Tarping tomatoes -- pros and cons

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by landarc

Feldon,
There are better things than tarps. I would look into the UV resistant Poly films being used for greenhouses these days. They will last 2 to 3 years in sunlight.

Yeah, I'm getting away from the tarp and moving towards clear plastic of some kind. Maybe I'll do 1 garden bed with this covering and the rest without as a control/test.

Originally Posted by landarc

As for drainage, I am a big beleiver in putting a 6" layer of drain rock into the bottom of any raised bed of pot to insure getting water away from the soil in the event of any deluge.

Well I'm trying to improve the soil below the garden bed. I might do some gravel in the "channels" running down the sides of the garden beds.

Originally Posted by landarc

That was a huge bummer about your plant loss, hope your new idea works.

I don't want to do so much work that I don't want to do anymore. I figure after digging and building the 2 new garden beds and framing out the existing garden beds with new lumber, I won't feel like doing much more work outside.