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.