Building my (1st) run/coop and garden beds. Follow along.

[gtaus]

You've given me thoughts to consider. I will need to re-examine the weight factor and perhaps reinforce the bottoms. I was calculating weight of the soil and each square foot of floor would be supporting 65-70 lbs. A 1' wide stretch of the 3' span would then need to hold around 200lbs. Of course weight is a very rough estimate and changes on moisture content.

Good to think about that now. When the soil is wet, it gets a lot heavier. Add to that, the wood will soak up some water and lose strength over time. I'm just saying that my 2X4 (8 square feet) elevated beds were a lot heavier than I thought they would be. Your bed is 3X6 (18 square feet) and will be more than twice as heavy.

I did watch the entire video. I get the SIP idea but that's too much hassle for me. I may revisit the idea in the future but for now I'm not keen on the expense or extra prep. I appreciate you sharing the idea though. I had not heard of that concept before.

Yes, there is a lot of work up front and to build a proper sub-irrigated system is much more costly than a typical raised bed. It's not for everyone and I really don't see many people using them, due to both cost and complexity of construction.

Although my sub-irrigated elevated planters outperform all my other beds, I can't afford to build many of them and most of my gardens are typical raised beds using the hügelkultur method of using wood on the bottom half of the garden beds. Much simpler to construct and much cheaper for the build.

Still, all knowledge can be valuable and there may come a day when that type of sub-irrigate system may make sense for you.

Instead I'll have the beds on a timed drip system similar to what I do for all of my potted flowering plants. I think I'd need to feel a lot more ambitious to tackle a SIP system.

That sounds like a good plan. I don't have water conservation concerns (I live on a lake) so I just set a timer on my garden hose for watering my raised beds. If I was living back in California with water shortage issues, I would be using a drip system to conserve water.

Hope you keep the thread updated with your progress and some pictures of everything when the plants are growing.

In that spirit, here is a picture of my elevated sub-irrigated planter full of beans. I got more beans from that 2X4 planter than I ever got out of my main garden with 8X8 patch.

 

[McChooky]

This photo might show better. I didn't see a need to screw them down. I assume the weight of what's above (soil) will hold it down. It's snug in place.

I love the planter! What are you planning on growing in it?

 

[Happy Novogens]

I love the planter! What are you planning on growing in it?

Thanks!

The plan is to experiment with a variety of peppers, lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, beans, kale, etc. See what'll work.

July in my zone (and moreso Aug) is limited due to the heat. If I'm done with my beds soon, I can start armenian cucumber, bush beans and winter squash. Indoors, I can start tomatoes and peppers for planting outside in early Sept.

 

[McChooky]

Thanks!

The plan is to experiment with a variety of peppers, lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, beans, kale, etc. See what'll work.

July in my zone (and moreso Aug) is limited due to the heat. If I'm done with my beds soon, I can start armenian cucumber, bush beans and winter squash. Indoors, I can start tomatoes and peppers for planting outside in early Sept.

I highly recommend placing an old pool liner in the bottom for a water reserve (even with a drip system!) Planters can be notorious for baking the roots ! I solved the problem by keeping mine where the evening suns filtered.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I highly recommend placing an old pool liner in the bottom for a water reserve (even with a drip system!) Planters can be notorious for baking the roots ! I solved the problem by keeping mine where the evening suns filtered.

I would fear that a liner would prevent water from running through and cause the roots to get water-logged.

 

[McChooky]

I would fear that a liner would prevent water from running through and cause the roots to get water-logged.

In raised beds the soil beneath them holds moisture but the bottom dries out in a wood planter. ( a drip system will help!)

 

[gtaus]

I would fear that a liner would prevent water from running through and cause the roots to get water-logged.

In the sub-irrigated planters (SIP), there is an air gap between the water reservoir and the soil of the planter built into the system to prevent the roots from being water-logged. If you just added a deep liner without thinking about depth of soil in the planter, it might well result in a drowning pool of water underneath the surface. I would think a shallow liner, with overflow hole maybe an inch or two off the bottom, would be enough to catch water but not deep enough to drown the roots. I'm thinking our in-house planters have a shallow overflow pan for the pots, and that overflow is not deep enough to water-log the roots in the pots.

How deep is your planter going to be? For comparison, my SIP, the planter is 15.5 inches high, has 4 inch high drain pipes installed, and there is a overflow hole drilled in at 3 inches off the bottom. 4 inches (drain pipe) - 3 inches (overflow hole) = 1 inch air gap between the water reservoir and the soil. Without that air gap, my plants would drown in the planter after a good rain.

I think your idea of drip irrigation, as you described, would work for you as you intend to monitor the planter. But I also agree that raised beds and elevated planters will dry out much faster compared to planting in the ground. Without some way of conserving water, a raised bed or elevated planter will probably require more watering. But I think you have already considered that issue with the drip irrigation.

 

[Happy Novogens]

The inside depth is 14" so the soil will be 10-12" deep. I have been considering whether it would be helpful to toss some plastic bottles in the bottom to serve as a filler and reduce the amount (& weight) of some of the soil. But then I think that at least some of the areas should not have the bottles so I have plenty of soil depth for root vegetables.

[I have plenty more bottles. Photo is just for example.]

 

[gtaus]

I have been considering whether it would be helpful to toss some plastic bottles in the bottom to serve as a filler and reduce the amount (& weight) of some of the soil.

I would suggest using wood as filler on the bottom, that's the hügelkultur method. Benefits of using wood in the bottom is that the wood will act like a sponge and retain some water longer and release it to the plants. Also, as the wood breaks down and turns into soil, it actually improves the environment over time.

Plastic bottles will certainly work as a filler, but you won't get the benefits of the sponge-like effect of wood and plastic won't break down over time to enrich your soil like wood will decompose.

I use wood as filler in all my new raised beds. Last year, we had a terrible drought with no rain all summer. I don't have running water in my main garden. My hügelkultur raised beds were the only raised beds that had plants that survived and produced food. That made me a believer in the hügelkultur method. My other raised beds, without wood in the bottom, just dried up and everything in those beds died.

One thing different about hügelkultur raised beds is that as the wood decays, the soil level in the raised bed will drop an inch or two per year. I actually prefer that because I know that the decaying wood is improving the soil below, and I use my chicken run compost to refill the raised bed on the top. So, in theory, every year my raised bed should be getting enriched both the top and bottom. In practice, my hügelkultur raised beds have shown increased productivity every succeeding year.

 

[Happy Novogens]

Today's picture. There is a spigot at each bed and another just inside the chicken run.
My nestbox can be seen (kinda). It will have the egg catch that opens from outside the wiring.
Pardon the junk on the ground. Been trying to brainstorm for an airy roost that can be rainproof.
Hubby has plans to frame in the front of the run and put a door.