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Outdoor raised beds and soil recipes?

bongtokinjuggalo

bongtokinjuggalo

Well-Known Member
OK, so this year I plan to grow around 20 plants (maybe more) and was going to plant in the ground, until someone recommended I use raised beds. So, I need help with that, and soil.

1) Raised beds. How do you go about making them? I was thinking about getting some 18 inch wide , 3 foot long planks of wood, and making squares 3x3 and fill it with soil 1ft. That will give each plant 9 cubic feet to root, which should be plenty. Any ideas or tips with this?


2) Soil. So far I have come up with the idea of taking regular store bought potting soil and adding horse manure (nitrogen and trace elements), egg shells (calcium), blood meal (nitrogen), and later for flowering I would add bone meal for phosphorous. Anybody got soil tips?
 
budman52

budman52

Well-Known Member
bongtokinjuggalo said:
OK, so this year I plan to grow around 20 plants (maybe more) and was going to plant in the ground, until someone recommended I use raised beds. So, I need help with that, and soil.

1) Raised beds. How do you go about making them? I was thinking about getting some 18 inch wide , 3 foot long planks of wood, and making squares 3x3 and fill it with soil 1ft. That will give each plant 9 cubic feet to root, which should be plenty. Any ideas or tips with this?


2) Soil. So far I have come up with the idea of taking regular store bought potting soil and adding horse manure (nitrogen and trace elements), egg shells (calcium), blood meal (nitrogen), and later for flowering I would add bone meal for phosphorous. Anybody got soil tips?
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i would not mess with raised beds don,t wast your time and money. just dig a hole in the ground and put a bag of soil in it foxfarm soil is the kind
 
CrackerJax

CrackerJax

New Member
First a little math correction.....

3x3x1 is 9 SQUARE FEET.

3X3X3 is 9 CUBIC FEET.

Raised beds work absolutely great and are well worth the effort for ANY type of plant you grow.
Stick with the 1 foot high, but dig one foot down as well and fill that too.

The egg shells and blood meal are good additions, but cow manure is better than horse and rabbit is about the best (that's readily available). You will want to compost it first however, so as not to burn the plants. Or simply buy composted material as a substitute.
 
greenjumble

greenjumble

Well-Known Member
Make a few gallons water with molasses as you get into flower and dump it on there as well to boost your crystal production and help break down whats in the soil. Sounds like fun. ;-)
 
bongtokinjuggalo

bongtokinjuggalo

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info CrackerJax, but I just did the math on a calculator, and 3x3x3 is 27 cubic feet, 3x3x1 is 9 cubic feet.

You said to dig 1 foot down too, will I still get the drainage value of a raised bed? Because that is the whole point of not just going in the ground, because around here, there is nothing but hard clay, which = poor drainage.

Ok, so, anyone know where to get rabbit shit? And how long would I have to compost it if not already done?
 
Mountainfarmer

Mountainfarmer

Well-Known Member
you won't get enough water for drainage to be a problem. Compost for at least a month, the longer the better. For manure check rabbit farms?
 
bongtokinjuggalo

bongtokinjuggalo

Well-Known Member
there are no rabbit farms in my area, but plenty of cow and horse pasture, and there is one chicken farm round here. Ill look into it.

Anyone got those soil recipes? should I go like 1 part manure to 1 part potting soil?
 
bongtokinjuggalo

bongtokinjuggalo

Well-Known Member
a month to break down good enough? Because Im hoping to start this year's grow in the second week of march. I live in the southeastern US, would mid march be too early to start growing? Should I wait till sometime in april?
 
CrackerJax

CrackerJax

New Member
It's better than nothing but 3-4 is better. If it's possible grind it up in some way so it breaks down quicker. Depending on how much CUBIC feet :wink: you want to grow in, you could buy "black cow" which is broken down manure. They sell it at Home depot and it's darn cheap.

Either way, you should begin a compost pile for NEXT year...then you'll have some really prime soil ready to go. Composting is fun and a great way to keep you in tune with ur environment.
 
CrackerJax

CrackerJax

New Member
It's pretty cheasp and next year....you'll be primed and ready to go. Composting is easy...always layer green, brown, green, brown. grass cuttings, dead leaves, manure ... etc.
 
connorbrown

connorbrown

Well-Known Member
I'm guessing you live in Georgia because of the red clay. The clay fuckin sucks.

But anyways, a raised bed would be great but if your trying to keep them hidden it would be a lot harder to hide that.
 
bongtokinjuggalo

bongtokinjuggalo

Well-Known Member
it will be easy to hide really, because the area i will be growing in, on one side is completely engulfed in a wall of inpentrable thornbrush, and the other side is thick woods (with a lot of thorns). There is only like one way in. And really, the area isnt ready yet, it is filled with thorns brire and shit that I have to clear out before it can be suitable to grow it. So anyone who HAS looked at it before will think that that place can't be a good spot to even walk to, let alone grow something like weed.
 
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