Told my neighbor his raised beds were too deep and he got all defensive

My neighbor Dave built these fancy 3 foot tall raised beds last spring for his tomatoes. I told him he was wasting money on soil since tomato roots don't go that deep anyway. He got kinda huffy and said "I know what I'm doing, I watched 20 YouTube videos." Fast forward to July and his plants were all stunted while my 12 inch deep beds were overflowing. He finally admitted I was right after we dug up one of his plants and the roots only went down 10-12 inches. Dude spent like $400 extra on soil for nothing. Has anyone else run into people who think bigger automatically means better for garden setups?

3 comments

3 Comments

laura_allen22d ago

Wait, are you sure about tomato roots not going deep though? I mean, I've grown tomatoes for years and I've definitely seen roots go 2 feet or more in loose soil, especially when they're really established. The real issue Dave had was probably more about the soil packing down too much in those tall beds, or maybe he used something too heavy that didn't drain right. My neighbor actually had the same problem, but it turned out his soil mix was too dense and held too much water, so the roots stayed shallow because they couldn't breathe. I think the depth itself isn't the enemy, it's how you fill it and what you plant. For something like carrots or parsnips, a deep bed is actually really useful, you know?

jesse_green5512d ago

Yeah 4 foot beds with just bagged topsoil is asking for trouble. I built 3 foot beds back in 2018 and used a mix of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite and they've drained perfectly ever since even after heavy rains. The key is you want something like 40% compost, 40% peat or coconut coir, and 20% perlite or vermiculite by volume. Straight topsoil from a bag is way too heavy and has no structure, so it packs down into basically brick by midsummer like you saw with Tom's peppers. I've also found that adding a layer of coarse gravel or sand at the very bottom helps with drainage so roots don't sit in water, but that's more important for things like carrots that really need that deep loose soil. Your point about the soil mix being the real issue is exactly right, you can go as deep as you want as long as the stuff you fill it with lets roots breathe and water move through.

mark_price22d ago

My buddy Tom built 4 foot raised beds for his peppers last year and filled them with straight bagged topsoil. The stuff turned into concrete by July and his peppers were the size of golf balls.