An experiment in Hugelkulture in containers

[Chuckers]

I put together a new raised bed in 2020 Hugelkulture style. Didn't plant in it until 2021 and it was a dismal failure except for a genovese basil plant which trived. This year, same crops (garlic and onions, no basil) and so far it seems to be doing a lot better, but not great. I'm not certain what it is but it could be that the soil I filled it with wasn't so good. It was a mix of about 80% kellogg raised bed soil + about 20% Kellogg garden soil. They stopped carrying kellogg at my home depot starting 2021 and at the end of the growing year 2020 they had it on clearance for $2 a bag! So that's what I filled it with. I filled the bottom with the limbs (so I say about 1/4 of the bed is limbs and the bed is 18" deep). I guess it could also be that some of the wood was not decayed enough, but it was old fallen and trimmed limbs that were sitting around for 3+ years on my property and looked well decayed. Hopefully it progressively gets better as the years go by or i'll have to empty it and start anew (no Hugelkulture next time - TBH, the only reason I did Hugelkulture for this bed was to get rid of some of those limbs as I don't have the money to get it all hauled away lol).

 

[headfullofbees]

I put together a new raised bed in 2020 Hugelkulture style. Didn't plant in it until 2021 and it was a dismal failure except for a genovese basil plant which trived. This year, same crops (garlic and onions, no basil) and so far it seems to be doing a lot better, but not great. I'm not certain what it is but it could be that the soil I filled it with wasn't so good. It was a mix of about 80% kellogg raised bed soil + about 20% Kellogg garden soil. They stopped carrying kellogg at my home depot starting 2021 and at the end of the growing year 2020 they had it on clearance for $2 a bag! So that's what I filled it with. I filled the bottom with the limbs (so I say about 1/4 of the bed is limbs and the bed is 18" deep). I guess it could also be that some of the wood was not decayed enough, but it was old fallen and trimmed limbs that were sitting around for 3+ years on my property and looked well decayed. Hopefully it progressively gets better as the years go by or i'll have to empty it and start anew (no Hugelkulture next time - TBH, the only reason I did Hugelkulture for this bed was to get rid of some of those limbs as I don't have the money to get it all hauled away lol).

That sounds, to some extent like nitrogen sequestration.
Basil has only shallow roots & they may be above the affected soil.
Many people believe that garlic & onions only produce shallow roots, but that's because they break easily when pulled, & also because they die off first, & is why the leaves brown to let you know they'll not be growing anymore; given the chance onions will put down 18" & longer roots.

https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/onion-growing-plant-underground-root-600w-169670231.jpg

 

[lifegardener]

I desire to garden and specifically raise vegetables for the duration of my life. I recognize that someday I will not be able to do that in my current large garden. Hence, this experiment to determine the feasibility of Hugelkulture in containers. Two control plants and two hugelkulture plants in the same soil (Celebrity tomato in one container and jalapeno pepper in the other) will be the basis of this experiment. Produce weights and growing cycle will be compared.

If you are interested, I encourage you to follow this thread and comment/question anytime.



And so it begins:

Materials:

1) the containers used are old cattle protein tubs with drainage holes added. Cost: Zero, utilization of existing material

View attachment 87999

2) one of the beauties of this approach is material is generally free and readily available. Wood debris material for the first layer. Cost zero, making something out of nothing

View attachment 88001

3) This material is easily broken up and added to the containers as the first (bottom) layer. Zero cost

View attachment 88002

4) the second layer is power company provided free tree mulch. Zero cost.

View attachment 88003

5) the third and final layer will be added just prior to planting using the identical garden soil of the control plants and setting in close proximity. Depending on weather, it could be another couple of weeks before the weather enables. Stay tuned.

Summary: zero cost, less than 45 minutes of my time.

Very interesting. Please provide us updates on the progress.

 

[lifegardener]

I put together a new raised bed in 2020 Hugelkulture style. Didn't plant in it until 2021 and it was a dismal failure except for a genovese basil plant which trived. This year, same crops (garlic and onions, no basil) and so far it seems to be doing a lot better, but not great. I'm not certain what it is but it could be that the soil I filled it with wasn't so good. It was a mix of about 80% kellogg raised bed soil + about 20% Kellogg garden soil. They stopped carrying kellogg at my home depot starting 2021 and at the end of the growing year 2020 they had it on clearance for $2 a bag! So that's what I filled it with. I filled the bottom with the limbs (so I say about 1/4 of the bed is limbs and the bed is 18" deep). I guess it could also be that some of the wood was not decayed enough, but it was old fallen and trimmed limbs that were sitting around for 3+ years on my property and looked well decayed. Hopefully it progressively gets better as the years go by or i'll have to empty it and start anew (no Hugelkulture next time - TBH, the only reason I did Hugelkulture for this bed was to get rid of some of those limbs as I don't have the money to get it all hauled away lol).

Overtime, your raised bed will get better and better. Also, you may want to consider adding a bit more mulch.

 

[Meadowlark]

Very interesting. Please provide us updates on the progress.

Welcome aboard!

I've been posting mid-monthly updates (two so far) as we go along interspersed in with the various comments.

The third update in mid-June will have a lot more data from each of the 6 tubs.

I believe your comment above about the HK getting better over time is correct just based on the limited experience I've gained thus far. I saw a good deal of settling early on in my tubs, but it has since stabilized.

Thanks for your interest.

 

[lifegardener]

Welcome aboard!

I've been posting mid-monthly updates (two so far) as we go along interspersed in with the various comments.

The third update in mid-June will have a lot more data from each of the 6 tubs.

I believe your comment above about the HK getting better over time is correct just based on the limited experience I've gained thus far. I saw a good deal of settling early on in my tubs, but it has since stabilized.

Thanks for your interest.

Those tub gardens are a great idea - and they will get better overtime.

 

[Chuckers]

Basil has only shallow roots & they may be above the affected soil.

I have only ever grown genovese basil and when I grow it in a put, the roots take over the whole pot, regardless of the size of the pot. Not shallow at all.

 

[Chuckers]

Overtime, your raised bed will get better and better.

You may be right. I have always had a problem with new raised beds, but they always get better as years pass. Never done HK before though.

 

[Meadowlark]

Update: Month three (mid June)

Plant	Current PR	Status/Comments
Tub 1: celebrity tomato	0.57	Production nearing completion
Tub 2: jalapeno pepper	0.88	Production slowing down
Tub 3: green bell pepper	0.96	Both plants going strong
Tub 4: a) butter nut squash	0.63	Production cycle complete
Tub 4: b) cucumber		started after squash finished; no production yet
Tub 5: black beauty egg plant	0.27	Production going strong on both plants
Tub 6: okra	1	Production going strong and equal

Over 700 ounces of produce collected in this experiment and thus far a composite production ratio of 0.61 or said differently Hügelkultur in containers is producing 61% on average across 7 veggies what my garden produces. The target was 50% for feasibility when we started the experiment.

I'll update the numbers at least once more but temps are hitting 100 deg. here now every day so production, except for okra and egg plant, is slipping.

 

[skinyea]

1 thing regarding this method. I have had 2 water my 8 tubs more so than the other tubs. just by a few days but it is definitely more.

other than that, the plants look identical.

 

[Meadowlark]

Yes, same here.

I knew this was wrong when it was written:

"Adding layers of solid objects in a container is not just a discontinuity, it's a likely obstruction. ...
, it's a disaster waiting to happen."

All 7 of my tubs of Hügelkultur require more water than the corresponding ground plants. In fact, several of my HG plants went too long before I realized I needed to check them more frequently for water...and it likely hurt their production. The only drainage problem is too fast drainage.

 

[skinyea]

MY 8 HK have about the same growth and flowers as the other 36 tubs. everything looks the same. will be interesting to see how much veggies I get from each.

 

[Meadowlark]

Mid July update. Production slowed/stopped until fall and cooler weather returns for most plants.

Feasibility well established with all 7 veggies selected exceeding the 0.50 threshold target selected at the beginning of the experiment and over 1150 total ounces of produce harvested.

Looking forward to fall where I will try out many new veggies in the HK containers. I'm convinced the technique
works and with better management techniques learned over this experiment looking forward to driving that production ratio even closer to 100%.

Update: Month four (mid-July)

Plant	Current PR	Status/Comments
Tub 1: celebrity tomato	0.72	Production complete for summer. Control plant produced over 20 pounds of nice medium sized tomatoes w HK plant having just slightly smaller ones and slightly fewer ones. Better attention to watering would have improved the ratio considerably.
Tub 2: jalapeno pepper	1.19	Production slowed until fall/cooler weather. The HK pepper plant produced nearly three pounds of beautiful peppers over the duration of the experiment.
Tub 3: green bell pepper	0.97	Both plants have slowed/stopped production until fall but produced many nice bell peppers about equally in size and number.
Tub 4: a) butter nut squash	0.63	Production cycle complete.
Tub 4: b) cucumber	0.83	Production cycle complete; sun burning both plants up.
Tub 5: black beauty egg plant	0.95	Surprising production continuing. More eggplant than I can use produced about equally.
Tub 6: okra	0.93	Production going strong and about equal.

Composite: 0.81 across 7 different veggies producing over 1151 ounces

 

[skinyea]

I have 8 hk containers. so far all 8 are almost the exact same as the 8 regulars. I am zone 6b so have along way to go but the few changes

1. I water the HK containers almost 2 to1 vs reg. containers. might be an issue if I go out of town for a week
2. 1 HK tomato plant had early blight. nothing on any others
3. moving the hk containers are clearly eaiser

 

[Meadowlark]

Same here,

Yes, I experienced the 2 to 1 ratio also...but only after the HK plants suffered some. The rumors of drainage problems proved completely unfounded and the use of side vent holes totally unnecessary and in fact harmful.

The mobility of the containers using HK cannot be understated. The reduced weight without significant loss of production is huge!