Are raised beds worth doing in a hot climate??

[huntsman]

I understand the logic that raised beds warm quicker than the rest of your veg patch, but surely that means they can overheat in a hot climate?

Notwithstanding the fact that they are easier on your back (once built!) is there much value in having them at all?

[Marymcp]

That's a good point about overheating but yard long beans, tepary beans and summer squash all like the heat and do well in my raised beds. But the real reason I built them was because my native soil is mostly caliche. It's a lot easier to fill the bed with a half ton pick-truck of garden soil from the landscape center than to wait years for the caliche to be well amended.

What is the soil like in Johannesburg?

[huntsman]

There's quite a lot of clay, but I am close to the crest of a small hill, and I have fairly good drainage, and a well balanced soil, which I load with compost continually.

I have a bad back - probably due to my huge front! - so I do see the value in the raised beds, but I imagine they would really get too hot in midsummer. Our heat ranges between that of Ca and Az if memory serves me...

[Marymcp]

Sounds like the hill will help with drainage. For back problems have you considered straw bale gardening? I've tried it before and was moderately successful. I just did it for a fun experiment. You need well aged bales.

We hit 120° last summer. My garden basically 'rested' last summer and I put in lots of tomatoes, chinese cabbage, onions and herbs in early fall. We got an early frost a couple of weeks ago and some of the beautiful tomato plants took a hit but I think the root systems are strong and they will come back in spring.

[huntsman]

I didn't realise that tomato plants could come back in Spring...

I kinda took it for granted that the first frosts were the last time I would see that particular plant...

[Marymcp]

Only the leaves look damaged, there's plenty of green stems and *some* green leaves that were buried under the mass. I'm not pruning because I don't want new growth right now. I could be wrong, a friend came by, looked at the black mass and told me to stay the course, they will come back. Nothing to loose, everything to gain, by justing waiting. I'll keep covering on frost projected nights. I missed one night because I came home late and tired, temps were predicted to 38° but it went lower. A lazy farmer can lose her crop. :-|

[b54red]

I've had mine for over 25 years and haven't regretted building them one bit. I am on top of a clay knob with very little topsoil and gardening before raised beds was a true nightmare. I live in a very hot climate and we have been in an off and on drought for most of 25 years.

The biggest problem with raised beds is not the heat of the beds but rather keeping them watered. Heat is easily solved by a good thick mulch. I use a lot of organic matter along with some water holding crystals mixed in each year. I also have drip irrigation and now use a very heavy mulch from cypress trees which does a wonderful job retaining the water in the beds.

If you are having back problems then they can be a life saver as long as you don't make the beds too wide. Mine are 4 feet wide and as I have gotten older and my arthritis has gotten much worse, I wish I had made them no more than 40 inches wide. It would be nice to sit on my little scooting stool and be able to reach the center without having to lean over and stretch.

[bigbubbacain]

I must agree. Best garden investment I ever made. I would suggest not making your beds too wide unless you plan to put a pathway down the middle. Too much width makes the maintenance a chore when it comes to weeding and things like that. My only regret was making my 2 beds 6' wide when it would have been just as effective to make 4 @ 3' wide.

Originally Posted by b54red

I've had mine for over 25 years and haven't regretted building them one bit. I am on top of a clay knob with very little topsoil and gardening before raised beds was a true nightmare. I live in a very hot climate and we have been in an off and on drought for most of 25 years.

The biggest problem with raised beds is not the heat of the beds but rather keeping them watered. Heat is easily solved by a good thick mulch. I use a lot of organic matter along with some water holding crystals mixed in each year. I also have drip irrigation and now use a very heavy mulch from cypress trees which does a wonderful job retaining the water in the beds.

If you are having back problems then they can be a life saver as long as you don't make the beds too wide. Mine are 4 feet wide and as I have gotten older and my arthritis has gotten much worse, I wish I had made them no more than 40 inches wide. It would be nice to sit on my little scooting stool and be able to reach the center without having to lean over and stretch.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Marymcp

Only the leaves look damaged, there's plenty of green stems and *some* green leaves that were buried under the mass. I'm not pruning because I don't want new growth right now. I could be wrong, a friend came by, looked at the black mass and told me to stay the course, they will come back. Nothing to loose, everything to gain, by justing waiting. I'll keep covering on frost projected nights. I missed one night because I came home late and tired, temps were predicted to 38° but it went lower. A lazy farmer can lose her crop. :-|

The freeze must have just been close to a killing freeze. I lost some tomatoes furthest from the wall. The tomatoes closest to the wall were fine and none of my habaneros, anaheims, eggplants or jalapeños, which are up next to the house were even touched. I didn't cover anything and our forecast was for 28 degrees three nights in a row. It's amazing what a heat sink those brick walls can be!
I like the raised beds because I can get stuff growing well in early spring. Nothing does well in summer except ysrdlongs and okra, anyway. I'm going to yank everything except the really heat tolerant stuff this summer, not try to keep all the tomatoes growing. Maybe grow some amaranth and sesame for the chickens in their place instead.

[jerryinfla]

This will be my first season using raised beds for anything other than onions or carrots so I can't speak for myself but many Florida gardeners use them successfully and not many places in the USA have longer nor hotter summers than we have. In addition to what others have said, one reason I'm trying them is that they will provide a fixed border so that I never walk in the bed thus compacting the soil.

[huntsman]

Have you folk concentrated on the warmth aspect of the raised beds or was the height important to you? What height have you made the beds?

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by huntsman

Have you folk concentrated on the warmth aspect of the raised beds or was the height important to you? What height have you made the beds?

Warmth and height were never a factor for me.

It was for drainage and building up good soil on top of bad clay soil.

[Tom C zone 4/5]

Originally Posted by huntsman

Have you folk concentrated on the warmth aspect of the raised beds or was the height important to you? What height have you made the beds?

Raised beds and a place to settle my tochis on (when I'm walking), coupled with wide enough (no more than 48") beds and wide enough (no less than 48") aisles to fit a walking aide down works for me.

At this writing I probably walk just a bit better'n Carolyn. Fall better too.

Back on topic, 8 to 12 inch tall raised beds and shortened gardening tools bring the middle of raised beds into my reach.

I'm on clay, and water logging is an issue at times. Slightly raised beds relieve that noakian problem.

Mulch helps relieve drouth. Hugelkultur helps more, and abates need for irrigation.

[Marymcp]

Mine are one 2"x10' plank topped with a 2"x4"plank (tall). I was not concerned with bending, etc but did what bigbubba and b54 mentioned, 3' wide so I can reach the middle, 6' long. I mulch to control heat and water evaporation, been using a combo of cardboard and straw because I have them around and they are cheap - or free in the case of the cardboard.

[psa]

I haven't noticed any difference in warmth in my raised beds. Mine are 30" wide and tall, which I calculated as the maximum volume I'd want for any crop in them. I wouldn't mind having them a bit taller for the bending over to, but there's no call for more media depth than that.

I remove the top six inches every year and dig in new media. The old media goes into the compost piles.