Raised bed height

[schill93]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

I thought about you today, schill93. I pulled my tomatoes out of a frame it all raised garden bed, only 11 inches high. They were extras I hated to go to waste. The roots were amazing, over two and a half feet long and thick as a pencil. The growing medium was fresh, new Miracle Grow with cardboard underneath. The roots went outward and not downward, as would be spread when trenched.

Of course MG will compact way down next year. I grew carrots in the the other new MG bed and had my first real satisfactory crop of a root vegetable. I'll be rotating several twos of carrots into the tomato bed and planting tomatoes only in ground in this garden.

The tomatoes in my taller bed with a sandy soil /compost mixture did not fare nearly as well. Perhaps it was a moisture issue as the mg mulched with plastic kept moisture better than the sandy soil with wood chips.

- Lisa

That's very interesting Lisa, and thank you for thinking about me. There are so many contrary opinions on the net when you research, but they don't usually cover my climate in their recommendations.

Costco carries that plastic mulch here every year, but it is black and the last thing I would think is to put down is anything black as it absorbs heat. Though you would think Costco wouldn't carry it here if it wasn't suitable to our climate.

I am surprised that your roots went out instead of down. All of my tomato plants have been planted mostly in 15 gal. pots that are over 16" deep. I had an over flow of plants this year so I would up having to put 4 of them on the side of my lawn area. (the others are raised up)

When I went to try and move one of the pots over a bit, I heard a breaking sound as in roots ripping. So I imagine some of the roots came out of the bottom of the pots and rooted in the ground as well. Boy of boy, decisions, decisions.