Soil for raised bed?

[Rivian]

New raised bed, 70cm high. Does it really matter whats in the bottom half? It doesnt rain a lot here, we can go a month or two without significant rain. Except in Winter when its not needed.
And what to put in the top half? Cheap-ish, if possible
Have just few trees for it right now, so what I dont need for bonsai I will fill with veg until then

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Coco coir, perlite, pumice and wood chips.
Good for most root systems, drains OK, degrades over 3-4 years.

 

[Rivian]

I am watching a vid on Hügelkultur right now. I have some low quality logs lying around, tempted to try this unless someone warns me of adverse effects. Could the fungus in them hurt my plants? I can also get Rhine-sand and loam(?) for cheap. Also self-made charcoal, and some grass clippings in the bottom half for nitrogen.
The bed is a bit large for coco coir but overall that seems like a decent suggestion

 

[Treefer]

My DIL starts with hardware cloth on the ground to block burrowing critters. Then half way with cuttings, sticks, leaves, mulch, etc. Top gets raised bed soil.

 

[Rivian]

Lets play a game, guess what the frame cost. Normal raised bed size and 70cm high. Good quality wood because the dumbo that bought it didnt care to ask the price.

 

[hampton]

Lets play a game, guess what the frame cost. Normal raised bed size and 70cm high. Good quality wood because the dumbo that bought it didnt care to ask the price.

I’ll take a stab - $250. That’s based on using ground contact lumber with a 3’x6’x -30” (70cm)

I’m pricing out an automated watering system - it’s a bit more than I expected but I don’t know the prices are going down anytime soon and I need a project…

best
Zak

 

[ShadyStump]

I am watching a vid on Hügelkultur right now. I have some low quality logs lying around, tempted to try this unless someone warns me of adverse effects. Could the fungus in them hurt my plants? I can also get Rhine-sand and loam(?) for cheap. Also self-made charcoal, and some grass clippings in the bottom half for nitrogen.
The bed is a bit large for coco coir but overall that seems like a decent suggestion

I was about the suggest looking into this while reading, but you beat me to it. It really just means finding the organic material that turns into good soil and using that for filler. You can use any yard or lawn cuttings, anything you would through in a compost bin, then make sure the top foot/30cm is prepared soil. Because motorized tilling isn't really an option in raised beds, go with something heavy on mulch so the soil stays broken up and doesn't compact.
If you're using the raised bed for trees mostly, you might consider stone as filler to keep the roots from going too deep, but I don't suppose it would make too much of a difference if the trees are only there for a couple years at a time.

 

[Rivian]

$250

I wish.

 

[Cajunrider]

70 cm high is pretty tall. For me I would fill the first 30 cm with any non-weedy organic matter: logs, twigs, wood chips. The next 30 cm would be a mix of top soil and some composted manure.

 

[Rivian]

Even though its Bangkirai...
Its been installed in May or so, yet a fungus is already eating it. I wonder how long it will last.
The soil dries out betwen watering as much as the plants can tolerate

 

[penumbra]

I have 7 raised grow out beds for bonsai. They start out from the bottom with 1/4 inch hardware cloth to keep rodents from tunneling in, with next layer up being fabric weed block to help control roots, keeping roots in and out. All of the grow beds are 2 x 8 inch pt wood, Other beds I have are up to 12 inches that hold mulch for heeling pots in. Some of my beds use coco choir and some have a mix of a peat / perlite mix amended with pine bark. My oldest bed is just topsoil and another larger bed is topsoil amended with pine bark, compost, granite and everything else I had on hand. All of my beds are growing trees very well, and I understand fully well the importance of a well aerated mix, but the amended soil and the soil beds are giving me a lot more growth. All of my beds have a homogeneous mix, and none of these beds are layered.
I would caution against a layer of grass clippings as they will pack down and become an anaerobic sloppy stinky slime. If you use grass you need to use thin layers alternating or mixed (better yet) with mulch, chopped leaves or another source of carbon. On occasions where I have a deep growing pot of bed that I need to fill, I use pine bark for the bottom layer.
There is a hundred ways to do a raised bed that work and a hundred ways that don't. Most of it common sense based on experience and observation.

 

[ShadyStump]

Even though its Bangkirai...
Its been installed in May or so, yet a fungus is already eating it. I wonder how long it will last.
The soil dries out betwen watering as much as the plants can tolerate
View attachment 450933

Are we certain that's a fungus, and not an egg sack or cocoon of some sort?
It does look fungal, but I've seen some pretty strange nests built by insects.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

I also think it is some kind of cocoon (from a spider or something).

 

[Rivian]

Its coal black on the inside, homogenous, firm but soft. It also grew one on a cucumber in the same raised bed. I really think its fungal

 

[penumbra]

Its coal black on the inside, homogenous, firm but soft. It also grew one on a cucumber in the same raised bed. I really think its fungal

I have seen spider egg cases that look similar but I was reluctant to agree with that prognosis. What you are describing certainly sounds fungal, but I am still uncertain because finding one on a cucumber somewhat muddies the water. Was the cucumber dead and decomposing or was it healthy and growing?

 

[Rivian]

I have seen spider egg cases that look similar but I was reluctant to agree with that prognosis. What you are describing certainly sounds fungal, but I am still uncertain because finding one on a cucumber somewhat muddies the water. Was the cucumber dead and decomposing or was it healthy and growing?

If youve grown cucumbers, its not so clear when theyre still good or not. They turn yellow and soft slowly, even when still attached. It sat on the soil a couple weeks I guess, we havent eaten cucumbers for a while

 

[penumbra]

If youve grown cucumbers, its not so clear when theyre still good or not. They turn yellow and soft slowly, even when still attached. It sat on the soil a couple weeks I guess, we havent eaten cucumbers for a while

The only cucumbers I like are dill pickles.
But if it is indeed a fungus, it doesn't seem it is a pathogen.

 

[Rivian]

So Ive had to deal with weeds coming up from below basically the whole year after they first started breaching the surface. Its obnoxious stuff. Hopefully the reserves of it in the soil will be depleted eventually.

The raised bed is staying too wet for my liking. It worked very well in summer but now the black flower soil seems inappropriate. Since its full of trees, I can only do so much. In Spring I will take out all plants, amend the soil and probably partition off a third or half and dedicate it to azaleas, with its own soil.

For now I am getting some antifungal microbes and biochar to mix in and carry my plants through the Winter. I had significant losses of Crapes last Winter in better soil than theyre in right now. Most of my Crapes did not get the memo and are still green (and look shit) The pomegranates in the same bed are doing much better

 

[Lorax7]

What I put in mine:
At the bottom, sticks I picked up from the yard
Nursery soil and cut roots leftover from trees that I had repotted into APL
Coffee grounds
Coco coir
Perlite (wear a dust mask when dumping the bag and mixing in with the rest of the soil components - you don’t want to inhale perlite dust)

At first, I had trouble with one of my raised beds not draining sufficiently. The problem was that the plastic liner that came with the raised bed kit wasn’t water-permeable. I poked some holes in it - drainage problem solved.