Warning

 

Close

Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Confirm Cancel
BCM
User Panel

Posted: 10/23/2014 11:20:28 PM EDT
Well, another season has passed and my raised beds failed. I did peppers and tomatoes in the big one. I tried pumpkins last year. Fail !



I did flowers in the small one. This year I planted a butterfly bush. The flowers failed. The butterfly bush kinda, started to take off but then puttered out.




I'm thinking it's because my fill dirt was more mulch than dirt. Would coating it with lime make it better for next season ?



Link Posted: 10/24/2014 12:44:01 AM EDT
[#1]
Get lots of mushroom compost and till it in.
Link Posted: 10/24/2014 1:02:00 AM EDT
[#2]
How do I do that ?


Link Posted: 10/24/2014 1:59:22 AM EDT
[#3]
You need equal parts compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. And mix in fertilizer. Don't use potting soil at all.
 



Is it in full sun for most of the day?
Link Posted: 10/24/2014 11:10:06 AM EDT
[#4]

Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


How do I do that ?


View Quote
Well you break up the ground, lay the new compost on top then mix it in. It is easier if you have a tiller.



 
Link Posted: 10/24/2014 2:12:02 PM EDT
[#5]
A search will help you figure out what to add in to make up for what you don't have.



Lots of folks get a test kit to help figure it out.



If you know the problem is too much mulch then you want to work on composting it into dirt over the winter.



Raised beds can have issues with not holding moisture depending on size and amount of sun and what not.  



It might be wrong but I consider raised beds to be great big flower pots.



You need to make sure they have the right nutrients in it and that it holds water for the roots to pick up.



When working at wallyworld one fella watered stuff in lawn and garden really fast.  It actually wound up making little tunnels to the drain holes of the pots so the water went in and right back out.  



I am not an expert at all and don't currently have a garden or even potted plants.



But mulch might be giving things a lot of air space and not holding moisture and if the mulch won't rot and turn into dirt then it needs a bit of help.
Link Posted: 10/24/2014 2:23:04 PM EDT
[#6]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
You need equal parts compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. And mix in fertilizer. Don't use potting soil at all.  

View Quote


Doing this fixed mine. The soil wasn't getting broken up enough. The peat moss and vermiculite fixed this issue.
Link Posted: 10/24/2014 9:25:27 PM EDT
[#7]
I changed my mixture to (roughly) 1/4 peat, 1/4 bagged garden soil, 1/4 vermiculite and 1/4 Black Kow compost. Before planting the boxes for the following season I only add Black Kow and mix it in as I churn up the soil. I water raised beds every day until I'm comfortable that the plants have set roots a couple inches deep then, Depending on rain I'll wait two or three days to water but no more.

It is easy to check dampness depth on a raised bed. Make sure the soil is damp at least a couple inches below the roots/
Link Posted: 10/26/2014 11:09:28 PM EDT
[#8]

How much sunlight does it get?  I agree it's probably more a soil issue though like others have posted.
Link Posted: 10/27/2014 7:50:11 AM EDT
[#9]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:

How much sunlight does it get?  I agree it's probably more a soil issue though like others have posted.
View Quote



Raised beds have a very hard time keeping moisture.  In Texas, at least, you can't give them enough water to keep them from drought stressing.

TRG
Link Posted: 10/27/2014 9:06:42 AM EDT
[#10]
They work well in the north east but you do have to keep an eye on them for watering needs.  They certainly do dry out faster that flat earth.   For things like tomoatoes you might even do better in the raised boxes because of the extra heat.  Some plants need all the heat they can get in the NE.  

I bought my place and they had a hodge podge of raised beds and the sellers said they did well with them.  I tore them out because I wanted to go bigger and I had a 5' tractor mounted tiller.  I still have to watch my moisture levels as I only have so much soil before shale/slate bed rock.  I pulled a lot of it out to do what I wanted to do.  We had a fairly moist summer and things did pretty good.  I had tomatoes coming out my ears, and cukes too.  My buddy came up a few weeks ago and was bitching me out. He still had green tomatoes at first frost, not some, all of them.  I had left more tomatoes to waste than he got all year.   I canned a lot of them, and gave boxes and boxes away.  I had planted 13 Roma San Marzanos and 6 Early girl and 6 beef steaks.  Then I had some wild recruitment from what the previous owner had and got a small yield of grape and cherry tomatoes off to the side from when i had been temporarily shoving off the top soil and pulling rock.

A lot of times depending on what your mulch was made of  you may have a serious imbalance of something.  A lot of times it's an acid level.
Link Posted: 10/27/2014 10:04:25 AM EDT
[#11]
Notes from the guy that wrote the book on the subject - highly recommend that you read it, as it covers everything you'll need to ask about raised bed gardening.

Square Foot Garden, soil mix
Link Posted: 10/27/2014 10:50:35 AM EDT
[#12]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Notes from the guy that wrote the book on the subject - highly recommend that you read it, as it covers everything you'll need to ask about raised bed gardening.

Square Foot Garden, soil mix
View Quote



Mel's mix +1.

My peppers also failed this year....but it wasn't the beds. I was trying to grow equatorial plants in Michigan.
Link Posted: 10/27/2014 8:21:35 PM EDT
[#13]
Link Posted: 10/27/2014 9:11:23 PM EDT
[#14]
Link Posted: 10/27/2014 9:33:24 PM EDT
[#15]
If you don't get much water, you might want to consider converting to a wicking bed.   The water sits in the bottom and is drawn up to the plants.
Link Posted: 10/29/2014 11:57:22 PM EDT
[#16]
I did a sack or two of dried manure. Mixed in a years worth of compost and watered it religiously. Pretty good sun. Midday at least.



The fill is still mulch..... Would a sack of lime help break this down ?




My tomatoes and peppers were weak. The pumpkins, the year before did well. But not crazy like my neighbors did. Hell, There were wild pumpkins growing in the ditch next to road on my street that got out of control ! One of my neighbors probably dumped his uncarved pumpkins and they did better than mine with no help.....
Close Join Our Mail List to Stay Up To Date! Win a FREE Membership!

Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!

You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.


By signing up you agree to our User Agreement. *Must have a registered ARFCOM account to win.
Top Top