Raised bed veggie vs. right into the dirt ... preference?
estreya
15 years ago
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lilydude
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Cracks in dirt in raised beds.....what to do?
Comments (10)I built my raised beds last year and had the same problem. When I built the beds, I added lots of amendments to my incredibly heavy, tight clay. It was so heavy that there was no choice but to dig and amend it while it was really too wet, thus the clods and cracking. Each time I plant a crop (three per year), I add more amendments and turn and thoroughly mix the soil in the bed by hand. With each crop, it is improving. It really helps if you put down a good mulch over it too, once your plants are up and growing. If your seeds can't make it up through the crust, you might try hollowing out a little space (about a cup of soil) and replacing that cup with potting soil. Then plant your seed into the potting soil. It will find it easier to germinate there, but the roots will be able to get out into the native soil as they grow....See MoreVeggies doing HORRIBLE this year in raised bed
Comments (21)This year I started with containers, had tomatoes among several othere things. My containers had 10" deep dirt. Soon I found that it was not enough. The tomatoes get roots taht are 3-4 feet deep. Basil on the other hand has pretty shallow roots. Then I moved my plnats to true raised beds, 1 foot deep fill plus dirt ground below. They grew fine. Had good crop of veges that are heat tolerant but not others. See, the high heat this year was not a conventional garden year. I had lots of eggplants, okra, yard long beans, cucrbits (until temps went over 100), almost no tomatoes even though had flowers but no fruit set and my understanding is that temps over 95 are not good for setting tomatoes. Your one foot deep contianer will do fine for the leafy veges, beans, peas, herbs, short varieties of carrots and radishes, turnips, etc. If you search the net for "depth of plant roots" you will find plants that have very deep roots (3-4 feet), medium (1-2 feet) and shallow roots. Another problem with your container may be: plywood is resting on the concrete without spacers (feet). So, the plywood even though has holes, is not actually draining. Raise the whole container up on couple of 4X4s so the plywood is not resting on the concrete, like a container is supposed to have free draining hole in the bottom. Giid luck....See Moremilk jugs vs raised bed for WS
Comments (4)Micki, a problem with a large 'container' like you describe is you will have different type plants germinating at different times, the requirements/hardiness won't be uniform and cover on/cover off could be a problem ... Moving the seedlings becomes more of an act of transplanting too than with breaking off a 3-4" deep chunk of soil with roots that you've removed from a milk jug or other type pot. I've sown a few things that require a warm moist period before a prolonged chill in order to germinate - other than that, nothing. I don't know where you are, but it's not that cold here yet. Things could germinate to be lost to a winter storm later. Winter sowing traditionally begins on the solstice, Dec 21, although many of us can be busy that week and while we may do a token container, the bulk of winter sowing could be after Christmas and holidays. By good soil ready to go, do you mean a soilless mix formulated for use in containers? That seems to work best....See MoreQuestion on Raised Veggie Beds
Comments (20)Or you could get a second or third opinion if you have any reason to doubt what he recommends. Many landscapers just recommend what they've heard. Many in the nursery/landscape business commonly give bad advice. Most of the workers have little to no horticultural education and spend very little to no time researching techniques or information. I read posts on Gardenweb every time I log on about how some "professional" told the poster something that turned out not to be correct. The tree forum is a good example. I can't even count the times I have read where the nursery recommended leaving the protective cover, and even the metal basket in some cases, in the hole when planting balled and burlapped trees. Even landscape installers commonly do this. Then the homeowner is stuck with a stunted or dead trees a few years later. My experience has been that the best information is information obtained from multiple sources. Extension service publications are also usually extremely helpful. Another valuable source is college textbooks (used ones work just fine, but newer editions are likely to have more up-to-date info). I have found a few really smart people in the nursery business, but they are unfortunately the exceptions. If one source is wrong, you can usually determine that with a few second opinions. So far as drainage issues go, the next time you are at the library, check out a book on horticultural soil science. I would bet that after you have read it, you'll know way more about the subject than 9 out of 10 nursery "professionals"....See Morecedar_wa
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