Ready to give up on gardening (raised beds) (Pic)

14 years ago

This is my first season gardening on the "land", vs. containers that I've done before.

I built 6" tall beds, 4x4 and filled them with a mixture of top soil and mulch from under the trees. That's what was available and affordable. Transplanted some bush tomatoes, banana peppers, eggplants, broccoli and cabbage; seeded some radishes and carrots.

Nothing is thriving. They kind of just sit there. What ever plant is growing - gets devoured by cabbage worms and some other worms.

When I stick my finger into the ground - it is very very warm there, although moist (somewhat).

Should I build up the boxes up to a foot? And add mulch to the eves of the plants?

This whole thing and the intolearable heat we're having just makes me want to cry. I will certainly starve if I had to depend on this "garden". :(

As you can see from the picture, the results are very very measley.

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Comments (9)

cjc45
14 years ago
I know, it's just too hot for this time of year (see "My garden and I can't wait for the cooler weather..." below). Hang in there. Since it sounds like your veggies are getting enough water, they may need a little fertilizer. We should get some relief next week. [Imagine me patting your shoulder and handing you a frosty glass of iced tea.]
imagardener2
14 years ago
Well it's just very hot and only tropical veggies like it this hot. Nothwithstanding Silvia's amazing garden that defies the heat (see her posts with photos).

Besides the heat which will end soon (Saturday we get 80's here) I would caution about tomatoes planted in frames like yours. The nematodes come up thru the bottom and damage tomato roots. It happened to me, my tomatoes didn't really produce well. When I pulled the plants up the roots were all knobby which spells RKN-root knot nematodes.

But many other veggies will do well in your boxes. Just wait, water, fertilize lightly. And hope you can get a crop before the freeze comes :-)

Good luck

Denise
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Thanks for all of the responses. I will keep everything updated, but considering the soil temperature is sitting at 35.1 F right now, I can't really see much going in very soon :-) husker: the larger garden occupies all of my gardening time, as you can see from this photo at the end of last year: This small kitchen garden is intended for my wife and 4 year old daughter to look after. To that end, it is much easier to use a raised bed for them. Also, given the location close to the house, I wanted something that fit in with the rest of the yard. Thanks, Michael
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Bkay remove all the soil. I use a hose with a nozzle to blast away any remaining soil on the root ball when I need to result to this tactic. I'm nearly 100% certain it is a salt/mineral issue since you mentioned the terra cotta pots disintegrate which is what the salts will do. I had the same probleam with non plastic pots until I started to use glazed pots. Given Texas is primarily desert no doubt your water is quite alkaline due to limestone deposits or other similar minerals in the ground which your water percolates through. The easiest remedy is to repot your plants including this one and removing all soil from the root ball and pot into a good soil mix. Not sure what part of Texas your in but you might want to consider buying a rain bucket and using that water for your hostas. Or purchase a water filter which you can attach to your outside faucet to remove the salts. Heavy fertilization using a chemical fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro or Peters can also cause similar damage overtime as well. Easiest solution would be the filter which you can get at any big box store. Scott
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I garden a little north of Concord NH so I'm a zone colder. I grown all my peppers in the ground but my beds are built using the lasagna method. Each spring I top off the beds with a layer of composted horse manure. I usually add additional fertilizer to the planting hole - maybe an organic mix like Cheep Cheep. We have a high water table. Doing lasagna beds is like a raised bed without lumber. They are best built the season before planting because they will settle/compost a lot over a winter. I never use Miracle Gro products since I can usually get free or almost free contents for my lasagna beds. You could remove the soil from your beds and do a base of composting materials. Try reading up on hügelkultur beds, too. You can start with tree branches to build mounds. I think the advantage of beds of any kind is you don't walk on them which helps compact them and you don't need a tiller. Sometimes I have a pretty fresh lasagna bed so I make a hole in which I add composted manure and soil so I can plant something like a transplant or a large seed like squash. When I transplant my peppers, I water well with a liquid fish/kelp fertilizer mixed with water. I may repeat a couple of times while the plants are getting established. I grew some of my peppers in a high tunnel so due to the plastic roof, plants don't get much rain water except what maybe a little bit on the sides (sides are rolled up during the summer). This soil is drier than outside. We probably had similar amounts of rain to what you had. I don't think there's a big difference in how the plants responded to the rain or lack of it in the high tunnel. The high tunnel also heats up a lot with typical day time temps in the 90s. I know a lot of pepper lovers like pots but I'm also concerned about how much fertilizer leaches out of pots during rainy weather. I've been in gardens where cucumbers in pots were noticeably less healthy than those in a nearby raised bed. I grow a couple of tomato plants in pots. They always need more water and more fertilizer. Was it really wet feet that held your peppers back or the need for more nutrients? I don't think there's enough using any one type of soil or fertilizer. Some of the lasagna layers are kitchen scraps. We have lots of worms that we didn't have before. What's your worm population like? Good luck this next planting season.
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flyingfish2
14 years ago
Wow , you have too much work to give up. I would start several of the boxes over with new plants now that cooler weather should be here this week end. Nematodes will not normally be a problem the first year of growing tomatoes especially if your soil has any organic matter.
I started a 12 foot X 4 foot raised garden this fall and the "soil is only about 6 to 8 inches deep. It is about 1/2 homemade horse compost and 1/2 organic rich dirt from under palmettos. I have small tomatoes now and squash and green beans blooming. Hang in there and try some different things in the different beds.

Don't look at Silvia's pics, it will make you discouraged she has such great garden :>)

bernie

bernie
yuliana
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and wisdom.

So, you guys think only 6" height of the beds is not a problem?

I did put a fair amount of 6-6-6 over, which I am not happy with because it's not technically "organic", but what do I do? My compost bin was just started two weeks ago and only has a half foot staff in it. Cannot take advantage of free horse manure off craigslist because I don't own a truck. Oh, woe me.
mboston_gw
14 years ago
I don't know anything about veggie gardening or raised beds but I also live in Lakeland and know someone who does.
Gil, is the guy who has the place behind the Winn Dixie off lakeland Highlands Rd and Edgewood (actually not Edgewood but the road that the new McKeel Academy is on).
He has a copperative type garden during the winter months and he uses raised beds. He is always willing to share his knowledge with others. Go check out his place and tallk with him. He is usually there in the mornings when it is cooler. He isn't there all the time.
happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
14 years ago
yuliana --- I would like to recommend that you see if you can find a mulch supplier that sells mushroom compost. You can grow anything in that stuff, after it ages a while first.

Christine
an_ill-mannered_ache
14 years ago
yulia, your plants look fine. maybe a little puny, but the weather's been tough for most of those plants. growing veg requires patience, experience, and patience. and experience.

keep watering regularly. every good veg grower i know uses miracle gro--it's GREAT stuff and acts very quickly. get a hose-end sprayer and apply it regularly in small doses. lots of mulch. right plant, right place, right season. it's stuff we all know, but it's hard to get it right.

i think the hardest thing about gardening in fla is how many seasons we have. it seems to me that i am CONSTANTLY starting new seedlings for the next season... that's great, inasmuch as we can harvest stuff all year. but it takes practice and experience to know when to start what.
dubyatee
14 years ago
Yuliana,

I'm also in Lakeland and what the others have said is true. The heat has made it tough on most plants. I also have raised beds that I have filled to about 9-10 inches (but I think 6 is fine for most veggies). I used a combination of peat, perlite and compost (mostly mushroom compost). At the moment, the only things producing and looking good are eggplant and green onions.

I've planted a few things for the cooler weather (which we ARE going to get some day!).

All my tomatoes and peppers are in containers.

Hang in there! Keep trying and reading and ask the folks here for help. They have a wealth of knowledge!

wt
tomncath
14 years ago
Hang in there; it's just too hot right now. You wouldn't be doing any better in containers either, I'm not. Hopefully this weekend things will change. I agree with Michael about the MG liquid fertilizer via their hose-end sprayer, no-hassle and works well.

Tom

Ready to give up on gardening (raised beds) (Pic)

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