grow Lycopersicon esculentum in a raised bed is a great way to improve your tomato crop with minimal effort .
There are many benefits to farm tomatoes in raise bottom , including a longer time of year and improved soil , all of which will result in healthier , more fat works .
In this berth we will discourse the advantage of farm tomato in a raise bed , how to build your own with just a few simple tools , and how to prepare and cultivate your raised bed .
Why Grow Tomatoes in a Raised Bed?
It might seem simpler to just plant your tomatoes directly into the ground , but there are many benefits to growing your love apple harvest in a lift layer .
The benefit of growing tomatoes in a raised bed include :
How to Build a Raised Bed
Of course , before you grow you ’ll need to build or purchase a raised bed . Premade provoke layer or put up bottom kits are available , but it ’s fairly simple to build your own .
How Big Should My Raised Bed Be For Growing Tomatoes?
This depends on what space you have available , and your gardening goals . Tomato plantsshould be spaced 2 - 3 feet asunder , so the size of it of your raise bed depends in part on how many plants you ’d like in each bed .
For example , let ’s assume you are growing a cultivar that requires two feet of blank between plants .
In this case , a 4 x 4 raised bed would have enough space for 4 plant , if orient nigher to the corners of the bed than the nerve centre .
Your raised bed also require to have plenty of astuteness . Twelve in rich is ideal . If you purchase 12 ” all-inclusive lumber , your conjure bed build will be simpler , because you will only need one piece of wood per side .
If you have back yield , consider build deeper raised beds that will reserve you to pot and harvest with less strain .
A two to three foot gamey bed will let you work upright while kneeling , depending on your height .
ensure your raised bed is design in a way that you’re able to hand all expanse of its interior .
A upright pattern of thumb is that the short side ( or all sides in a public square ) should be no prospicient than 4 feet , so that you’re able to easy reach the middle for planting , weed , and harvesting .
What Material Should I Use to Build My Raised Bed?
you could make a recruit bed out of all sorts of material : cement blocks , hay bales , logs , and stump .
Creating a raised bed out of these material is moderately straightforward : coiffure them in a square or rectangle , take with soil , and plant .
Mostly unremarkably , though , leaven bed are made from lumber . This is easy to do with a few simple tools and the most basic carpentry skills .
What Kind of Wood Should I Use For My Raised Bed?
You may be wondering if it ’s okay to use pressure treat Ellen Price Wood to build up heighten beds . While it ’s dead on target that pressure treated wood contains safe chemical compound than it has in the past , a lot of gardener are intelligibly hesitant to utilize pressure treated wood in the garden .
Up until 2004 , air pressure address wood comprise chromated copper arsenate ( CCA ) , which was found to be dangerous and is no longer used in residential configurations .
Now , most pressure treat woodwind instrument is treated with alkaline fuzz Quaternary period ( ACQ ) , which is thought to be safe but still has the potential to percolate into your soil , and therefore into your intellectual nourishment , and you .
If you have concerns about using atmospheric pressure treated wood , the best choice is a by nature rot resistant woodwind instrument such as disastrous locust , cedar , or redwood .
A raised layer made out of these materials can last for 10 , even when exposed to the factor , but these wood alternative can be expensive .
A lower cost alternative is to use a less expensive woods , such as fir or pine , and put on a natural , non - toxic sealer .
Two heavy natural non - toxic sealer are Vermont Natural Coatings Exterior Penetrating Wood Stain and Valhalla Wood Preservatives LifeTime Wood Treatment .
They are equally good and both are safe for garden use . The Vermont Natural brand comes in a congius bucket , similar to conventional sealants ,
while the Valhalla stain is less expensive and comes in a pulverisation form you could shuffle with water as needed . This sealer also requires only one coat , as play off to Vermont Natural ’s two .
How Do I Build My Raised Bed For Tomato Planting?
Once you ’ve chosen your raised bed size of it and materials , it ’s time to build . You ’ll need the followers :
Lay your two side pieces on the ground . Then place one corner composition underneath each end , parallel and flush with the short end of your board .
Secure with 3 - 4 fucking on each side ( be certain to predrill first so your Ellen Price Wood does not separate ) .
Do this for both sides of both board . Next , invest the gameboard with corners attached on their side . Line up your shorter end board so that you are make a rectangle with corner flush .
Pre - drill and attach the end to the retentive side and corner supports , claim care not to reach the screws that are already there .
You should now have a beautiful raised bed that is ready for your garden !
How to Grow Tomatoes in Your Raised Bed Garden
Once your raised bottom is construct , you ’re quick to choose your cultivars , prepare your site , and plant your tomatoes . Here are some best practices for put forward layer love apple cultivation .
Choose the Right Tomato Cultivar for Your Raised Bed
There are three character of tomato growth habits : definitive , indeterminate , and semi - determinate . All of these have the potential to flourish in a raised bed with right care .
Prepare Your Raised Bed Site
Before you install your new raised layer , choose and prepare the website .
First , will your lift bed receive sufficient sunshine ? Seven hours per day of direct Dominicus is ideal .
If you live in a cool clime , turn over siting your raised bed next to your home or service department , provided this area get enough sunshine . The radiant heat from the building will keep your plants warmer .
Remove the sod from your raise bottom area , and loosen the dirt with a tiller , pitchfork , or broadfork .
Removing the superoxide dismutase and loosen the dirt will lessen competition for nutrients and water , and aid your tomato plants make a deep beginning system beyond your elevate bed .
While some gardener swear by pose weed material under their raised beds after removing the sod , it ’s unnecessary and can be knotty .
Your raise bed is deep enough to barricade sunlight and keep widow’s weeds from germinating , and although roots can mature past sess cloth ,
the cloth can make it more difficult for your tomato plant plants to build up the deep root system they need .
Calculate Your Soil Needs
How much soil do you need to make full your raised bed ? This is helpful to know , particularly if you are purchasing bagged soil from your local garden memory or order a great delivery of multiple cubic yards of soil .
top : For larger amounts of soil , ordering in bulk is far tatty than purchasing bagged soil .
For each raised bed you have , breed the duration times the width times the depth of your bed to observe the book of soil you require .
For example , a raise bed that is 4 feet by 2 feet , and 1 fundament recondite requires 8 three-dimensional invertebrate foot of dirt to fill it , or about .3 cubic yard .
Choose the Right Soil
Tomatoes are n’t too finicky when it comes to soil , but the best choice for them is a garden loam amended with compost , with a somewhat acidic pH of 6.0 - 7.0 .
reckon on the scale of your garden endeavor , you may already have ample grime , compost , and other amendments on paw , and it would be utterly all right to use what you have available in your raised bed .
However , if you are start from scratch , consider purchase raised bed grunge . evoke seam grease is formulated specifically for usance in raised beds .
It is ready to expend and does not require any amendment , although like any grease , you should add plant food throughout the season for good results .
rear bed soil furnish excellent drain and has a pH of 5.8 - 7.5 , which is great for all vegetables and flowers , including Lycopersicon esculentum .
You ’ll need to add more soil to your raise layer each year , as bug eat some of your soil and the elements take some , too .
That ’s okay ; crown off your raised bed with fresh soil at the beginning of each season is a great means to add nutrients and bring in disease and pest free soil at the same meter .
Install Support Cages and Stakes Early
If you ’ve choose to grow indeterminate varieties in a raised bed , your flora will benefit greatly from stake or caging . This is particularly significant in a small space .
Without sustenance , these vining plant will become a tangled mess of leaf on the grease where they are more vulnerable to pests and diseases .
The best sentence to set up up stake or cages for your tomatoes is before or immediately after transplanting .
Doing this afterwards , when the plant in reality call for backup , can collapse foliage , drop fruit , and disturb the root organization .
If you select to use love apple cage , buy the declamatory and sturdiest cage you’re able to detect . you’re able to also make a cage with stakes .
Using several five foot mellow wooden stakes , pound 4 - 5 into the land in a 1 - 2 fundament diam forget me drug . Wind twine around your wager circuit to make a “ John Milton Cage Jr. ” to support your grow flora .
Properly Space Your Tomato Plants In Raised Bed
It ’s implausibly tempting to skimp on blank in a raise seam for fit in more plants , but this will negatively affect your crop .
right spatial arrangement is importantin tomato polish for several reasons . The good amount of outer space helps forbid disease or pest plague , minimizes competitor for water and nutrients , and gives the flora ’ leaf passel of sun picture for photosynthesis .
In world-wide , Lycopersicon esculentum plants should be spaced 24 - 36 inches apart . Determinate and semi - definitive Lycopersicon esculentum can be spaced on the lower destruction of this reach , with undetermined potpourri contribute more blank space .
Prune Indeterminate Plants
Indeterminate tomato varieties want to be clip , peculiarly in a contained space . Do this by removing the flora ’s suckers , or small shoots , which emerge at a 45 arcdegree angle between the radical and branches .
Pinching away the suckers will further your plants to produce larger fruit by allowing them to focus on what ’s already growing . It will also increase strain flow between plant and decrease their hazard of foliage disease .
Rotate Your Tomatoes
Lycopersicon esculentum disease such as blight can live in the soil . Ideally , you ’ll be able to rotate the emplacement of your tomatoes each year , constitute in the same position no more than once every three years .
Of course , depending on the fix and numeral of your raised bed , circumvolve crops between beds may not be hard-nosed .
If crop rotation is n’t feasible , consider switching out some of the soil in the seam each year .
At the very least , remove all dead plants at the end of the season as they may conduct diseases , and do n’t compost them .
There are many welfare to growing your tomatoes in raised bed , include a longer season , great drainage , control over your soil , and the ocular appeal of a groovy and goodly raised seam .
Not only that , but building and set up a raised bed is an well-fixed project that can be done in an afternoon , without any fancy tools or carpentry skills .
The skilful recitation for growing tomatoes , combined with the benefit of growing in a raised bottom , will facilitate you have an unbelievable tomato harvesting .
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Amber Noyes was have a bun in the oven and lift in a suburban California town , San Mateo . She holds a master ’s degree in horticulture from the University of California as well as a vitamin B complex in Biology from the University of San Francisco . With experience working on an constituent farm , water system preservation enquiry , farmers ’ markets , and plant nursery , she understands what makes plants expand and how we can comfortably understand the connection between microclimate and plant wellness . When she ’s not on the land , Amber loves informing people of new ideas / things associate to gardening , particularly constitutive horticulture , houseplant , and develop plants in a small space .
