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Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
+3
sanderson
OhioGardener
gspoerke
7 posters
Page 1 of 1
Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
I have a square foot garden using a raised bed for the first time. The soil depth is about 10 inches and I used the standard "text book mix", plus a little regular soil. This is my first full year and I was wondering if I could plant seeds/plants earlier in a raised bed since it has air all around it and would heat up earlier than the regular soil. I have a seeding/planting schedule from the local Extension Office for this area. Can I bump it up a couple weeks or days using a raised bed.
gspoerke-
Posts : 4
Join date : 2018-04-16
Age : 77
Location : Bellefonte, PA 16823
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
Depends on what you are planting, gspoerke. The soil in a raised be will warm faster than an in-ground garden, and it is possible to plant cold hardy plants such as kale and peas a little earlier. But, frost-sensitive plants will still be subject to frost in the raised bed just as they would an in-ground garden.
Never plant without a bucket of compost at your side.
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
gspoerke, I would not push planting hot weather plants, like tomatoes and peppers, any earlier than you would in the ground. Well, unless you have hot houses set over the beds. And, those create another problem in that you have to open them in the day so the plants don't fry. Patience is a virtue, especially in gardening.

Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
sanderson wrote:Patience is a virtue, especially in gardening.![]()
That's why I knit. I have 0 patience. Knitting keeps me from going crazy waiting for plants to grow.

Jjean59 likes this post
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
sanderson wrote: Patience is a virtue, especially in gardening.![]()
God, grant me patience, and I want it Now!

Never plant without a bucket of compost at your side.
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
OhioGardener wrote:sanderson wrote: Patience is a virtue, especially in gardening.![]()
God, grant me patience, and I want it Now!

Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
I don't think the square foot garden method gives you any advantage to plant early. The planting schedule that your local cooperative created is based on an average year. So if your weather forecast is warmer than normal, then you can try to plant earlier.
Mikesgardn-
Posts : 280
Join date : 2010-03-09
Age : 60
Location : Elkridge, MD (zone 7a)
sanderson likes this post
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
gspoerke, why not take the guessing out of the equation and just measure the mix in your raised bed with a soil or beverage thermometer. Soil temperature is the important factor in the equation rather than a date on the calendar. You might live in a micro-climate that is totally different either way than a neighbor that lives a 1/4 mile away. Enjoy the gardening season and bountiful harvest. A raised bed can give you a jump on a growing season but also gives less protection in the event of a cold snap. Funny how nature keeps everything balanced as if trying to create harmony.
Dan in Ct-
Posts : 295
Join date : 2014-08-10
Location : Ct Zone 6A
sanderson likes this post
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
Next month we'll start are early spring planting of things like onions and peas here in Zone 6, and I thought it might be a good idea to re-post the High Mowing Organic Seeds Planting Chart that does a good job of explaining the best times to plant based on the last frost date.
https://www.highmowingseeds.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/pdf/2017%20Planting%20Chart.pdf
https://www.highmowingseeds.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/pdf/2017%20Planting%20Chart.pdf
Never plant without a bucket of compost at your side.
sanderson and Scorpio Rising like this post
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
As "Dan in CT" wrote, using a thermometer can help take the guess work out of soil temps. I swear, Mother Nature does her own thing. I plan, she laughs.
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
sanderson wrote:As "Dan in CT" wrote, using a thermometer can help take the guess work out of soil temps.
So true. The planning chart gives only the ballpark time for the local area so one can time starting the seedlings. But planting in the gardens needs to have the correct temp for those seeds or plants. That is one of the things I like about the High Mowing chart, it gives the ideal soil temp range for each plant type.
Never plant without a bucket of compost at your side.
sanderson and Scorpio Rising like this post
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
I have saved, reformatted (into Excel so temps and timing can hopefully be added into another chart I have), and printed this chart -- thank you very much. For the longest time, I've been looking for a good chart that showed best planting temps -- which like someone says, takes the guesswork out or at least one little bit of it.OhioGardener wrote:Next month we'll start are early spring planting of things like onions and peas here in Zone 6, and I thought it might be a good idea to re-post the High Mowing Organic Seeds Planting Chart that does a good job of explaining the best times to plant based on the last frost date.
https://www.highmowingseeds.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/pdf/2017%20Planting%20Chart.pdf
Question: About covering our raised beds if we follow the temps and have a sudden temp drop overnight.
(My beds are up in the air, too, on concrete blocks, and have a 5" reservoir of water -- so I don't know if they get cold like that from below, too. We have not put skirts on yet. Will have to make use of my compost thermometer and start measuring temps to learn how this works.)
I saw in a video by that farmer "Leon" that inside his greenhouses, he considers one layer of plastic as a frost protection for 8degrees F, two layers 16 degrees protection. 8degrees per layer -- and I think he does separate the layers so there is air insulation between? (Meaning that one extra layer of plastic laid on top of his containers inside a greenhouse will protect to 32-8=24F, two layers will protect down to 24F-8F=16F.)
Do you think this follows the same for my open air - on stilts - raised - wicking - beds?
Soose- Posts : 405
Join date : 2022-02-23
Location : North Alabama
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
Soose wrote:Do you think this follows the same for my open air - on stilts - raised - wicking - beds?
Probably not, but don't know. Raised beds that sit on the ground absorb some heat from the ground, whereas ones up on "stilts" would lose heat to the surrounding air. So, short answer, probably not.
If you have not already done so get a soil thermometer and plant according to the soil temp. If it a seed or plant needs the soil temp to be between 60ºF and 70ºF, don't plant them until the soil is in that range. The importance of the soil thermometer is that it registers the soil temp at the root zone of the plant, not just the surface nor at a foot down, but at the root zone. The ambient temp may be 20 or 30 degrees warmer than the soil several inches down, or the ambient temp might have dropped overnight while the soil temp remained about the same.
https://www.amazon.com/Vee-Gee-Scientific-82160-6-Thermometer/dp/B00JE5GI3U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=outdoorhapp0e-20
Never plant without a bucket of compost at your side.
sanderson likes this post
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
I like that thermometer. It's only 6" instead of 20" like my compost thermometer. The soil temps with which we are concerned are 6-7", especially in table top beds.
Re: Planting Schedule in a Raised Bed
Never plant without a bucket of compost at your side.
sanderson and Jjean59 like this post

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