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raise grow beds??

Novacastrian said:
It has to do with providing more soil for the roots to grow in, that way you can jam more plants in per square foot.
Click to expand...

Nova,

Not trying to be disagreeable, but the soil in a garden is much deeper than 14-20". One can put just as many plants in a regular garden as they can in a raised bed.

I suspect a difference is that most growers tend to amend the soil in a raised bed with a lot more nuits (in the form of compost?) than they do in a regular garden.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Nova,

Not trying to be disagreeable, but the soil in a garden is much deeper than 14-20". One can put just as many plants in a regular garden as they can in a raised bed.

I suspect a difference is that most growers tend to amend the soil in a raised bed with a lot more nuits (in the form of compost?) than they do in a regular garden.

Mike
Click to expand...

Thats alright Mike, i just remember reading her somewhere (i think even this thread) that deeper soil could support more plants. Maybe the type of plant is an important factor? Say Carrots VS Lettuce?
 
The gravel doesn't make sense, as it drains where?...to the soil underneath? You would have to design it to carry the water somewhere else if your soil has poor drainage.

And to amend the soil in a raised bed with a lot more nuits doesn't make that much sense either, as my impression is that less is more when it comes to nutrients and fertilizer.

Also with the soil being even deeper for the roots to grow in.
 
orangehero said:
The gravel doesn't make sense, as it drains where?...to the soil underneath? You would have to design it to carry the water somewhere else if your soil has poor drainage.

And to amend the soil in a raised bed with a lot more nuits doesn't make that much sense either, as my impression is that less is more when it comes to nutrients and fertilizer.

Also with the soil being even deeper for the roots to grow in.
Click to expand...

My impression is that the extra water being drained away would like you say be made to flow through some kind of holes in the sides as per the design of said structure.

As to the soil content (more nutes) it wouldn't have to be the case of adding more nutes, rather adding a good composted soil mix. This mix may come in limited supply and the use of raised beds ensures that none is wasted.

The soil depth would be fully dependant on what type of organic matter one wishes to grow.
 
Okay, I'm not wanting to be disagreeable with anyone here but, here are the facts about gardening in a raised be, also called Square Foot Gardening. Here http://www.squarefootgardening.com/index.php/The-Project/what-is-square-foot-gardening.html is the leading authority on this method of gardening and as you can see, by utilizing a raised bed there are a ton of benefits. Now, I'm sure that the gravel in my method wasn't totally necessary, but I felt that due to my existing soil being of poor quality, the gravel just 'aids' in the drainage because of the extra 3 inches. The water then just gets absorbed in the ground below. However, had I placed my beds on lets say concrete, then you are right, I would have had to make drainage provisions, like piping or something.

As for the depth, I have always tended to go over board and wanted my soil deeper than was the bare minimal. Also, by being in a raised bed instead of a row garden, you can grow more plants per square foot as I have successfully done last year without having overcrowding issues.

Enough of my ramblings....Check out the link, I think it will clear up any confusion.

Taken from the above website:

Spacing - Seeds and Plants
To figure plant and seed spacing and to eliminate the need to thin seedlings, read the back of your individual seed packets. If it says thin to 12 inches, plant 1 per square foot; thin to 6 inches, plant 4 per square foot; thin to 4 inches, plant 9 per square foot; thin to 3 inches, plant 16 per square foot. This applies to everything you plant - vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Basically, an extra-large plant is 1 per square, large is 4 per square, medium is 9 per square and small is 16 per square.

Since most people are not comfortable planting just one seed, we suggest they plant a pinch of seeds in each hole. How many in a pinch? It usually depends on the size of the seed. For tiny seeds, plant 2 to 4; for large seeds only 2 are needed. If only one sprouts, you are all set. If two or more sprout take a pair of scissors and cut off the weakest looking sprout or sprouts. Don't fall to the temptation of transplanting it because while you are digging it up, you will disturb the plant you are trying to save in that space. So just be bold and snip off the extra sprout or sprouts, leaving just the one you want to remain.
 
think of it this way...a raised bed is just a huge container...and container gardening is the only way I grow...it is just easier for me to grow in containers than it is to try and make an inground garden because I really don't have the tools necessary for tilling and my hands don't fit a shovel or hoe any more ;)

on the comment about plastic lining...if you use plastic to line with, only use on the ground (to keep weeds/grass from growin up through the soil) or on the sides (to keep the moisture away from the wood), but never, ever line the complete bed with plastic...if you do, that makes for no drainage at all...
 
Pepperfreak .... I don't see any of us raised bed fans as being disagreeable in the least here. Like you say .....
"Life's too short to hate...So, lets all eat, drink and feel the heat..."

You even went and found the site for Square Foot Gardening !! Well done !! Raised beds can shorter than ours. You would just need to dig out the first foot or so of soil ...... then dig up and loosen or use a tiller on the next foot of soil and add what's needed to have a good soil to work with. Then replace your first foot of soil and add what's needed to make it a good soil. Pretty simple ..... you could do that on a ground level garden bed.

A tall raised bed like mine was the simplest way to get what I wanted and felt I needed. I started with a GOOD soil in the beds and expect things to change very little from year to year. But ..... time will tell. On my beds I didn't use gravel because I felt drainage wasn't going to be a problem.

Good luck to ALL no matter what type of beds you use ......

Peace,
P. Dreadie

Well said AJ ..... I agree all we have is LARGE containers , it's that simple. And I agree hoes and shovels don't fit my hands to well. There's very little digging or other things to do from one year to the next.

Peace,
P. Dreadie
 
AJ and P. Dreadie, all very well put. I apologize if I seemed to have come off as tense, I didn't mean it that way. I was just trying to say what both of you had just said. Well put...

As for the maintenance of the raised beds, I find that they are much easier than growing in the ground. I use to hate turning the soil in the spring time with my Dad. It seemed that every year, we would labor at prepping the garden. With the raised beds, it seems that the soil remains loose from season to season and that really makes my back happy.
 
the worse thing I have to do each spring is turn the soil in my beds...I try and turn it as deep as I can without losing any over the sides (and for my long one that is a chore since it is only 16" wide)...I will then add some more potting mixture and a small amount of 10-10-10 to the top and turn it again....

and Pf...I didn't think you were tense...(just a yankee...roflmao)
 
AJ I didn't even think about Pepperfreak being a Yankee ..... at least he's not a "dang yankee" !! PF I didn't feel you were being tense either.

AJ I bought a small Stihl tiller, it's like a Mantis. I see it as a good investment. My beds are different sizes, 18" , 24" , and 30" wide. It only takes about 20 minutes to till a bed. Last years beds had some roots left after I pulled my plants. The tiller really tore up the roots and stuff and made them much smaller. Much faster and easier than using hand tools. I only have to use a rake to level things out after tilling. That leaves me with more time to do things I enjoy ..... play music .... cook .... eat ..... The little tiller is pretty light so even if I have to lift it into the raised beds it's much easier than hand tools.

My tiller would fit inside a 16" bed.

Peace,
P. Dreadie
 
thanks PD...I will have to look into them...I know Homus Depos has some small ones for rent and that may be the ticket instead of buying one...I could till what I need to in half a day or less
 
yup...old men is right... :lol:

when I was in wildlife management school many years ago, the no till method was used in the food plots we planted...worked quite well with cow peas and the like
 
AJ,

This fall my tiller died and I still had half the garden to till up so I could sow ryegrass. I rented a Mantis tiller and was able to till about 500 sq. ft. in just a couple of hours. I found that pulling the tiller (walking backwards) did a much better job.

Here's what I am hoping to get this spring. That is, if I can sell enough tomatoes in January, February and March!

Mike
 
Pepperfreak said:
Also, by being in a raised bed instead of a row garden, you can grow more plants per square foot as I have successfully done last year without having overcrowding issues.
Click to expand...

I'm not sold on this. :) Are you saying that if we both have 1,000 square feet of yard, not beds, you can grow more plants in beds than I can in just the ground? (We can both amend the soil so it is the same - it's just yours would be inside blocks.) Consider you need room to move between the beds, plus the blocks take up some room.

Last year, I planted three rows of potatoes with just a little over a foot of room between rows. The peppers and toms were planted in rows 18" apart. Carrots, onions and beans had less than a foot of space between them. And, I had the best crops in years, despite the weather. Also, except for spreading 18 pounds of 10-10-10 fert over 900 feet a couple of weeks before I planted anything, I didn't add any ferts the rest of the year.

I do not disagree that one could grow significantly more plants in 1,000 feet of raised beds than in 1,000 feet of total yard space, if this makes sense! :crazy:

Mike
 
Reading this thread has me interested in building a few of the cinder block beds. I currently have 2 4'X8' beds made out of wood for garlic and carrots, plus a 4'X20' bed for tomatoes. I think I will build a couple more beds to house peppers too. The ones in containers grew much better this year than the ones in ground due to the extremely wet year we had, and raised beds will greatly help drainage in my less then stellar garden soil.


I have mantis tiller that I bought to try and loosen up the heavy hard as a rock clay that is the garden. It is a wonderful machine and is quite powerful so such a small size. It took about 6 hours or so to till up the 20' by 50' plot to a depth of 8 inches. A bigger machine was not practical as the plot is at the bottom of a very steep hill. Getting a bigger tiller down there wouldn't have been a problem, but getting it back up would.


jacob
 
i think i will go with the blocks for sure... here is the spot that was already there i would like to clean it up and make it bigger ... it was fogy out today,not the best pic but you the idea ....

IMG00356-20091214-1741.jpg
 
that looks like an awesome place to put a bed redeyes...can you orient me and tell me which way is south?
 
Not an old "man" but everyone neglected one of my favorite benefits of raised bed gardening...it's easier on your back! When you have a bad back and the doctor says no more gardening you get creative. The list of people using raised beds or square foot gardening increases every year for a lot of reasons. That's because it works, is good for the soil, let's you produce a bigger crop in a small space, what's not to like? I know not everyone will come around to this way of gardening but it is a good logical method. Like AJ I garden in containers, if I didn't I wouldn't be gardening.
 
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