raised-bed Raised Beds

P. Dreadie · Mar 2, 2009

Hello Everyone ,

I haven't been around in a while. My dance card as been full with other things , but I've still got
peppers on my mind.

I've decided to go with raised beds. Instead of wood I want to use concrete because I think it will
last much longer. So my question is do I need to seal the inside of the beds with anything? I'm not
so much worried about moisture loss but will anything leach out of the concrete and harm the peppers? Change the pH of the soil or anything I should think about ?

Thanks in advance ,
P. Dreadie

AlabamaJack · Mar 2, 2009

hey guy...welcome back...long time...

I made my big raised bed with cinder block and have had no problem with it...it is about 45-50 feet long 16" wide (length of one cinder block) and 24" deep...I use if mostly for tomatos...

P. Dreadie · Mar 2, 2009

Hiya AJ ,

Thanks for an answer. I guess cinder block is pretty close to concrete. I don't have much space
to work with this go around. I'm stealing a big part of my dawg pen. It has ass-troll turf as a cover.
I plan to just set forms on top and pour walls. Cinder block would look better but would take up
more space.

Maybe next year I can take over some of the yard. I have a sprinkler system and this year wifey
said I better not fool with it !!! And she wasn't smiling .....

AJ I see you're coming along BIG time !! Are you still getting to pick a little music

P. Dreadie

AlabamaJack · Mar 2, 2009

yup...pickin' about once a week right now but then again, this is the slow time of the year for us...one thing I have noticed is the BBQ houses we play here have been hurt by the economyand aren't near as busy as they were last summer...

one note about the raised beds if you pour them...you have to make sure you have good drainage, if not, you will be building a "pool" for the plants to live in...and remember, in our hot hot summer weather, the top of the soil may dry out and the plants may droop but unless you check the moisture of the soil down 6-12" to see if it is moist, trouble awaits....hot temperatures + wet soil = root rot...

last year, I lost a little over 50 plants because of overwatering and these were in 5 gallon (read 4 gallon) nursery containers...I finally sacrificed a plant and the top 3 inches of the soil was dry, but the in the bottom of the pot it was mud...very wet mud...

when you are setting up your forms, take some 2" heavy schedule PVC pipe, cut to the right length (inside the bed to outside) and make some drains toward the bottom of the bed...on the inside put a pile of gravel covered by 1/4" hardware cloth around the inside openings of the pipe...gravel and the hardware cloth will keep the drains from stopping up too quickly....this will allow for slow drainage...

check out the drains in my front flower bed...