Thank you for this video. I have had to learn this. I always seemed to overwater everything so I was surprised to find out that I was underwatering my raised beds. My beds are 2 feet deep and so have excellent drainage. My plants were not growing and were yellow. I learned that underwatering can also cause your plants to be yellow. One trick I learned is to plant sweet alyssum in my beds to act as a kind of canary in the coal mine. If the sweet alyssum is not blooming then I’m underwatering. The added bonus is that hover flies love the sweet alyssum and they eat any aphids that are on my plants. It’s a win-win.
Just in case, you can also buy a water probe sensor. Just don't keep it permanently in the soil. This way, if you are curious, you just take it out, poke the soil at the depth you want to measure and look at the display. Because let's face it.. we want the water to be in a specific area. I don't care if there is water in the Nile river. I care if my plant's roots have enough water in their home.
I have a drip irrigation system for my raised bed tomato garden. The recommendation to place lines under the mulch made sense for soaker hose, but I don’t do that for my drip tips for a few reasons. First, having the spaghetti lines above the mulch allows me to move them around and adjust flow as needed. Second, I can visually inspect if there is a problem, such as a clogged or damaged tip or a leak, which you could not do if they were shielded from view. And lastly, buried emitters will tend to get clogged by debris or algae. So I guess this recommendation was in the context of soaker irrigation. Yes, UV and solar radiation will shorten the lifespan of an exposed system, but I think the tradeoff is worth it.
So we live in northern Colorado where it gets very hot and dry most summers and I garden in stock tanks up in the foothills. Have dealt with hydrophobic soil and it is terrible. We have been trying to get automatic watering going, but have had problems. So how I water now is to hand water, but with the soaker setting on the nozzle held under the plant so a lot of water is delivered without being wasted. I also mulch and interplant, so not a lot of open space in the beds. It is tedious, but like weeding, I find it to be relaxing and gives me a chance to really look closely at all my plants every few days. I also use a water meter now to see how deep the water is going - before, my finger told me it was ok, but a few more inches down, it was totally dry. We have a new plan for the soaker hoses, so we shall see what happens this year. Fingers crossed.
I’m also living in northern Colorado and have had problems with hydrophobic soils. My experience is to add organic material into the soil. Coconut coir, lawn clippings, decomposed leaves, etc. Used in conjunction with a drip irrigation system I’ve been able to significantly reduce the soil issues I used to have. I also bought an inexpensive watering wand which tells me the amount of moisture in the soil. It has a 10” probe which tells me how deep the water is moving.
I did refresh a lot of our beds last fall with organic material and even some coir, perlite and vermiculite - we'll see if that makes a difference .When we started around 10 years ago, we filled the beds partly with logs/branches, hugelkultur style, but the soil we put in was not the best for that type of bed (it was expensive, even with truckloads), so over the years have been trying to improve it with compost and mulch. We decided to leave the bottoms in the tanks hoping that when we did get rain, it would accumulate in the bottom and soak into the wood and help keep the soil moist as it got drier, but not sure that was a good strategy. We previously lived in central NY where there was generally plenty of rain and I had unlimited access to horse manure that had aged for many years, so my raised beds (in the ground) were very fertile without much effort.
I live in the center of Arkansas, and our humidity is outrageous. We have a temperature AND a heat index, and we're in the 90's (temperature range) and a heat index of 96 which makes it impossible to garden during the day or even just watering my garden! I had to put up a shade cloth in mid May & that helps tremendously...that & a 4 inch thick layer of mulch!!😳😓😩
Long time gardener here, and I basically already knew all the stuff you're talking about in this video. I knew I would before I even clicked on it. (Don't ya just hate it when people say stuff like that!!) I promise, that all the above is not meant as a know-it-all-snarky thing to say! Bcuz - The reason I clicked, and KEPT watching, was bcuz I just wanted to soak in (ha! SOAK IN!! 👀! See what I did there!!) all those gorgeous fox gloves you've got going on!! I knew they'd be there!!! Standing there so tall... Waving their pretty Bells around! You (and they) did NOT disappoint!!! JUST GORGEOUS BRIAN!!! BRAVO! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Your thumbnail soaker hose grid was actually the BEST thing I have ever done in my vegetable garden. Changed my gardening outcomes and made my production 4 times better
Something I think you might emphasise more is the importance of knowing your soil type, how it affects drainage and what one can do about it. Where I live the natural soil is all just about all aeolian sand (95% sand - and coarse at that - 5% silt, practically zero organic material). Water just punches a hole right through it. On a timer controlled drip system with ½gph PC emitters it's bone dry 4" down & 3" to the side of the drip point. Changing to soaker hose rather than point emitters does help with the spread but then wastes water when you have widely separated plants. Only by blending in 50% silty loam (in the form of commercially purchased "plaster sand", adding copious amounts of vermiculite, cocopeat and leaf mould have I been able to get it sort of under control. The eventual answer is mulch, mulch and more mulch...
I have clay, clay and more clay! So opposite problem really. It has taken many years to improve the soil in the gardens. Having the chickens free range in those beds when fallow has helped. I have to keep out the chickens when planted, because they will eat everything!
Another eye openning video. Thanks Brian. After watching I went out to plant spinach and lettuce in some round containers and even after two days of on and off rain, the soil was completely dry except for about an inch on top. I used your suggestion to remedy this and hopefully will be able to plant soon. ( still is in the 20s at night and 40-50s during the day.
Incredible gardens! For 25 years I have been adding food scraps to my soil (I'm a cook) and all 5 gardens are full of worms. I use wood chips from a local tree firm. We're in Nashville - the 5th rainiest city in the nation. Last year I used irrigation 9 days. The past few weeks it's rained at least 4 days / week. I plant on a good day (mid 80s), it rains the next day and plants explode. I use raised beds for 1) ease of working and 2) controlling weeds and soil. My biggest watering problem involves seedlings but I'm learning (thanks to you).
Unfortunately I have to water with a hose because I can’t do a drip system unless I want hoses strung all over the patio. My yard isn’t that big. I do have an area along one side of a fence that I would love to add raised beds too but no water available there. I need to ask my nephew who’s a plumber if he could add a spigot over there and I’d be set. Thanks for sharing your time and inspiration
I have limited space on my yard so I’ve been using these things from my work. They’re kind of like 5 gallon buckets so I’m basically container planting and I’ve been using for a couple years and they always have really good luck with the tomatoes and the eggplants this year I’m trying, vertical zucchini and peas. It’s hard for me to put a drip system in because they these things are not connected, but I’m gonna give that a shot this year.
Great tips that I know but don't always remember to do. If choosing to mulch with grass clippings, just be sure the lawn wasn't treated with any chemicals. While it might make the lawn look good, maybe not so much for your veggies.
One of our new tall, raised Birdies beds went hydrophobic last year. I soaked the snot out of it, leaving a hose on in different spots for a long time. The problem reversed. I do suspect the hugelkulture layers in this new bed were adding to the problem. Already had straw mulch but it was a coarser texture than I had used previously in other tall raised beds. So important to be checking our gardens every day!
Put a gallon jug full of water with a small hole in the bottom on your garden....with the cap OFF.. Instant portable drip irrigation for FREE. Maybe use three or four.
I agree so hoping for little something later this week i'm in west central fl and my tomatoes are dropping all their blooms already..gotta love our FL gardening.
I did not put anything on the bottom of my raised beds. Built them in my garden on top of my native soil. Filled them with compost leaves etc. soil is great. Thanks for a resh
I'm trying raised beds this year. I put cardboard on the bottom, thick branches, then smaller branches cut up and then dry leaves and filled it up with garden soil and manure. I have never done this before and I hope I'm doing it right
A couple years ago I purchased 2 galvanized beds and set them up this year. Planted tomatoes in one and peppers in the other, along with companion plants. I filled just like you did and, fingers crossed, everything is growing superbly!! Good luck 🤞 with yours.
Most gardeners are missing the boat. Consider using discarded upright Freezers or refrigerators for a raised bed. They are just the right size for weeding and harvesting at waist height, making them ideal for wheelchair access or seniors, or those with back problems. One or a dozen, it 's up to you. It took me two weeks on Craigslist to get an even dozen boxes, and that was being picky. No stainless steel, or black refrigerators, no side-by-sides, only white boxes. They come insulated, and the type of soil they have is up to you. No more gophers, moles, rabbits, either! Just remove and discard the doors and shelves, fill and plant. Water with a garden hose, or plumb them with an irrigation system from below. Ideal for an apartment with a small patio, or a big yard. No more bending to weed! Best of all, they're free, and you keep them out of the landfill! Details to your questions if you like
Cedar and pine animal bedding is a great mulch. It’s inexpensive and comes in a bulk size which allows you to mulch a lot of beds. It breaks down beautifully. I’ve been using it for years in my garden.
@@ryanc9432 wouldn’t you run into that issue with any carbon placed as a mulch? What do you layer on the top of your soil? I’m open to recommendations. I practice JADAM so I’m always feeding the soil with inputs such as Fish fertilizer and ferments. I have never really had any nitrogen issues.
Brian, I would love to go to each raised bed individually and water at the root of each plant but when you are hurting and can't stand up for too long you try to hurry, also if I was physically able, I would have put in the drip system last year but when you depend on someone else, it's not happening!
I live in Florida and have sandy soil that water just beads up on the surface. Would it be a good idea to use a surfactant such as a detergent solution to help water to penetrate the soil? ( in addition to mulch)
I lived in Fort Walton Beach, and had the same problem. While digging, I discovered that a one inch crust had developed on the soil, some type of fungi I imagine. The cure was simple, break it up. I had to dig up the top layer of soil in my back yard to do it, but afterwards, it had good drainage, and grass had started growing. I never had a problem after that.
Here’s a video suggestion! I would love to do drip irrigation in my raised bed (2’ W x 12’ L x 2.5’ H - soil all the way down to the ground with the bottom 18” or so brick and the top recycled lumber). There just isn’t readily accessible water and getting the infrastructure over there in our zone 5b/6a is a down the road expense. So I was noticing on drip depot’s website that they had kits for gravity fed drip irrigation. I could set up a big old rain barrel nice and high. Do I need the special supplies, or will any drip supplies do? Most importantly, will it work as well?
Hi! I am really enjoying your videos. Do you have one on drip irrigation? My problem is that I can't make one system work whether it be emitter tubing, tape, or emitters. All seem to clog up at the end of the year. there is that inconsistency also with too much or too little. Maybe the finger test is good. Might be better than a moisture meter? Any tips for a good solid drip layout? Thanks! BTW, I took away a lot!
That would be so expensive to water 20 minutes a day. Two beds. Didn't have enough mulch in the bed with brassicas and took the shade cloth off a few weeks ago and the soil is definitely hydrophobic. The other bed had onions, carrots, lettuce and a volunteer acorn squash growing in it and it feels moist and still has a bit of shade cloth. Thanks for the info. I'll try to correct the dry bed this fall and then cardboard it.😊👍🙏🇨🇦
What do you recommend doing to prevent this during the off season? I'm a low desert container gardener and will be having some unplanted grow bags during the hottest part of the summer.
Another option for hard soil is implanting vertical PVC piping down below the surface. One can always water-up the PVC pipe, and the deep watering will soak out at depth into deep soil, creating your zone of saturation (water level) for those maturing plants in the summer and fall times, when water is needed for the fruitings and deep tuber, root, and bulb growths.
@@ActualLiteralKyle Use vertical PVC pipe with a loose top cap, and a glued bottom cap. Drill holes around the bottom lengths of the pipe for distributed irrigation, versus just flushing down through a large pipe hole. Depending on whether you grow shallow crops (bulbs, greens, vines), you only need to have a shallow depth pipe. For deep root and tuber vegs, go for a deeper depth pipe. For deep depth root and tubers, one can also use the same 2 vertical pipes, connected via elbows, into a deeply laid horizontal pipe (with drilled holes along its length. You WANT the vegs to dig deep for their water, not just flood them with water and have with an unsteady root structure. The top cap prevents spiders and all other critters from crawling down the pipes. Using a wood dipstick (dowel) one can instantly know the water depth (zone of saturation, water level) in the irrigation piping - and whether to add more water, or hold off.
Side note. I love those Foxgloves. Tallest I ever seen. Admits I got a bit sidetracked admiring them and had to relisten to the end. Beautiful garden you have.
I buy my cooking oil in large (2 gal) containers and when the oil is gone, I clean the jugs and poke a small hole on the side at the very bottom. This makes a great portable drip system and slowly puts water down. How slowly? It's a matter of how big a hole you poke in the side to get the delivery at the pace you want it...
When the soil in my indoor planted pots become hydrophobic, I add a drop or two of Dr. Bronner's castile soap to my watering can before watering. The water then soaks in properly.
I've been using pine shavings for my mulch. Is it possible for the mulch to soak up the water; not letting the soil soak up enough. I do use a drip system. Should I thin the mulch or just move it away from the emitters?
I used baby shampoo non antibacterial to break up the dry hydrophobic clay soil I had. Made it softer and I tested if it worked by seeing how easy it was a stick a screwdriver in.
I am older than the dirt I water, and 9 AM is when my blood is flowing enough to get moving... I am slow and water carefully, and have a soaker hose, just need to put it in the raised bed. My buckets, I also water carefully.
Blossom end rot CAN be fixed by adding calcium to the ground. I've done it myself. I just happen to sit on some calcium rich ground on my homestead (like 100% pure white calcium rock in some areas), so this was easy.
Just reordered Neptune's Garden for this season - Thank you for the discount code - for those that don't know there is also a code for birdies raised beds (wish I'd have looked into that last year ) 😉
I’ve used several RB soil recipes, including yours. I don’t have a water retention problem. I have a water saturation problem. I live in Kailua-Kona Hawaii and grow year round. But from May through September is dry weather till 3-4pm and then it can dump. The boxes drain but the peat hold the water thus the tomatoes are being over watered. I’ve used less peat but then I end up with too much wet top soil. Ugh help
Can anyone explain to me how to use newspapers the propper way please. What i mean is do i just lay out full newspaper or do i rip it up how many layers of the paper do I use stuff like that as I would really like to try this system. Thank you so much in advance.
You can tear it into stips, and throw them into the compost bin to decompose, but if you are going to use them for mulch, shread them, then mulch with the shreaded material, and be sure to wet it, or it will blow all over with wind.
I use to use newspaper. Like 8 layers sheets of it. Non shredded. Wet it, and throw leaves on it in fall. Now, I just use cardboard. Same way. Just pieces. (Not all cut up.). Lay it down. I always have my x -acto blade knife to cut or taylor a piece if needed. Wet it, throw hay, clippings or mulch on top. I use thin paper and shredded paper in my compost bin. I like cardboard much better in my beds. Or if i am planting a new bush or something. Plant it, cardboard around it, way beyond drip line. Then mulch. Keeps weeds out, helps keep it moist. Biodegrades pretty much in one yr. And the bush thrives.
@FloridaGirl- ohh really. I have been using cardboard about 3-4 inches below the top of my dirt for weeds and food for the worms and that works hot dam I never get weeds anymore but I never thought to use it to cover the top of my ground. So when my sprinklers water my plants the cardboard doesn't hinder my plants roots from getting water??
They're called foxglove (digitalis), it's a biennial. The first year it produces leaves (rosette), the second year the tall flower spike. Also reseeds itself. Here in Oregon they grow in the wild. His cottage garden is so beautiful!
Super video. You have such a neat way of presenting information in a direct, organized way that my brain can absorb and understand. I’ve been feeling frenzied with getting the garden going this year but your demeanor is so calming. I can do this. Thank you.
Dig peat or compost into the soil before planting, better than mulch as it acts like a sponge holding water in the soil. Both is best. Wood chip mulch uses up soil nitrogen.
Social media has social engineered people to be greedy with social media companies money. If you like and subscribe and follow as many channels as possible it cost you nothing. Every clip regardless of the content should be viral. Spread the love.
Thank you Brian. How can I kill tiny black ants in one of my containers? They've built an ant hill, I've never seen that before. Thanks very much. Love your channel. David
Hey buddy, they sell insecticides in form of granules and powders you can apply to the hole. Get a few granules, place in and around the hole and lightly water it in. The powder will kill good insects too so choose wisely where to place. You don't want it by your flowers because it could kill the bees.
I have to disagree with the watering times. The best time to water is at dusk. The water seeps down over time to the deepest level since there's no sun to evaporate it. Then, it can sit all night when it's cool and available to the plants. The water can spread and incorporate itself into the soil when it's dark and cool. When the sun rises, especially in the summer months when everything heats up quickly after 9am, that water you provided the evening before is still there and not subject to evaporation as much as if it were sitting in the top couple of inches of soil. I always water in the evening so the plants take in what they need overnight and there's still water deep in the soil for the next hot day. Deep water will wick up when it's very dry, and thus, the plants can have water without having to be stressed by a micro drought during the hottest part of the day. Replenish the water at dusk, and the plants have all night to recover.
One of my reasons when I pick cardio equipment is if it’s under an A/C vent 😂 Some people feel safer being next to someone else if they have medical problems or are just worried about passing out or falling they know someone is close to help. Or she just always uses that treadmill. Or she wanted to watch the tv. This kid is really an entitled troll and definitely needs to DO BETTER!
Thank you for this video. I have had to learn this. I always seemed to overwater everything so I was surprised to find out that I was underwatering my raised beds. My beds are 2 feet deep and so have excellent drainage. My plants were not growing and were yellow. I learned that underwatering can also cause your plants to be yellow. One trick I learned is to plant sweet alyssum in my beds to act as a kind of canary in the coal mine. If the sweet alyssum is not blooming then I’m underwatering. The added bonus is that hover flies love the sweet alyssum and they eat any aphids that are on my plants. It’s a win-win.
Just in case, you can also buy a water probe sensor. Just don't keep it permanently in the soil. This way, if you are curious, you just take it out, poke the soil at the depth you want to measure and look at the display. Because let's face it.. we want the water to be in a specific area. I don't care if there is water in the Nile river. I care if my plant's roots have enough water in their home.
Honestly, the English garden just looks stunning!!!! Just beautiful! You are a one of a kind garden artist!!!!
I have a drip irrigation system for my raised bed tomato garden. The recommendation to place lines under the mulch made sense for soaker hose, but I don’t do that for my drip tips for a few reasons. First, having the spaghetti lines above the mulch allows me to move them around and adjust flow as needed. Second, I can visually inspect if there is a problem, such as a clogged or damaged tip or a leak, which you could not do if they were shielded from view. And lastly, buried emitters will tend to get clogged by debris or algae. So I guess this recommendation was in the context of soaker irrigation. Yes, UV and solar radiation will shorten the lifespan of an exposed system, but I think the tradeoff is worth it.
So we live in northern Colorado where it gets very hot and dry most summers and I garden in stock tanks up in the foothills. Have dealt with hydrophobic soil and it is terrible. We have been trying to get automatic watering going, but have had problems. So how I water now is to hand water, but with the soaker setting on the nozzle held under the plant so a lot of water is delivered without being wasted. I also mulch and interplant, so not a lot of open space in the beds. It is tedious, but like weeding, I find it to be relaxing and gives me a chance to really look closely at all my plants every few days. I also use a water meter now to see how deep the water is going - before, my finger told me it was ok, but a few more inches down, it was totally dry. We have a new plan for the soaker hoses, so we shall see what happens this year. Fingers crossed.
I’m also living in northern Colorado and have had problems with hydrophobic soils. My experience is to add organic material into the soil. Coconut coir, lawn clippings, decomposed leaves, etc. Used in conjunction with a drip irrigation system I’ve been able to significantly reduce the soil issues I used to have. I also bought an inexpensive watering wand which tells me the amount of moisture in the soil. It has a 10” probe which tells me how deep the water is moving.
I did refresh a lot of our beds last fall with organic material and even some coir, perlite and vermiculite - we'll see if that makes a difference .When we started around 10 years ago, we filled the beds partly with logs/branches, hugelkultur style, but the soil we put in was not the best for that type of bed (it was expensive, even with truckloads), so over the years have been trying to improve it with compost and mulch. We decided to leave the bottoms in the tanks hoping that when we did get rain, it would accumulate in the bottom and soak into the wood and help keep the soil moist as it got drier, but not sure that was a good strategy. We previously lived in central NY where there was generally plenty of rain and I had unlimited access to horse manure that had aged for many years, so my raised beds (in the ground) were very fertile without much effort.
I live in the center of Arkansas, and our humidity is outrageous. We have a temperature AND a heat index, and we're in the 90's (temperature range) and a heat index of 96 which makes it impossible to garden during the day or even just watering my garden!
I had to put up a shade cloth in mid May & that helps tremendously...that & a 4 inch thick layer of mulch!!😳😓😩
Long time gardener here,
and I basically already knew all the stuff you're talking about in this video.
I knew I would before I even clicked on it.
(Don't ya just hate it when people say stuff like that!!)
I promise, that all the above is not meant as a know-it-all-snarky thing to say!
Bcuz -
The reason I clicked,
and KEPT watching,
was bcuz I just wanted to soak in
(ha! SOAK IN!! 👀!
See what I did there!!)
all those gorgeous fox gloves you've got going on!!
I knew they'd be there!!!
Standing there so tall...
Waving their pretty Bells around!
You (and they) did NOT disappoint!!!
JUST GORGEOUS BRIAN!!!
BRAVO! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Understand. Thank you
Well at least you know you’re annoying.
Yes.
I know it.
Some days are just like that.
Don't you find??
😬
Your thumbnail soaker hose grid was actually the BEST thing I have ever done in my vegetable garden. Changed my gardening outcomes and made my production 4 times better
Something I think you might emphasise more is the importance of knowing your soil type, how it affects drainage and what one can do about it. Where I live the natural soil is all just about all aeolian sand (95% sand - and coarse at that - 5% silt, practically zero organic material). Water just punches a hole right through it. On a timer controlled drip system with ½gph PC emitters it's bone dry 4" down & 3" to the side of the drip point. Changing to soaker hose rather than point emitters does help with the spread but then wastes water when you have widely separated plants.
Only by blending in 50% silty loam (in the form of commercially purchased "plaster sand", adding copious amounts of vermiculite, cocopeat and leaf mould have I been able to get it sort of under control.
The eventual answer is mulch, mulch and more mulch...
I have clay, clay and more clay! So opposite problem really. It has taken many years to improve the soil in the gardens. Having the chickens free range in those beds when fallow has helped. I have to keep out the chickens when planted, because they will eat everything!
Love the house with the thatched roof!
Another eye openning video. Thanks Brian. After watching I went out to plant spinach and lettuce in some round containers and even after two days of on and off rain, the soil was completely dry except for about an inch on top. I used your suggestion to remedy this and hopefully will be able to plant soon. ( still is in the 20s at night and 40-50s during the day.
Incredible gardens! For 25 years I have been adding food scraps to my soil (I'm a cook) and all 5 gardens are full of worms. I use wood chips from a local tree firm. We're in Nashville - the 5th rainiest city in the nation. Last year I used irrigation 9 days. The past few weeks it's rained at least 4 days / week. I plant on a good day (mid 80s), it rains the next day and plants explode. I use raised beds for 1) ease of working and 2) controlling weeds and soil. My biggest watering problem involves seedlings but I'm learning (thanks to you).
Unfortunately I have to water with a hose because I can’t do a drip system unless I want hoses strung all over the patio. My yard isn’t that big. I do have an area along one side of a fence that I would love to add raised beds too but no water available there. I need to ask my nephew who’s a plumber if he could add a spigot over there and I’d be set. Thanks for sharing your time and inspiration
I have limited space on my yard so I’ve been using these things from my work. They’re kind of like 5 gallon buckets so I’m basically container planting and I’ve been using for a couple years and they always have really good luck with the tomatoes and the eggplants this year I’m trying, vertical zucchini and peas. It’s hard for me to put a drip system in because they these things are not connected, but I’m gonna give that a shot this year.
Great video. Very informative
I regularly recommend your videos to my gardening group. A fount of info, and just a nice place to visit!
Great tips that I know but don't always remember to do. If choosing to mulch with grass clippings, just be sure the lawn wasn't treated with any chemicals. While it might make the lawn look good, maybe not so much for your veggies.
Great point!
Thanks again for the refresher, Brian. I always learn something new👍🏻
One of our new tall, raised Birdies beds went hydrophobic last year. I soaked the snot out of it, leaving a hose on in different spots for a long time. The problem reversed. I do suspect the hugelkulture layers in this new bed were adding to the problem. Already had straw mulch but it was a coarser texture than I had used previously in other tall raised beds. So important to be checking our gardens every day!
Put a gallon jug full of water with a small hole in the bottom on your garden....with the cap OFF.. Instant portable drip irrigation for FREE. Maybe use three or four.
Thank you Brian for the tips. I'm using grow bag's and here in Florida it's hot and no rain. I have to water every day.
Amen. I'm having to do the same. I'm in central Florida. Supposedly we're going into our wet season. I can't wait.🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞
I agree so hoping for little something later this week i'm in west central fl and my tomatoes are dropping all their blooms already..gotta love our FL gardening.
Thank you for the Video..... By the way, Can we water the plants in winter when temperatures is freezing.
I did not put anything on the bottom of my raised beds. Built them in my garden on top of my native soil. Filled them with compost leaves etc. soil is great. Thanks for a resh
Thanks, Brian. The over/under watering problem was going through my head this morning. You alleviated some of my concerns. I think I'm doing alright.
I'm trying raised beds this year. I put cardboard on the bottom, thick branches, then smaller branches cut up and then dry leaves and filled it up with garden soil and manure. I have never done this before and I hope I'm doing it right
A couple years ago I purchased 2 galvanized beds and set them up this year. Planted tomatoes in one and peppers in the other, along with companion plants. I filled just like you did and, fingers crossed, everything is growing superbly!! Good luck 🤞 with yours.
Most gardeners are missing the boat. Consider using discarded upright Freezers or refrigerators for a raised bed. They are just the right size for weeding and harvesting at waist height, making them ideal for wheelchair access or seniors, or those with back problems. One or a dozen, it 's up to you. It took me two weeks on Craigslist to get an even dozen boxes, and that was being picky. No stainless steel, or black refrigerators, no side-by-sides, only white boxes. They come insulated, and the type of soil they have is up to you. No more gophers, moles, rabbits, either! Just remove and discard the doors and shelves, fill and plant. Water with a garden hose, or plumb them with an irrigation system from below. Ideal for an apartment with a small patio, or a big yard. No more bending to weed! Best of all, they're free, and you keep them out of the landfill! Details to your questions if you like
Cedar and pine animal bedding is a great mulch. It’s inexpensive and comes in a bulk size which allows you to mulch a lot of beds. It breaks down beautifully. I’ve been using it for years in my garden.
It will steal nitrogen while it decomposes. Might work OK but not the best to use as mulch.
@@ryanc9432 wouldn’t you run into that issue with any carbon placed as a mulch? What do you layer on the top of your soil? I’m open to recommendations. I practice JADAM so I’m always feeding the soil with inputs such as Fish fertilizer and ferments. I have never really had any nitrogen issues.
Thank you. I do have this problem with new soil . And of course I’ve already planted. I did get the bedding straw and need to get out and put it down.
Brian, I would love to go to each raised bed individually and water at the root of each plant but when you are hurting and can't stand up for too long you try to hurry, also if I was physically able, I would have put in the drip system last year but when you depend on someone else, it's not happening!
I live in Florida and have sandy soil that water just beads up on the surface. Would it be a good idea to use a surfactant such as a detergent solution to help water to penetrate the soil? ( in addition to mulch)
I lived in Fort Walton Beach, and had the same problem. While digging, I discovered that a one inch crust had developed on the soil, some type of fungi I imagine. The cure was simple, break it up. I had to dig up the top layer of soil in my back yard to do it, but afterwards, it had good drainage, and grass had started growing. I never had a problem after that.
Here’s a video suggestion! I would love to do drip irrigation in my raised bed (2’ W x 12’ L x 2.5’ H - soil all the way down to the ground with the bottom 18” or so brick and the top recycled lumber). There just isn’t readily accessible water and getting the infrastructure over there in our zone 5b/6a is a down the road expense. So I was noticing on drip depot’s website that they had kits for gravity fed drip irrigation. I could set up a big old rain barrel nice and high. Do I need the special supplies, or will any drip supplies do? Most importantly, will it work as well?
Hi! I am really enjoying your videos. Do you have one on drip irrigation? My problem is that I can't make one system work whether it be emitter tubing, tape, or emitters. All seem to clog up at the end of the year. there is that inconsistency also with too much or too little. Maybe the finger test is good. Might be better than a moisture meter? Any tips for a good solid drip layout? Thanks!
BTW, I took away a lot!
Good! Yes I have a few
That would be so expensive to water 20 minutes a day. Two beds. Didn't have enough mulch in the bed with brassicas and took the shade cloth off a few weeks ago and the soil is definitely hydrophobic. The other bed had onions, carrots, lettuce and a volunteer acorn squash growing in it and it feels moist and still has a bit of shade cloth. Thanks for the info. I'll try to correct the dry bed this fall and then cardboard it.😊👍🙏🇨🇦
nice man! Want to have a raised bed but outta space! Glad i have pots just water everyday / pick up the pot if needed , and its fine!
What do you recommend doing to prevent this during the off season? I'm a low desert container gardener and will be having some unplanted grow bags during the hottest part of the summer.
I rely on a moisture meter to test water needs for all container and raised beds.
Another option for hard soil is implanting vertical PVC piping down below the surface. One can always water-up the PVC pipe, and the deep watering will soak out at depth into deep soil, creating your zone of saturation (water level) for those maturing plants in the summer and fall times, when water is needed for the fruitings and deep tuber, root, and bulb growths.
Like a new kind of ollaa
@@VictoriousGardenosaurus yes, in a way.
I like this idea do you cut holes in the pipe or just leave it? Filled with dirt or empty
@@ActualLiteralKyle Use vertical PVC pipe with a loose top cap, and a glued bottom cap. Drill holes around the bottom lengths of the pipe for distributed irrigation, versus just flushing down through a large pipe hole.
Depending on whether you grow shallow crops (bulbs, greens, vines), you only need to have a shallow depth pipe. For deep root and tuber vegs, go for a deeper depth pipe. For deep depth root and tubers, one can also use the same 2 vertical pipes, connected via elbows, into a deeply laid horizontal pipe (with drilled holes along its length. You WANT the vegs to dig deep for their water, not just flood them with water and have with an unsteady root structure. The top cap prevents spiders and all other critters from crawling down the pipes. Using a wood dipstick (dowel) one can instantly know the water depth (zone of saturation, water level) in the irrigation piping - and whether to add more water, or hold off.
Side note. I love those Foxgloves. Tallest I ever seen. Admits I got a bit sidetracked admiring them and had to relisten to the end. Beautiful garden you have.
What happened to the gardening for free episodes you started, any updates or more ideas?
Great video! I love your roof and landscaping nice work. 😊
Great video, thanks for sharing and take care 😊
Great advice especially for container gardening with the watering!
Good job
Is this the same recommendation for container pots? Love ur videos!
I buy my cooking oil in large (2 gal) containers and when the oil is gone, I clean the jugs and poke a small hole on the side at the very bottom. This makes a great portable drip system and slowly puts water down.
How slowly? It's a matter of how big a hole you poke in the side to get the delivery at the pace you want it...
When the soil in my indoor planted pots become hydrophobic, I add a drop or two of Dr. Bronner's castile soap to my watering can before watering. The water then soaks in properly.
Your garden is fabulous. Thanks for sharing 👍
I've been using pine shavings for my mulch. Is it possible for the mulch to soak up the water; not letting the soil soak up enough. I do use a drip system. Should I thin the mulch or just move it away from the emitters?
Great tips for the newbies. 💧💧💧
great video !
is there a chart for timed watering at what temps? I have soaker hoses to set up in my beds.
Where did you get this your drip irrigation tape ??
I used baby shampoo non antibacterial to break up the dry hydrophobic clay soil I had. Made it softer and I tested if it worked by seeing how easy it was a stick a screwdriver in.
I live in the southwest, what do you think of little pebbles with sand for mulch?
Great information
I am older than the dirt I water, and 9 AM is when my blood is flowing enough to get moving... I am slow and water carefully, and have a soaker hose, just need to put it in the raised bed. My buckets, I also water carefully.
Great information!
Thank you Brian, as always great information! 💐💚🙃
you can use yucca extract as a wetting agent works well to solve hydrophobic soil.
Instead of using mulch could you use peat moss to keep the moisture in?
How about underground dripping, would you recommend it?
I use cloth grow bags and water at the base of the plants
Blossom end rot CAN be fixed by adding calcium to the ground. I've done it myself. I just happen to sit on some calcium rich ground on my homestead (like 100% pure white calcium rock in some areas), so this was easy.
Great info - thanks.
Just reordered Neptune's Garden for this season - Thank you for the discount code - for those that don't know there is also a code for birdies raised beds (wish I'd have looked into that last year ) 😉
I’ve used several RB soil recipes, including yours. I don’t have a water retention problem. I have a water saturation problem. I live in Kailua-Kona Hawaii and grow year round. But from May through September is dry weather till 3-4pm and then it can dump. The boxes drain but the peat hold the water thus the tomatoes are being over watered. I’ve used less peat but then I end up with too much wet top soil. Ugh help
Can anyone explain to me how to use newspapers the propper way please. What i mean is do i just lay out full newspaper or do i rip it up how many layers of the paper do I use stuff like that as I would really like to try this system. Thank you so much in advance.
You can tear it into stips, and throw them into the compost bin to decompose, but if you are going to use them for mulch, shread them, then mulch with the shreaded material, and be sure to wet it, or it will blow all over with wind.
I use to use newspaper. Like 8 layers sheets of it. Non shredded. Wet it, and throw leaves on it in fall. Now, I just use cardboard. Same way. Just pieces. (Not all cut up.). Lay it down. I always have my x -acto blade knife to cut or taylor a piece if needed. Wet it, throw hay, clippings or mulch on top. I use thin paper and shredded paper in my compost bin. I like cardboard much better in my beds. Or if i am planting a new bush or something. Plant it, cardboard around it, way beyond drip line. Then mulch. Keeps weeds out, helps keep it moist. Biodegrades pretty much in one yr. And the bush thrives.
@FloridaGirl- ohh really. I have been using cardboard about 3-4 inches below the top of my dirt for weeds and food for the worms and that works hot dam I never get weeds anymore but I never thought to use it to cover the top of my ground. So when my sprinklers water my plants the cardboard doesn't hinder my plants roots from getting water??
@@jaytoney3007 hey thank you for your help, I really appreciate that. ❤
Breaking up the surface of the soil with a fork before watering helps it’s penetration. Then mulch.
very helpful
Can I use the mulch that home depot sells
Water early evening, the plants need water to process overnight metabolic activity. Agreed, wet leaves at night can promote fungal problems.
At 8:11 what is the huge big purple plants behind you?
Looks like huge foxglove to me.
They're called foxglove (digitalis), it's a biennial. The first year it produces leaves (rosette), the second year the tall flower spike. Also reseeds itself. Here in Oregon they grow in the wild. His cottage garden is so beautiful!
Yup foxglove
@@NextLevelGardening wow! That’s crazy big!!
@@NextLevelGardening what in the world are you feeding those foxgloves?? 😂😍💐
Super video. You have such a neat way of presenting information in a direct, organized way that my brain can absorb and understand. I’ve been feeling frenzied with getting the garden going this year but your demeanor is so calming. I can do this. Thank you.
if very dry, water with a watering can plus some dish soap/washing up liquid, it will absorb much more efficiently.
Even watering is my challenge. Drip system underwaters some plants while overwatering others.
Tip- pick any tomato’s that are starting to blush before you water or before rainfall
Audio is great from here
Dig peat or compost into the soil before planting, better than mulch as it acts like a sponge holding water in the soil. Both is best. Wood chip mulch uses up soil nitrogen.
Thanks bro
I tried mulch for a couple years and my bug problem got out of control. How do you combat the bugs from mulch?
e got a lot of rain rain rain...no way to avoid this Mother Nature rain rain rain and our gardens are continuously soaked...any suggestions?
💜💜💜 Tuck!@ pS; thanks for the great information. Never lnew it wws possible to consider a variety nased on what they are resistant to!!
Kind of an odd question, but does the raised beds need to be leveled ==||=0=||== ?
Audio good here.
Rất vui được nghe bạn chia sẻ kinh nghiệm làm vườn với mọi người 👍.
Wouldn’t vermiculite help dry soil?
Social media has social engineered people to be greedy with social media companies money. If you like and subscribe and follow as many channels as possible it cost you nothing. Every clip regardless of the content should be viral. Spread the love.
👍👍
Thank you Brian. How can I kill tiny black ants in one of my containers? They've built an ant hill, I've never seen that before. Thanks very much. Love your channel.
David
Hey buddy, they sell insecticides in form of granules and powders you can apply to the hole. Get a few granules, place in and around the hole and lightly water it in. The powder will kill good insects too so choose wisely where to place. You don't want it by your flowers because it could kill the bees.
Refresher course
If only mother nature would educate the rain not to wet the leaves.
Hydro transpiration. Where more water evaporates than gets into the plants or ground.
You didnt really explain the reasoning behind #3, why is watering in the evening bad?
I use straw mulch & it actually CAUSES weeds as opposed to suppressing them 😡
I have to disagree with the watering times. The best time to water is at dusk. The water seeps down over time to the deepest level since there's no sun to evaporate it. Then, it can sit all night when it's cool and available to the plants. The water can spread and incorporate itself into the soil when it's dark and cool. When the sun rises, especially in the summer months when everything heats up quickly after 9am, that water you provided the evening before is still there and not subject to evaporation as much as if it were sitting in the top couple of inches of soil.
I always water in the evening so the plants take in what they need overnight and there's still water deep in the soil for the next hot day.
Deep water will wick up when it's very dry, and thus, the plants can have water without having to be stressed by a micro drought during the hottest part of the day. Replenish the water at dusk, and the plants have all night to recover.
When I mulch, the sowbugs, earwigs, and slugs show up😢
Ever heard of rain?
ugh i still cannot settle on a mulch lol horror stories on every kind
Not enough distracting ads. Maybe. : )
I can only water at night. My garden is not at my home
One of my reasons when I pick cardio equipment is if it’s under an A/C vent 😂
Some people feel safer being next to someone else if they have medical problems or are just worried about passing out or falling they know someone is close to help.
Or she just always uses that treadmill.
Or she wanted to watch the tv.
This kid is really an entitled troll and definitely needs to DO BETTER!
Am I the only one getting no audio?
I have it
Not getting audio, either.
No problem here
I'm good.
Audio is good 👍
Foxglove in the background
First 😊