# First garden EVER...this weekend



## doubleTHICK (Jun 19, 2012)

So after reading what I thought I should and making trips to my local farmers markets I am feeling; excited and probably way over confident.

But my question is this, while pressure treated lumber is not the way to go for garden building materials what about black plastic?

I was able to find some nice PT wood for my raised beds and plan on wrapping the inside of the box with heavy plastic to create a barrier for the soil and wood. The bottoms are open which will allow for any drainage issues so can't think of any harm that could be caused by having the plastic there.

Of course the plastic will deteriorate over time but I plan on having all cedar boxes by next season and the plastic will easily last until then with no worries.

If the plastic IS an issue what about landscape fabric (weed-block) over the plastic thus creating a barrier for the plastic? That stuff has to be safe, right? As long as I get the good stuff.

Any advice with my plastic issue would be awesome. Pictures soon to come. BTW I am new at this garden stuff, and feel free to laugh at any NEWB things in the pictures


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Black plastic is good if you have a very short growing season, it warms up the soil.
But if you have75-90 days or more BLK Plastic with shelf rain & dry out your garden.
I collect leave & straw all Fall, Winter & Spring to mulch my garden.
Mulch holds water & suppress weeds, keeps dust off your shoe & out of your lungs.

Nothing to laugh about, we are all born dumb & learn as we go, few of us know a lot & non of us know it all.
I am an organic gardener, if you are not, then you can still use compost.
Watch over fertilizing garden plants, some times it cause them to have less fruit.
Contact your local Extension agent,this person has knowledge of your county gardening.
Research vertical gardening, how you stake or tie up plants can keep fruit clean,easy to find & pick, save room, prevent rot & look pretty also.
We will be waiting for the photos.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I've been thinking about putting in some raised beds and thought that redwood may be a good choice, handles weather(and water) well and it isn't cost prohibitive.

This year I made some "raised" planters from welded fence wire and lined them with white plastic, planted potatoes in them and so far they are doing well(potatoes and planters). I chose to line the sides AND bottom, here we have more problems with too little rain than too much so I'm hoping that it will prevent water loss and nutrient leeching.

Hey, the best way to learn is by doing, that knowledge usually isn't easily forgotten.


Good Luck


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I see no problem with lining your frames with black plastic.

While you have the plastic out, look at using it over your onions. I've seen some incredible results on the onion output by doing so. I'm using the black road cloth over mine this year since that's what I had laying around and hoping for the same results.


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## siletz (Aug 23, 2011)

If you will have cedar beds for next year, I wouldn't bother making different raised beds just for this year. Instead just grow in the dirt in wide beds and create pathways around them. That way you get the benefits of the wide beds that are not stepped on but don't have to go to the work and expense of creating beds for just one year.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

crabapple said:


> Black plastic is good if you have a very short growing season, it warms up the soil.
> But if you have75-90 days or more BLK Plastic with shelf rain & dry out your garden....


OP isn't asking about covering the soil with plastic. He's asking about burying the black plastic to protect the PT lumber.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

siletz said:


> If you will have cedar beds for next year, I wouldn't bother making different raised beds just for this year. Instead just grow in the dirt in wide beds and create pathways around them. That way you get the benefits of the wide beds that are not stepped on but don't have to go to the work and expense of creating beds for just one year.


I would tend to think this the best route also. For example, this is your first garden ever. You have no idea, really, how much work is involved or how to avoid having a lot of extra work to do. Do you know what will grow in your zone/neighborhood? How many rows/sq. ft. of beans will you really be able to eat or process? Planning on two dozen determinate tomato plants or two dozen indeterminate tomatoes? How long will it take you to process them or how many can you process or eat in a week?

There are TONS of variables in a garden. Yes, there are many sites on how many of what to plant per person but it is an individual thing. There was another thread about that, having a set number of each plant per person/family. I plant more of some things and much less of others in the suggestion.

I would suggest staking out your planned beds and just making a pile of soil/compost in them. It is not going to go to waste as after you make the beds you will still need more to fill them. Plant about half of what you were thinking about. Unless you are planning on dried beans, then go for it and plant the crap out of them! They are one of the easiest things to grow and store, processing them can be postponed for months in you hang them in a shed also. [What is it they call someone who tells you the ending to a movie you have yet to see?]: They do not magically fall out of the pods for you and appear all clean and chaff free like in the stores.

But have some fun and experiment this year! Try mulching with leaves, newspaper, actual mulch, cardboard... Plant small patches of several different kinds of beans, tomatoes, spinach, whatever. Don't get 20 of the same tomato, get two of each different variety you can find. Heck, if you are really tomato nuts, plant as many different varieties as you can, even if you will not be able to use them all this year! Settle for a variety (or three) that YOU really like, not ones everyone else likes or what the magazines say are the best.

One thing first time home gardeners do is go way too large the first time, I was guilty of this my first season. I can still remember the joy at tilling, amending and setting up a HUGE garden! Planting seeds was great! Then... Upkeep came in and I got very frustrated. I didn't think through that some plants would shade others. I didn't think through that planting these tiny, tomato plants a foot apart would leave me with a friggin unmanageable jungle in another month!! Weeds? Holy crap! With all the manure I had tilled in they did great!!!! No one told me HORSE manure might help spread the weeds there either. No one told me either that every little 1/2" piece of Goldenrod, buried one foot down would sprout!!! It took a few years, lots of talking with the neighbors and friends and experimenting.

Long winded so I'll stop now, but you get the basic gist I hope. Good luck and come talk to folks here if you get frustrated or are having troubles!


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

doubleTHICK said:


> But my question is this, while pressure treated lumber is not the way to go for garden building materials what about black plastic?


We used black plastic pond liner, figuring if it's ok for the fishes, it'll be ok for us. We just cut strips to line the wood and fold out under the wood, and it works very well.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

TheLazyL said:


> OP isn't asking about covering the soil with plastic. He's asking about burying the black plastic to protect the PT lumber.


OOoooh, I miss that when I assumed that he wanted to cover the whole bed.
Lowes has a fake board that will not rot, but it cost much more then wood.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/sea...t-yhp-sfmac&va=Raised+beds+of+concrete+blocks
Blocks are cheaper then wood when you count the years of use & you can use them for other project, if you do not like them as a raised bed.


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## doubleTHICK (Jun 19, 2012)

Big THANKS for the responses!

The beds are already complete and ready to go so my thought is why not use them. The other thing about the beds are they're 24" in height. More than likely deep enough for most things being planted in there, I just didn't want to bend over that much.

I didn't think about the black plastic heating up the soil; is that a concern, heating of the soil? I live in one of the hotter places of Texas and 90* during summer is considered a 'cool front' - honestly
Guess I could use clear plastic. I said black because that is what I have now.

Yes, the plastic will be on the inside of the box to go between the PT wood and soil.

Three beds, each are 4'x8' in size. My ego says that is not near enough of planting real estate. My common sense is telling my ego to calm down A-hole that is plenty for your first time.

I have drawn out (sectioned) the beds on paper allowing for recommended spacing and growth. To be honest if I hadn't read about the spacing I would have stacked them on top of each other not even thinking about them needing room to grow.

Plant what you plan to eat. There is no need to plant squash or corn - I will not eat either.
Any extra that is not ate will be canned or given away. Anything I put at the end of my driveway - I mean ANYTHING - people stop and take. I'm calling that my paying it forward with fresh vegetables

The new raised beds next season I hope to modify if needed while using a 'friendly' type of wood. Maybe I will want the beds higher or lower. Maybe not as wide. Maybe in a 'U' shape instead of the regular shape. So besides using different wood for construction the beds for next season will be a better bed, a RB 2.0 if you will.

Also a little lost on how to water and how much to water. Just use a generic sprinkler that we jumped over as kids or use a soaker hose? I plan on trenching over to the beds so I will have water there just not sure how to apply. 
Living in Texas we are already in a Burn Ban and it isn't summer yet, so getting any measurable amount of rain is not likely. Do you 'read' the plants? Feel the soil for dampness? Simply turn the water on every night for 15 minutes? I'm assuming to water at night otherwise the plants boil or water evaporates too quickly. At least that is why they water the lawns at night.

Regardless it should be fun and cant wait until I can go to the backyard and pick from the bed instead of a store shelf. 
Pics soon to come . . .


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

Sounds Great! Have Fun! Enjoy the spoils! Oh yea, and watch a lot of you tube videos...


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

Watering is always tricky and depends on your soil and conditions. For here in central NC I water my 30' x 40' garden on a 3 day schedule. We have a heavy red clay soil which I have amended heavily for... 9 years now? The top foot is great, after that it is still clay with granite rocks. I pick a few rows in a section (One third of the garden) and water each one. If it has been REALLY dry (even drying out the top mulch) I'll give each row a quick watering. Then I go back over them, watering a little longer. When I complete the round I'll give them all a final soaking. I water in the later afternoon, after the sun is behind the trees and hand water at the ground level. My goal is to give each section a deep watering every three days. You can judge by taking a trowel and sticking it in, next to the row, and open it a little to see if it is damp, NOT soaked, all the way down. You will be able to judge after a short time how much is right. I also live on a dirt road so the whole garden gets a daily 'hold the hand sprinkler over my head and rinse everything off' watering too. Cools me down and cleans the dust off the leaves. For added fun, get a Labrador puppy!!! You can turn the nozzle to 'jet' and pay 'video games' by trying to blast her as she ZIPS around the garden. Depending how far away, and how fast they are, you have to give them a short blast with a 10' or 15' lead. It is no fair if you just hold the 'shot' in a certain position and wait until she reaches a certain point, the fire, that is like cheating.

I like to hand water over using a timer or soaker hose. It FORCES me to be in the garden every day. Things get busy, kids are screaming, work sucked... screw it, go out in the garden and do some weeding and water while 'nibbling'. If you graze while weeding, most times you already have most of your dinner taken care of! A quick run down the lettuce or spinach isle, maybe a radish or carrot, some beans, a cuke, a tomato... Heck, you are already full! It also makes me aware of what is going on in the garden. I, hopefully, can catch pests or a disease early as I see the plants every day. You happily munch on a handful of cherry tomatoes one day, next day you go out and half the plants are missing all their tops!!! WTF!!! They were great yesterday!!! On close inspection you see some tell tale turds, closer look and you find the culprits.. Horn Worms!! How could you miss them they are huge and can devastate a small garden in short order. You pick them off and humanely chop them in half, adding them to the scrap meat pit. Or the stink bugs!!! Damn, once they get a foothold you are in for long picking sessions!!!

If you are out there every day it is easier to catch something before it gets out of control. That isn't to say you will catch or be able to cure everything. Sometimes sacrificing a row of something with wilt, or mildew is preferable to treating the whole garden and taking a chance of losing everything. Last year many of us in the area lost our entire gardens to mildews, due to the really wet, warm weather. You suck it up and move on.

But still, glad you have the beds done and ready! Fill them suckers up and get some seeds in the ground!!!

For your first garden, here is something really fun to do. When tomatoes, cukes, radishes, carrots, spinach... Or anything is ready... Eat it right there, in the afternoon sun, right after harvesting it. Root crops, just a quick wash. I bring a salt shaker for the tomatoes and cukes, but that is simply my choice. Man, nothing finer than some fresh picked beans, a sun warmed tomato.. or anything for that matter, picked right off the plant and consumed within seconds... Let me grab a flashlight and go check and see if any peas are ready!!!!


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

Maybe late in the conversation or already said but in regards to putting plastic on the boards, if it is a tall wall like 3-4 feet sometimes the walls will blow out with too much rain if the water can't get out quick enough.


Sent from my iPhone using Survival Forum


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

doubleTHICK said:


> Also a little lost on how to water and how much to water. Just use a generic sprinkler that we jumped over as kids or use a soaker hose? I plan on trenching over to the beds so I will have water there just not sure how to apply.
> Living in Texas we are already in a Burn Ban and it isn't summer yet, so getting any measurable amount of rain is not likely. Do you 'read' the plants? Feel the soil for dampness? Simply turn the water on every night for 15 minutes? I'm assuming to water at night otherwise the plants boil or water evaporates too quickly. At least that is why they water the lawns at night.


I'm a few hundred miles north of you, west of DFW.

When you water, if the plants are small(just sprouted) hand water(with a hose or water can) with a gentle sprinkle in the eveninig - as the plants grow you can switch to a hose.

At late afternoon the following day, dig your hand into the soil and if it is still moist, you watered enough and continue with that amount until your hand finds dry soil or the plants show wilting then adjust your evening watering accordingly.

You can also water in the morning too, when the temps rise to 110+ twice a day may be necessary.


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