic beds, not for the garlic, but to give my pepper and tomato beds a rest as I have problems with fusarium wilt.
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Is 5 or 6 hours direct sunlight a day not enough for tomatoes? Maybe this is more of what was causing my problems last year rather than the soil. That would depend on the type of problems you had. Normally 6 hours of high quality sun light (9am - 3pm) would be ok, not ideal, but ok. But given the times you listed you are missing out on the most intense, full spectrum part of the day. Even on the equinox in mid-June, unless you are living near the equator (we really need to know your location or at least your gardening zone), you will only be getting 4 hours of normal intensity, full-spectrum sunlight. The rest of the time it will be much weaker. Maybe if I have leftover soil I will get some potted plants going as well. Container plants are best grown in a soil-less potting mix, not garden soil. Plan on this year being one of experimentation and learning. Take good notes so that next year you'll have a much better picture of what and how much can be grown in your space. And also use the time to explore options for increasing the sun exposure, especially the morning sun or other possible locations for the garden. Good luck. Dave
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arbor day is a nice place to make a donation ... but not a great place to buy stock ... call your COUNTY extension office... and discuss this with them.. they might even provide a body for teaching ... see link ... you are making this much more difficult asking the worldwideweb for advice ... though we do love you ... but use your local resources ... and keep coming back to us ... for questions during the process ... they may also have an annual spring plant sale ... and if not them.. the COUNTY soil conservation district [probably in the same office] ... wherein you might be able.. e.g. buy 25 pines for 16 dollars or so ... i have no clue if vermont offers such ... so call you LOCAL experts ... young transplanted trees.. will need water in the summer... so you would probably have to visit once or twice during vacation for such ... in a forest.. they could make it.. but when you are adding them to a playground.. in a raised bed.. you are so altering their space.. that you will have to take care of them on some level ... here is a PDF link to copy/paste in your browser: http://www.vtfpr.org/urban/documents/VTTree%20Guide.pdf and before you do all this.. you better make sure .. that if you succeed ... you have somewhere to take them ... that part might not be as easy as you think ... the extension office might help you there .... and do understand.. that they would need to be moved.. within a year or two ... else they will get too big to move, and outgrow you little raised bed area ...... should you succeed wildly ... [which isnt all that hard ... believe it or not] good luck ken also try this link for the planting process: https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub Here is a link that might be useful: look at the third link ...
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UncleJohn
18 years ago
That should read 8" by 2". The wheelbarrow fits perfectly over an 8" side. Sorry.

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