Raised garden ...do you amend beds to start new season

Im in my 3rd year of raised beds and up to now I alway would prepare my soil in the beds every spring with 1/3 top soil...1/3rd manure...and 1/3rd compost. Do I need to continue to enhance my soil each and every start of a new season? If so, should I soil test first?

Next question: Can I put zuccinni,melon, and cuccumber in early with the lettuce. I start my seeds inside and they are really hurting to get in the ground.

I also have raised beds and use the square foot gardening method. My soil is 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 compost. Each time I plant a square I add a trowel full of compost. It shouldn't need more than that to refresh it each season. Your manure is a type of compost so you are really adding a lot of nitrogen to the mix. I think sending off a soil test would be helpful just so you know where you are starting from and then once it is in good shape you shouldn't need to add anything more than additional compost each year.

Melons and cucumbers shouldn't go out until the last frost day for your zone. Mine is May 7th for my area. Your risk of planting the seedlings out now is that they will not survive a frost. You can try covering them with a frost blanket once they are outside if you think you are still at risk of frost at night.

I'm new to all this and just learning myself. I have my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant all indoors and they will likely need to be up potted a number of times before I can put them out end of May. Good luck.

Sounds like you both are awaiting warmer weather for your warm weather crops. Do either of you have a hoop over your beds? From my understanding, a hoop can be a very useful tool in extending your growing season(s) on both ends.

In this case, I believe you could warm up your soil in advance by laying plastic garbage bags on top so the sun would heat up the ground underneath. Then, you put your hoop in place (or install if over the covered ground). By the time the soil heats up, and the ground is ready, you plant out your young 'uns with some confidence they won't croak in the cold ground.

The beauty of the hoop is that you can cover it with a number of coverings designed to accommodate changes in the season(s). In advance of your spring?summer? plantout, you'd cover it with 4-6 mil clear plastic sheeting. The hoop will capture the heat from the sunshine during the day, and transfer it to the soil during the night. This gives you an earlier start on your plantout season. After your seedlings are established, you can replace the plastice with a floating row cover, or other lightweight cover designed to let in light and air for circulation, and keep out the buglies you don't want attacking your babies.

It works the same way on the other end of your season, by extending your summer heat (under the hoop) a ways into your fall season. Also, you get to protect early fall crops from too much cold, too soon.

A hoop can be installed over your raised bed in roughly 10-15 minutes. They can be tall as you like, or close to the ground as you like. If you're interested in the instructions (which a 10-year-old could do...), let me know and I'll post them here for ya'll.

Here's a picture of how one gardener used a hoop this past January to set out her tomato plants in mid-February, well in advance of her last freeze date. Granted, she had to use the plastic plus blankets on occasion, because I think her temps dipped to a low of around 36 degrees during this period.

But, today, Drthor's crop is one of the earliest, healthiest, and most productive tomato crops growing, and some of us are exhibiting tomato envy and kicking ourselves for not being prepared or brave enough to do what she did! You should see her crop. I've posted the link to her thread, and you can go see her hoops in action, in the various stages of use.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1159852/

Godspeed, and Good Harvest! ^^_^^

Linda

Thanks for the advise. I have hoops and use them every year for the spring. LOVE the idea for the black garbage bags to help heat up the soil...thanks for the help..merdle

merdle you definitely do not need to add manure and compost at the same time. Compost by itself is all the fertilizer you ever need to add. Adding right before a new crop will keep your soil good and healthy. As Garden_Healing mentioned, you may be getting to much nitrogen, which will cause your plants to grow real well but not set many fruits. Here is some info on soil testers, http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/ProductCart/pc/Home-Soil-Testing-Kits-and-Light-Meters-c512.htm

i looked at the other thread and is this a hula hoop?. If so do I cut it? Belle

hula hoop?

Did I mis spell?

Are you asking about cutting hula hoops for the hoop house construction? ^^_^^

They're made out of lengths of PVC pipe bent over and sunk into anchors in the ground on each side of the raised bed, or, in my case, over the concrete launching pad where my eBuckets were sitting.

Thank you, I was thinking of the hula hoop that girls play with. LOL!!! We were in Houston for a week but mostly played golf.

Belle

Gymgirl I would love the instructions, pretty please!? My vegies need a bit of shade.

Thanks,
Mindy in hot hot hot Tucson

Mindy, et al,
Here are the instructions for Building a PVC Hoop House.

Go to the box stores (HD or Lowes) and purchase a length of PVC pipe. Note that they come in Schedule 40 Inside diameter (the inside walls are thicker), or outside diameter (the inside walls are thinner). Get the thicker walled PVC, no matter which diameter you purchase. Look at them side x side so you'll see the difference.

Determine how tall you want the hoop over your plants, e.g., over lettuce vs. over tomato plants. Generally, I'm covering broccolis, cauliflowers, and cabbages that are growing in eBuckets, so I buy the 10' lengths and bend them over the 5' x 6' concrete pad the buckets sit on. My height ends up being somewhere around 4' to 4-1/2'. (Drthor's hoops end up being around 3' after she cuts a 10' length in half and bends it over her wee tomato seedlings. Then she must've converted to taller hoops as the plants grew taller.) They also held up blankets, so the thicker diameter is pretty sturdy!

Now, determine the thickness you want your ribs. I've purchased 1/2" Schedule 40, but I think for a stronger structure I will go with 1" or 2" in the future. I have a lot of wind. After you settle on the thickness, determine how many "ribs" you'll need. Calculate the length of your area to be covered, noting that you'll place a "rib" every 12". This will give your total pieces for the ribs.

Once you've got the diameter and number necessary, you need to purchase 1-2 more PVC pipes that are just about 1/2" larger diameter than your ribs. These will become your ground "anchors". You will cut these larger pipes into 12" pieces, and pound them into the ground every 12" down the length of your bed/area. Use a hammer, or rubber mallot to pound them in flush (no trip hazards!) When you bend your ribs over, you will slip one side into an "anchor", bend it over, and fit it into the "anchor" on the other side. Voila'! You are making a hoop house!

Finally, purchase some 4-6 mil clear contractor's plastic to cover your hoop. Drthor purchased perforated plastic and it worked like a charm during her late winter months to protect the plants from the cold (I believe her lowest temp during the protection period ended up being 36 degrees). The holes allowed air to flow right on through, and no wind gusts threatened to lift her hoop off the ground. Also, water was easily available to the plants through the perforations. I'll be ordering some of that stuff next!

Make sure you adequately vent your plastic hoops on the ends so there will be air circulation and no excessive heat buildup. You can fry your plants underneath!

So. That's it! Once you get all your parts assembled, you can install you hoop in about 10-15 minutes! The 10' lengths at the box stores run about $1.47 to $1.57 per pipe. Also, if you ever need to dismantle the hoop, you just remove the ribs. You can leave the anchors sunk into the ground for next season. If you need to remove the anchors, wet the ground around them first and use a pair of pliers to pull them up. They come up pretty easily, with a plug of mud in the bottom. No problem!

Linda

P.S. You can use different coverings for different times of the year. Lightweight blankets, Remay and row covers, netting, breezy gauze, etc. Use either alligator clips. Or, if you have any excess PVC larger than your rib, cut it into little sections and split it down one side. Slip it over the rib to catch the fabric.

06/11/2015
UPDATE TO THE PVC HOOP CONSTRUCTION TUTORIAL:
Now, I cut the anchors at 12" or 15" (a better length). Then, I measure down 6" from the top of the anchor and make a mark on each one. I pound them into the ground only enough that they are flush with the top edge of the raised bed, then I screw them into the outside of the raised beds at the 6" mark, using a rather long deck screw. This ensures that all the hoops are set at the same height when I push them into the anchors. The screw stops them from sinking down into the anchor and making the hoop all wonky.

It's a more uniform construction.

Hope this helps.

This message was edited Jun 11, 2015 1:35 PM

Wonderful, Linda, thank you so much! :-)

Mindy

Great directions, and a lots less expensive than the ready made hoops.

Um, thank you.

I re-read my instructions, and, I would like to edit the statement that reads "I have a lot of wind," to read, "I have a lot of wind in my back yard!"

LOL! ^^_^^

Ok, put in the lettuce and broccolli put the hoops over them and now I have MAJOR mold!
What do I do now????? m

Merdle,
What're your temps there now? Lettuce & broccoli are both cool/cold weather crops. I don't understand why you got mold. It had to be some kind of heat buildup under the hoop. Did you have seeds or plants under the hoop? Let's try to figure this out.

Linda

I start my seeds indoors. They are established plants. I had some mold inside on some of the pots. Thought it would go away once I put everything out side. Should I spray with a little peroxide and water? Today is the very first day of real sun and heat. Will that take care of it? m

I'd work with drying out the soil a bit, if it's overly moist. The peroxide and water won't hurt. Mold need a food and water source to grow. Moist, humid conditions on a fertile soilbed seem like prime conditions. Work on drying out your soil a bit.

Keep me posted.

Linda