I spent the weekend installing these raised beds. Each bed has two tomato plants, plus one with basil added and one with hot peppers. The beds are about 5’ x 2’ x 17”. I did gopher wire underneath, with cardboard, then bark and other yard refuse, and then cheaper soil. I then put in the black soaker hose and topsoil on top of that, then some bark mulch we already had lying around.
The soaker hoses are tied to a timer and I’ve been been doing 5 minutes every morning, which is more than enough for water to drain through the bottom because these hoses let out quite a bit. After the first few weeks I’m planning to switch to only deep soaking every few days, depending on how hot it is (I’m in San Diego).
How’d I do? Any tips to optimize? Thanks in advance.
by Dapshott
2 Comments
That setup honestly looks solid. The timer and soaker hose are going to save you a lot of time once the tomatoes start taking off.
Unless those are determinant tomatoes, they’ll grow out of that trellis really fast.