Raised beds- Fall preparation

While I've never used it, Gypsum is a great soil amendment for hard clay type soils. It does help create more softness in the hard soil. As the mineral calcium sulfate dihydrate, it may also provide some additional calcium to help prevent blossom end rot. Most soils have enough calcium in them to meet the tomato plants requirements, but the gypsum may help. I've always relied on the organics, sand, and earthworms to maintain a softer and better growing soil, but I do like to try different things. I also usually add some dried molasses mixed into my beds. It seems to act like a kick starter for the bacteria which do most of the work in my beds. Unrefined molasses also contains some sulphur which seems good in my beds.

I try to create an environment in my beds similar to the environment in a compost pile with the organics, minerals, and natural critters like bacteria and earthworms present. When some moisture saturates the beds during the winter, it is almost like compost tea causing everything to distribute evenly in the beds.

At the end of a growing season, I usually have a layer of pine bark about 1 1/2" thick on top of the beds. The pine bark gets turned into the soil along with the other amendments and fresh pine bark is added to the top of each bed in the spring to help retain moisture.

Ted

[kurt]

For the longest time until I got some towering trees trimmed I was having a constant battle with sod not taking hold in my walkway areas in yard.I started layering pine bark onto the bare ground in those areas and low and behold the material breaks down wonderfully and the centipede type sod we have here in Florida loves it.I can imagine the benefits it does mixed in over time as a soil amendment for raised beds.

[Ed of Somis]

Hi Ted and Kurt...I will now recycle my old top mulch into my beds...based on what you said. In addition, I have purchased 10 bags of steer, 5 bags of compost, and 5 bags of chicken manure. This will be added to approximately 2 yds of topsoil.

[kurt]

Originally Posted by Ed of Somis

Hi Ted and Kurt...I will now recycle my old top mulch into my beds...based on what you said. In addition, I have purchased 10 bags of steer, 5 bags of compost, and 5 bags of chicken manure. This will be added to approximately 2 yds of topsoil.

I have a gardenia bush and underneath I have a collar of pavers(12ft round and 1 1/2 ft high that I throw all my soft cuttings,old herb plants,baby banana sprouts,coffe grounds, banana peels etc.No real table scraps since it is to humid /hot and we have so many critters/insects it will cause some real havoc.I make sure to turn it once or twice a month.Most important I will buy earthworms when I am in the area of our local bait shop and chuck them in the hole.Amazingly at any given time when I need some nice black nutrient rich cloning soil for larger tree cuttings(sugar cane,frangapani,lychees,mangoes etc.I will go to the soil underneath the gardenia and the shovel will go straight down and I can pull out a bucket full of some of the best earth this side of the Mississippi.But I have to pick out all the worms first.Earthworms will do the job for you really well.

Lots of folks suggest getting a soil test performed and I don't disagree with them. I have never had one performed because I believe every one of my raised beds probably has slightly different soil chemistry than the others. The chemistry also changes with every rain when some nutrients leach out of the bottoms. I usually plant some kind of cover crop like turnips, chinese cabbage, or collard greens after my beds are reworked in the fall. The health and especially the color of the cover crops indicates the overall health of my beds before I plant my spring garden.

Ted

[greenthumbomaha]

What type of worm do you buy at the bait shop? Would night crawlers work? Do I need to add some old greens to the beds for food? Its going to start getting cold here soon , is there still time or wait till spring?

My neighbor has a worm farm in his heated garage. he has the best soil but they don't do as well come winter.

- Lisa

[kurt]

GRThumb:

What type of worm do you buy at the bait shop?

I did ask one time since my younger brother in PA showed me the worms in his raised beds on his farm.The bait store guy says they are Red Wrigglers.I know for a fact that his beds remain moist and steaming during his winter.All he does is put tarps over them to continue the compost breakdown during those times.Here in Florida I wish we had a colder winter to manage and cut down the pests and critters I have to deal with.Im sure up north worms go "deep"during the winters otherwise we would not have any worms in a natural setting.I have read(along time ago) about a company somewhere that trucks tons of worms to smaller municipalities dumps, unloads them,comes back and retrieves them after they decimate all organic material in said dump.I think there was mention of a rental type agreement since they multiply and he gets more worms for his next project.Great concept.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22324158

http://www.naturesfootprint.com/wormcycler

I've never bought worms except for fishing. I never bought worms even for fishing when I was younger. I thought digging up worms was what shovels were invented for.

In my garden, I've always operated on the belief that "if you build it, they will come". They have never let me down. We live in a very worm unfriendly area of the country. The natural soil is hard, rocky, and dry. When I build a raised bed and add a little moisture to the organic rich soil, they just appear as if by magic.

If I wanted to buy worms to add like a starter kit, it would be red wigglers.

Ted

[ScottinAtlanta]

Ted is right. Here in Georgia, if you put a leaf on the pavement and water it, by the next day a family of worms will be living under it.

[greenthumbomaha]

I'm surprised. The Red Wigglers are sold in the thousands by mail for The Worm Factory. In my climate they die in the cold, at least in a cold garage. I wish I had any type of worm as my raised bed is very sandy. I've added several bags of organic steer , guess it needs to cook some more.

Are bagged worm castings biologically active or is it primarily a fertilizer?

- Lisa

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Ed of Somis

Hi Ted and Kurt...I will now recycle my old top mulch into my beds...based on what you said. In addition, I have purchased 10 bags of steer, 5 bags of compost, and 5 bags of chicken manure. This will be added to approximately 2 yds of topsoil.

Ed if you can possibly do it don't use any of your clay soil when filling your beds or it will take years and years to lessen the hardening effect it has on the soil. I also have raised beds sitting on very hard clay and from 35 years of watching the beds change I can tell you the bed that had the most clay worked into the actual bed was still the one that dried into a brick during the summer heat and it took over 20 years of adding tons of organics to ever get it to the loose friable soil I wanted. Remember you can always add some of your clay soil later but it is really hard to amend it out of the soil. I would however till the clay soil at the bottom of the beds before adding all the amendments.

If you are putting in manure now you don't have to have aged manure if you don't use the beds for a few months. Just add fresh horse or cow manure with leaves, pine bark fines, saw dust and straw directly into the bed and till it up and let it rot over the winter. Fresh manure is easier to find and cheaper just make sure the cattle or horses have not been feed on hay or grass treated with 2-4-D herbicide. The level will come down quite a bit but by adding more organic matter a month before planting you should have enough soil for growing. The breaking down of the brown matter will pull a lot of nitrogen out and you might need to add some like chicken manure. I add a little chicken manure, alfalfa pellets, cottonseed meal and freshly made compost before planting every season. The chicken manure stops the alfalfa pellets from causing too much nitrogen loss during the time they are breaking down so you don't have spots with yellowing plants due to nitrogen starvation the first two weeks after planting. It is better to do this a couple of weeks before planting and watering it in well to avoid this but sometimes you just don't have the time or opportunity to get everything done in a timely manner.

As to worms you want to use red wrigglers and you want to add some cottonseed meal every season because as much as they like alfalfa pellets they love cottonseed meal a lot more. It is also important to keep the beds well mulched to maintain a large worm population because it maintains moisture and keeps the soil from overheating in the summer which will drive the worms out.

Bill

[ScottinAtlanta]

Bill is 100% about clay! Don't put any clay or clay top soil in your beds! Ever!

Another product worms seem to like is chopped or shredded cardboard. I have friends who grow earthworms in the large plastic tubs in the winter inside the house. They feed them shredded card board with some occasional corn meal. I was told the worms are actually eating the cardboard to get at the glue which holds the cardboard together.

When I build a new raised bed, the first thing I put into the bed is a thick layer of cardboard. After laying one sheet on top of another sheet, I continue until the cardboard layer is about one inch thick. The worms attack the cardboard pretty quickly and it is usually totally gone by the second season. It seems to help the worm population plus prevent anything like bermuda grass from growing into the bed from the bottom up.

When I work my beds for the next season, I sometimes put a layer of cardboard over the prepared soil and soaker hoses. I then cut holes in the cardboard where I intend planting my transplants in the spring. I mark each hole with a stick and cover it all with a layer of pine bark. It seems to be good for the worms and it also prevents any weeds from growing in the bed in the growing season.

When I can find it, I like to use the really thick cardboard electric appliances like refrigerators, washers, and dryers are shipped in. With a sharp box cutter knife, you can cut them to fit the beds.

Ted

[Ed of Somis]

Well, thanks to all. I bought a yard and a half of topsoil today, and it is in my truck ready to offload. I figured using my native clay in the mix would be bad. The man at the supply house warned me about using additional manure....and frying my plants. I doubt if he has ever grown a tomato....but he meant well.Interesting idea about the cardboard and glue. How in the world would you discover something like that???

"Interesting idea about the cardboard and glue. How in the world would you discover something like that???"

Ed,

I don't know for sure, but I would guess they put some wood fiber cellulose and some organic wood resin glue in front of some worms and determined which product the worms eat. Both products are extracted from harvested trees during the pulp making process and reunited to make cardboard.

Good luck with your raised beds and happy gardening.

Ted