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Sun, Jan 12, 14 at 17:47
| As we are mired in the coldest part of winter here my thoughts have turned to the garden and what and how I intend to grow. I plan on doing things differently this year especially where my tomatoes are concerned. Last year was a disaster with very few tomatoes and lots of dead plants. Cool weather and rain for days on end that made for no time for spraying. This year I think I will raise the rows and work in some composted manure and cover with black plastic to help warm the soil early and then cover the plastic with straw or other mulch when the weather heats up. My question for those who may have done this before is how high and wide should I make them? I would imagine you would want them high enough to keep a good bit of the root system from being in overly wet soil but not high enough that you could not still pull up sufficient moisture. I'm thinking maybe two feet wide at the bottom and a foot to foot and a half high. I plan on using my rewire cages for support. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Good idea to deal with too much rain. I think you have a sound plan. Actually a lot of things like squash, cucumbers, potatoes are planted that way in continuous hills. You can do tomatoes that way too. Now that I can think of , that is how they do it commercially. |
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| You'd want them at least as wide as your cages for good support. Height - 6-8" I'd think. Of course just as sure as we do that because last year was too wet, this year will be too dry. Sometimes we just can't win. :) Dave |
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- Posted by Whosurtomato 6a Southern IN (My Page) on Tue, Jan 14, 14 at 19:53
| Thanks guys for your responses. Dave I think you may be right about the weather, seems like every year is the opposite from the last, but I can deal with too little rain a lot better than too much. At least that is my hope. :) |
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| 2 layers of 2x6" boards is a good height. But the material matters too. If you use pressure-treated boards, the chemicals can leach into your food. Cedar and some other woods that are naturally rot-resistent are safer. I'm considering the new composite wood/plastic boards. There are some that are 5/4" and pretty sturdy. I think I am going to go with those. |
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- Posted by Whosurtomato 6a Southern IN (My Page) on Sun, Jan 19, 14 at 8:50
| yardman, I am not going to go with any boards or other materials to actually make a raised bed but just a continuous hill more or less. Kind of a halfway measure, but I'll see how it goes. |
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