Prepping 2020 Garden For Five Pepper Grow

[HempHottie]

Hello THP community. First time grower this season and I am preparing this plot to grow five kinds of peppers in 2020: Habanero, Serrano, Arbol, Jalapeno & Poblanos (Ancho Chiles). 
 
The original ground already had a rich soil but was getting weedy. Therefore, I put a layer of cardboard boxes down to kill the weeds and we will most likely not till the ground before planting.
 
Ontop of the carcboard I put a layer of leaves. Ontop of the leaves I put a two-inch layer of mulched root. And after I finished the root mulch I plan on putting another layer of mulched leaves.

1. Cardboard 
   
2. Leaves 
   
3. Root Mulch 
   
4. Leaves will go ontop
   

I am definitely a novice grower but my team and I are pretty ambitious. Does the THP community have any suggestions on how to arrange the garden for our peppers and specific nutrients/preparation we should consider??

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

The original ground already had a rich soil but was getting weedy. Therefore, I put a layer of cardboard boxes down to kill the weeds and we will most likely not till the ground before planting.
 
Ontop of the carcboard I put a layer of leaves. Ontop of the leaves I put a two-inch layer of mulched root. And after I finished the root mulch I plan on putting another layer of mulched leaves.

Sounds to me like the lasagna gardening method.... Used it exclusively after reading many articles like 5 Reasons NOT to Rototill and my own experiences. The only difference was I would dig the topsoil out of a 3' wide trench and back fill using alternate layers of green then brown then topsoil lasagna until it was 12-18" in depth/height.

 

[Salderas]

Good prep you're doing for enriching and feeding the soil and inviting earthworms. I think your garden will benefit by coursely or finely chopping the whole oak leaves for faster decomposition.                             

 

[HempHottie]

Sounds to me like the lasagna gardening method.... Used it exclusively after reading many articles like 5 Reasons NOT to Rototill and my own experiences. The only difference was I would dig the topsoil out of a 3' wide trench and back fill using alternate layers of green then brown then topsoil lasagna until it was 12-18" in depth/height.

 
Great Article! Yea, I believe building that mycelium network is the goal. I'm working with a compost guru whose holding my hand. Checkout Bruno out at http://www.compostrva.com/

 

[HempHottie]

Good prep you're doing for enriching and feeding the soil and inviting earthworms. I think your garden will benefit by coursely or finely chopping the whole oak leaves for faster decomposition.                             

 
A little late for that layer. The next layer of Leaves I'm putting ontop of the root layer will be mulched. I think that first layer of leaves will just help the cardboard suppress the weeds. 

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

 
Great Article! Yea, I believe building that mycelium network is the goal. I'm working with a compost guru whose holding my hand. Checkout Bruno out at http://www.compostrva.com/

 
If you've read that article you'll note green material, like grass, is added to "compost" the brown layers. Adding compost as one of the layers always a plus.

 

[Mr.joe]

Off to a good start. I agree with chiliman on adding "green" nitrogen rich layers in between. How many total plants do you plan to grow?

 

[HempHottie]

I'm thinking of like 20 of each so approximately 100 plants altogether. I hope I have enough space, and I have no idea how successful my seed starting is going to be.
 

Off to a good start. I agree with chiliman on adding "green" nitrogen rich layers in between. How many total plants do you plan to grow?

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

Great Article! Yea, I believe building that mycelium network is the goal. I'm working with a compost guru whose holding my hand. Checkout Bruno out at http://www.compostrva.com/

 
It's always great to get experienced help when starting a new project! Just remember the "basics"..................................