Filling containers with wood chips

[headfullofbees]

I take you have a lot of wood chips available, so that's how you'd save money?

Perhaps a better idea would be to buy the soil/compost & to burn the wood using the ash for fertiliser saving money that way?

There is everything you need for your garden in woodash & urine.

 

[Snatch]

I have several raised beds and this year I am also going to plant in 10 gal. and bigger containers and want to know if I can bottom fill with wood chips to save on so much soil and if so about how much. Thanks DeanDepends on what your planting, but generally yes you can. Wood chips, compostable materials, paper, cardboard. As long as you leave enough room for around six inches of compost on top you should be fine.

 

[harrylee]

I have a bunch of downed branches over the winter and have a few raised beds to fill. I am going to put some of these branches in the bottom. The beds are about 20" high.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Personally I would burn them. I would quench before the coals were all gone and toss them into a 5 gallon bucket (s) of fish fertilizer. Later, when I remember to check, maybe next week, I would put that out.

 

[Meadowlark]

I have completed an experiment evaluating the feasibility of adding wood to the bottom of containers.

My conclusion: Positively it works!!!

See the thread on HK in containers for reference.

"Across 38 different vegetables planted in HK containers and duplicated in ground planting, across spring /summer/fall/early winter 2022, a total of 3077 ounces of produce (87,231 grams) was harvested from the HK containers and 1990 ounces (56415 grams) harvested from identical in ground planted veggies. There were no, zero, nada veggies that failed to meet the targeted goal of equal to or greater production ratio of .5.

The production ratio across the entire experiment was 1.6."