New Garden!

[reddmegh1984]

Hi all,

I'm planting an outdoor raised garden for the first time in the Washington DC area and I have some questions that I would really love help answering. I'm planning to plant two 4x4 raised plots with tomato, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, carrots, green onions and cilantro and would also love any advice on how to arrange the plots.

• I started seedlings a little late so they are not huge - any advice on how big they need to be before I can plant outside?
• I've heard people talk about needing to replant after I've harvested them. How much will I have to do this? Do I need to keep seedlings growing all summer?
• Do I need to line the bed with anything? I've seen advice that I should cover it with black plastic up to 2 months before planting which I have not done.
• Any general advice on the best arrangement for the plants?

 

[Fernsdaddy]

Welcome to the forum,
You can use news paper to line the bottom of your beds, it lets water to drain but keep out the weeds. I can't help you with seedlings because I start my seeds in the in my raised beds,I don't think you can fit all the plants you want into 2 beds because most will get large and spread out I grow 6 egg plants in one 4x4 bed and I end up with more than I can use LOL. Make sure your plants have to grow and get lots of air.
I'm sure others will help you too

 

[headfullofbees]

It's a bit tight to grow all of them, so I suggest you split them in two; grow the nightshades one year, (eggplants, tomatoes, peppers) and the rest the next, and alternate, unless you can expand your growing area.
Let's call the beds A & B, and use a four year rotation to help prevent the build-up of pests and diseases.
Year 1)Plant four single-stem tomatoes in bed A and two peppers & one eggplant in B.
Year 2)One zucchini in each bed, planted 18" from the southern edge, (two plants are best for pollination) with the rest of each bed split between carrots & onions. Plant them to the North of the zucchini, which will naturally grow towards the sun. (carrots & onions make excellent bedfellows, as the smell of each confuses the main pest of the other)
Year 3) Plant the tomatoes in bed B, the peppers and eggplant in bed A
Year 4) As Year 2.

Don't line the beds or you'll have problems with the carrots.

 

[Rocky]

I have a small raised bed as well so I grow my tomatoes and Zucchini in separate pots so they have more room! I have found it is easier to space things out this way!

http://www.artfullycreativelife.com/category/garden/

 

[Beth_B]

Hi.
I agree, that doesn't seem enough space. A single zucchini plant can spread out 4x4, and as stated above you probably want two at least, ideally, for pollination. And some tomatoes depending on variety, will also take up lots of room.

And just a word on cilantro (which I love). If you find a way to harvest it without it bolting about every other day, please update! That's one I've given up on, I just buy it at the grocery store now.

 

[nhraziano7]

It all depends on how much you want/need of things. If you want a lot of everything you won't have enough room. If you just want a little of everything and you can get pots for the cilantro and green onions then I think you can make it work. My first year in my garden that was all I had for beds, 2- 4x4 planters. In one I had 2 bell peppers and 2 tomatoes. In another I had 2 zuchinni and an eggplant (also a cantaloupe but that vined outside of the planter so took up very little space IN the planter). I grow my carrots in a half whiskey barrel.

 

[headfullofbees]

Hi.
I agree, that doesn't seem enough space. A single zucchini plant can spread out 4x4, and as stated above you probably want two at least, ideally, for pollination. And some tomatoes depending on variety, will also take up lots of room.

And just a word on cilantro (which I love). If you find a way to harvest it without it bolting about every other day, please update! That's one I've given up on, I just buy it at the grocery store now.

Grow it spring and autumn and freeze it.

 

[Dawn]

I trellis my cucumbers. You could do the same with zucchini? Right now I have some leftover chicken wire attached to my porch.

But one year I just used one of those big fan shaped trellises. I planted 3 plant like a triangle around it and it worked out great. Used about a 3x3 space.

In one 8x8 garden bed I grew beans, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, big boy tomatoes, basil, jalepenos, and green peppers.

Look up "french intensive gardening".

Ha, showing my age there...."Google" it, I mean.

 

[Doelman]

Hi all,

I'm planting an outdoor raised garden for the first time in the Washington DC area and I have some questions that I would really love help answering. I'm planning to plant two 4x4 raised plots with tomato, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, carrots, green onions and cilantro and would also love any advice on how to arrange the plots.

• I started seedlings a little late so they are not huge - any advice on how big they need to be before I can plant outside?
• I've heard people talk about needing to replant after I've harvested them. How much will I have to do this? Do I need to keep seedlings growing all summer?
• Do I need to line the bed with anything? I've seen advice that I should cover it with black plastic up to 2 months before planting which I have not done.
• Any general advice on the best arrangement for the plants?

You can transplant your seedlings whenever you want, just make sure it's the right time of year for each plant based on your last frost date.

Some vegetables produce once and then die off, these are the type you want to stagger planting to get a longer harvest. Others will produce until the weather conditions stop them (heat, cold, etc.). Do research on the type of vegetable you're planting to get a better idea how it produces, even among a single kind of vegetable/fruit (ex: tomato) the actual varieties will produce differently.

I have 5 4'x4'x6" beds, I put a weed liner before filling with soil. It wasn't enough soil depth for a lot of plants, many blew over, my root plants were comically deformed (but the carrots were still delicious). I removed the weed liner and everything roots well now. If you have 12" deep beds, that'll probably be enough to grow whatever you want with the weed liner. You need something to stop the grass/weeds from growing up into your raised beds for sure since you didn't kill it off before the season.

One bed will only fit 4 to 6 tomato plants, depending on the type. Zucs take up a ton of space, I would say 4 max per bed, and only if you plant them closer to the corners (or trellis them). You can fit a ton of green onions/carrots, probably 6-8 per square foot. 6-8 Pepper plants per 4x4 bed, depending on the type. Keep the cilantro out of the beds completely, they're easy to grow in a container you can put to the side, they spread like a weed. If you're mixing different plants on the same plot, make sure they're arranged so the taller plants don't shade out the shorter ones.