Raised garden?

I'm sure its been ask about, but any good advice would be appreciated. Pros and cons, do and don't do , etc

If you have the time and energy then go for it. Don't have either now a days but used to love it

I’m really considering putting in some for carrots, onions, garlic, and some tomato plants. We have a sandy loam soil here and it will pack hard and won’t grow carrots worth a crap. Not sure how big I want to make them yet. I have all summer to decide.

I just put a bunch of Tomatoes, Peppers and Onions in Buckets and half of
an old Rubber maid trash can I was going to throw out. Also put some in
the ground along with Cucumbers, Squash Zuchini, Okra, Canteloupe
and Watermelon. Oh, and Cilantro, Oregano, Basil and Mint.

I can get 30 gallon drums at work that just had soap in them. I am thinking about getting about 6 of them and cutting in half top to bottom. Going to cut the top off one and try some potatoes in it.

That'll work just fine.

Plant the potatoes in about 1’ of dirt and add dirt to the drum as the plant grows. You can make LOTS of potatoes in a drum.

I've got three raised beds in my backyard, three concrete blocks high by two feet wide by 12-14 foot long each.easy to plant and tend to.

the 30 gal drums will need to be watered daily when it gets hot, sometimes twice daily. Raised beds do better, water every other day or less.

My experience with raised beds is that you had dang well enjoy watering your garden on the regular. I have a sand base soil around here and it drains well (too well) and any raised bed on top of it will drain and dry out very quickly. May not be so bad if you have stiff dirt.

Thanks guys. Ya'll stay safe

love my raised garden, only down fall is that it takes a lot of extra watering. Put in irrigation system in if you can, if not you have to water daily.

Search for user Maggie123 and view some of her posts. She is the raised garden Queen
http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthre...in=199965&Number=2847974#Post2847974

Your back will thank you.

You ain’t kidding. She’s my gardening hero.

Who envoked my name?

Hello gang; hope this finds you all doing well in the midst of this virus mess. I have been working in my beds for a couple of weeks now. It has been so wet, that I am later getting started than normal. To inatree, I have a number of raised beds that I plant. The main reason I started with raised beds was I have a bad back and the in ground gardens were giving me fits.

All of my raised beds are open bottom and made of cypress wood. Generally speaking, I have found that you need some gravel in the bottom of the bed, for good drainage. Then, I fill the bed with top soil to about 2/3-3/4 full. After that, I finish them out with potting soil. The mixture has worked well for me. The potting soil allows transplants and seed to establish a good root system with minimal stress. There are so many various ways you can create a raised bed and most all I have tried work great. If you use those drums, make sure you have adequate drainage, to insure your plants do not suffer from over saturation. That is especially true if you plant taters- they do not like wet feet. The tip above about planting the potatoes and adding soil as they grow is spot on!

Additionally, you need to always rotate your crops with raised beds to avoid nematodes and other diseases. You should also rework your soil in the beds every year. Generally, when I harvest a crop and clean out the bed, I take two or three inches of soil out too. That makes it easier for me to feed the bed and add the new soil for the next planting. Also, you will need more frequent watering than with an in ground garden, especially during the hot summer months. I try to water in the early morning, so everything has time to dry out before nightfall.

If you have the sort of beds I have, you must be vigilant about ants moving into the joint!! They are sneeky liittle buggers and can cause real havoc. My beds are three feet tall, three feet wide and eight feet long, with the exception of one that is only a foot tall but the same otherwise. On two of my beds, I have a 2x4 attached on each end and I have feedlot cattle panels attached for running plants and to tie tomatoes to. The other beds don't have that but I have lots of cages if they are needed.

As well as raised beds, I also use grow boxes for planting. I reworked three of my beds and have planted 24 butter crunch lettuce plants in one, the next is planted with green bean seed and the other has 14 tomato plants - I went with Better Boy and Roma this year. There are two more beds that I have yet to rework and plant. However, I did plant 100 onion sets, from Dixondale Farms, in six grow boxes. These onions get large bulbs not just the green onion type. I have six more grow boxes to get reworked too. Just received 6 broccoli plants to get out today, so I need to get back in action.

Maybe I have given you some information. If you have specific questions, please ask and I am happy to share any knowledge I have acquired over the years. Happy Gardening!

This will give you an idea ofwhat my beds look like...these were taken before but still will serve to show you my beds.

Thanks Maggie123. Those are some great looking beds.

A few more shots...these are grow boxes and they are wonderful for growing lots of plants but not root crops.

HA!! I did not look at that link until after I posted those pics! Sorry!

tell me why to water in morning. I've always watered in afternoon.

Wow some good looking raised garden beds. I planted mine yesterday. Been gardening with raised beds for probably 5 years now, with some success. Trying this year my first time at square foot gardening. Hope it works!

Agreed, nice raised beds, if I showed this to my wife I would be busy for days lol. Good luck

The best time to water is in the early morning right as the day breaks and the temperature still low so there’s no evaporation. If you water in late afternoon, your plants won’t have enough time to dry before sunset, and thus giving disease the perfect breeding ground which could destroy your garden.

Watering in the morning has several advantages. The winds tend to be calmer, so sprinkler spray doesn't drift, and low temperatures mean you lose less from evaporation. Watering early in the day provides the plants with moisture for vigorous growth during the day and prevents heat stress.

Thanks, folks.

What kinda dirt mixture do you use? And how you keep the fire ants out too thanks

I've always heard that about afternoon watering but it's never been a problem for me. Now if I watered everyday I could see disease being a problem but I'm not that into watering. I'll water over night and that's it for several days.

I have found that you need some gravel in the bottom of the bed, for good drainage. Then, I fill the bed with top soil to about 2/3-3/4 full. After that, I finish them out with potting soil. The mixture has worked well for me. The potting soil allows transplants and seed to establish a good root system with minimal stress.

These are my beds now....we had a helluva thunderstorm roll through this morning.'


Better Boy and Roma Tomato plants


First tomato


Butter crunch lettuce


The lettuce has done very well.


Green beans - replanted...you can sort of see the soil here and the beans are coming up this time. LOL!


Broccoli; this is my short bed that also has garlic, dill and a summer squash in one end.


Grow boxes with cucumbers on the right and zucchini on the left.


This bed has butterstick summer squash and carrots on the other end.

Hope you can sort of see the soil mixture. I will be putting okra in when I pull the lettuce. Started harvesting that yesterday. We ate some and I swapped my neighbor some for eggs.