First time building a... (Suggestions)

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bangbangchabooky

Hello all,
 
Spring is looking great here in Houston and I love to be outside minus the pollen in the air. So I have been doing some digging and decided that I want to do a raised be. I will lay down a weed barrier down for now to kill off some existing grass. My questions are...
 
1). What is the ideal size/footprint I should do for about 15-20 pepper plants?
 
2). What should I build for shade that won't be too hard to build?
 
3). Is there a diagram that someone has used that I could copy?
 
Money isn't a big problem here so I would like to build one that I won't have to add onto in the future. I will be adding a drip irrigation too on the raised bed. Is there anything else I should add/consider during the build?
 
There is a guy on YouTube that does some of his videos from Houston. Growingyourgreens.com

He has some super nice raised beds made from block too. He does the square foot gardening method. I would give them more room than that though. I'm sure you will get some better responses, but definitely check out YouTube
 
Some peppers sprawl outward like a thick shrub, while others shoot straight up and remain somewhat narrow. I have fit 6 peppers (3 habs, 3 sheepnose) in a 4x8 bed. The habs did outstanding, the sheepnose just pedestrian. I have had 1 ghost dominate a 4x4 bed where everything else was overshadowed. Figure out what you want to grow, then you can tinker with the size.
 
ako1974 said:
Some peppers sprawl outward like a thick shrub, while others shoot straight up and remain somewhat narrow. I have fit 6 peppers (3 habs, 3 sheepnose) in a 4x8 bed. The habs did outstanding, the sheepnose just pedestrian. I have had 1 ghost dominate a 4x4 bed where everything else was overshadowed. Figure out what you want to grow, then you can tinker with the size.
Click to expand...
 
I will be growing some White Thai & African Bird Eye Chili for now. From what I understand they don't need a crazy amount of space.
 
I would probably go with a spacing of about 18 inches. As far as the planter goes, i would make it no smaller than 12 inches deep. Width and length, you can figure out based on 18 inch spacing between plants but if you're looking for something you won't have to expand on in the future then build it as big as your space allows cuz you'll probably be wanting to grow more plants in the future once pepper fever sets in. Also consider what type of wood you'll be using. Pressure treated wood MIGHT have chemicals that are harmful if it gets into the soil. When I say MIGHT, that means that they are still trying to figure out whether the newer chemicals used for pressure treating are in fact, harmful. But they are chemicals nonetheless so I would opt for a non pressure treated red wood. It's expensive but it should last you for a long time. You can also line the the inside of the planter with thick plastic liner to reduce the amount of moisture that comes in contact with the wood. And as far as shade goes, look into a shade cloth. Thats what I'll be getting this year when it starts to get hot. I think most people are using 40-50 percent.
 
I would forget the weed blocker. I have two raised beds both are 4’x4’. The older bed had weed blocker laid down ,the newer bed no weed block. When I was working up my beds earlier this year, the one without weed blocker had a lot of worms and night crawlers in it. The one with weed blocker there was hardly any worms or crawlers in it. Plus I didn’t have many weeds in either one.


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bangbangchabooky said:
Hello all,
 
Spring is looking great here in Houston and I love to be outside minus the pollen in the air. So I have been doing some digging and decided that I want to do a raised be. I will lay down a weed barrier down for now to kill off some existing grass. My questions are...
 
1). What is the ideal size/footprint I should do for about 15-20 pepper plants?
 
2). What should I build for shade that won't be too hard to build?
 
3). Is there a diagram that someone has used that I could copy?
 
Money isn't a big problem here so I would like to build one that I won't have to add onto in the future. I will be adding a drip irrigation too on the raised bed. Is there anything else I should add/consider during the build?
Click to expand...
What I did , check my glog, is overkill , but it will give you plenty of space for 20 plants.
High raised beds , shade and irrigation.
 
This should do it.
 
Raised beds.jpg
 
karoo said:
This should do it.
 
attachicon.gif
Raised beds.jpg
Click to expand...
I made two of those last yr for my folks...way to big and the amount of soil to fill it vs the unused volume is a bummer. Unless you bury those side supports the mass volume will spread the sides as it settles through the growing season.


The ones at my home are 12' long by 4' wide by 18 inches tall.

I used 2x6 lumber for the base and 2x12 lumber for the next layer on top.

I can put 10 to 12 peppers in each box. 2 rows of 5 or 6.

Gets them off the ground high enough to use a chair for harvesting etc and not a lot of unused soil going to waste.

I used a sand mix for good drainage.
 
I just improvised for my raised beds.
 
Somebody left this section of corrugated plastic pipe in the green strip next to my house.
 
15HCgkm.jpg

 
After it sat there for about a year and a half, I had an inspiration to utilize it for sections of raised beds.
 
O7YJxwT.jpg

 
This way I can move them to another location if necessary.
 
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