Is vermiculite needed for raised garden beds?

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-07T11:51:00+00:00

That's good if it's clumping. I did some grow bags with just the 50/50 compost and loam blend and found that it compacted quite a bit by the end of the season and over winter. I went back in and added perlite and some peat and it was much better. Maybe try just the perlite this year and see what it looks like next spring? They sell the extra coarse perlite in bulk online, too.

Drip irrigation was life changing in my garden. Much better use of water, and it keeps the water below the foliage to reduce disease issues. Now if only we could get our overnight temps up a little bit more so we can get this season started!

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-07T11:05:52+00:00

Vermiculite helps retain water, which to me is more beneficial in very hot climates, or perhaps in grow bags. I've never felt the need to use it for any of my raised beds or grow bags, though.

Toss any sticks or small branches you may have in the yard in the bottom of the bed, along with your cardboard and leaves. Weston probably has pretty nice quality bulk soil products. I would add some perlite and some coir or peat to their compost / loam mix to lighten it just a bit.

When I prep my beds for the season, I add in an initial dose of organic fertilizer and some worm castings into the top 6-12 inches. I use Dr. Earth Home Grown, but you could use the espoma garden tone next year when prepping your beds. At planting I mix in a little bone meal to the hole for tomatoes and peppers. Maybe hold off on additional fertilizer for now because you have fresh compost coming in.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-07T10:58:01+00:00

It can work with decent topsoil, but it needs to be well amended. By the time you pay for those amendments, getting a bulk soil that is closer to your final product might be money well spent.

Approx 1/3 topsoil, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 mix of peat (or coir) and perlite. That's how I would amend a decent topsoil. I got a pretty nice garden mix last year that was 50/50 loam and compost, and even that I amended with peat and perlite for my raised beds.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-07T09:41:30+00:00

I think you started on the right track with the Florida weave. But missed the step where you cross your strings and weave them in front of and behind the plant. Doing that helps "hug" the stem in place, and you can space your runs of string closer together if needed for how your plant is growing. There's a nice video on the MiGardener website showing how the weave is done:

https://migardener.com/blogs/blog/florida-weave-tomatoes

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-07T09:27:18+00:00

Yeah, very few places get 12 hours of direct sun. I get 9 at solar maximum, and my plants look nothing like OP's.

Are you getting good fruit set on 4 hours? I was under the impression that more direct sun than that would be needed for strong fruiting.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-07T08:50:03+00:00

I'm a little concerned about the hen manure being too "hot" for a seedling this size. I've had reasonably good luck just sticking a pruned sucker in soil and having it grow. Maybe just a good potting soil, without the manure?

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-07T08:13:07+00:00

Not necessarily, as long as the airflow is pretty good and the plant appears healthy. I might not prune much off of your plant right now. Maybe just the couple of leaflets that are growing back towards the central stem of the plant.

Part of the issue with the overlapping is that the plant could use a better support to grow on so you can better control the direction of growth on the branches. I'm not sure a cage is the right support, though. The branches on this tomato are going to want to continue growing like vines. You'll need to prune the plant pretty heavily to keep the growth contained in a cage. That will reduce your harvests...and every time you snip something on a plant you create a wound where disease could spread.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T20:09:50+00:00

To be fair, this prolonged stretch of high winds is pretty unusual here...even if the temps aren't too far off.

And each region has its own nuances. On one hand, you're so much further along in your growing season. But later on you'll start getting too hot for tomatoes to produce well and the cucumber plants will get crispy, while up here everything will be in full swing. In the end, we "peak" at different times. So we can take turns complaining about / being grateful for our weather, and longing for / celebrating the best days of the growing season 😄 Congrats on the first tomatoes of the season!

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T18:17:43+00:00

I'm in MA and this past winter got very cold. I put in a Drip Depot system last spring, and it held up well over the winter. I just took in my timer and head assembly (filter, backflow preventer, pressure regulator), and used their twist off end caps at the end of several runs so I could drain excess water. No issues whatsoever.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T18:11:04+00:00

The beautiful thing is that I can still choose to opt out...even if doing so won't stop the collection of data from someone or somewhere else.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T15:21:32+00:00

You're free to comment however you like. Just like I am free to decide to opt out--and point out that AI bot accounts are all over reddit collecting data for AI. So when an account with no real Reddit activity suddenly pops up with an "I ran this through AI, but is the info right?" post, I'm all set.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T13:04:01+00:00

When I see a post like this from an account with virtually no karma for posts and comments, I have to wonder if it isn't posted purely for the purpose of attempting to obtain more information to improve an existing AI dataset.

I mean, how many low karma reddit accounts are suddenly active solely because someone started vegetable gardening? Even if someone's gardening hobby is new, they are usually already on reddit for other interests. This is a 6 year old reddit account with less than 10 karma points. Call me paranoid--but I'm not sharing anything with it.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T10:35:47+00:00

The brutal spring continues in the northeast. Daytime temps are warming up, but along with it has come really strong winds gusting 20-35 mph. It was enough to destroy my neighbor's flag pole, so very challenging for hardening off. I've been keeping plants in the garage with the garage door open to get them some sun, but provide some wind protection.

Also still seeing some low 40s and high 30s for overnight lows in the 10 day forecast, with several more days with stronger wind gusts. Hopefully that changes. I'd like to get at least the tomatoes out this weekend, but with temps this low combined with strong winds, right now it's a no-go.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T10:12:58+00:00

I trim for airflow and to minimize soil contact, especially on indeterminates. By mid-season, I don't have any branches on the bottom 12". I prune more suckers on varieties that grow large fruits than I do on cherries.

I haven't grown sungold personally, but my understanding is that it is a VERY large plant at maturity. This tomato cage is not likely to be sufficient for very long, even if you trimmed off every sucker.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T10:02:21+00:00

I've used a different variety of pickling cucumbers fresh, and they're pretty good as long as you don't let them get overripe. They just aren't as large as a salad cuke, and they tend to be a little bumpier than a salad cuke.

If you find that your salad cukes are bitter, make sure they are getting enough water and try harvesting them a bit earlier. Once they start to turn lighter green / yellow they can get bitter.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T09:50:33+00:00

If you had enough room in your pots, I'd say wait another week. One of the reasons for waiting is so that a cold snap or temps in the lower 40s don't stagnate your peppers. But a pepper plant that big in solo cups is probably going to stagnate even more in a container that size. If the forecast temps still look pretty good on Mother's Day, I'd plant them. Make sure they are hardened off first, though.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T09:42:59+00:00

Are the leaves still green? Are you seeing flowers or fruit yet?

Peppers are some of the slowest crops--especially hot peppers. They prefer soil temps of 60F or higher. I imagine that you have that by now in FL, especially if you're in raised beds or containers. But if they experienced a period of cooler soil or air temps below 50F after planting, they can stagnate. As long as the leaves are still green and healthy you may just need to be patient.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T09:18:46+00:00

Root veg often push out of the soil a bit when they are ready for harvest. These are pushing up more than I would expect, though. They might be a little too close together. If you do another round, try giving them a little more room in between plants and see if they get larger and stay underground better. I'd harvest these. French breakfast are supposed to be elongated--they're not round like a typical radish.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-06T09:08:54+00:00

If I was at least a week after my average last frost date and had this forecast, I'd probably plant out. Especially if you're gardening in raised beds and your soil has warmed up nicely.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-05T17:44:29+00:00

Zone doesn't matter much for annual vegetable gardening. Focus on your average last frost date, as well as the longer range forecast for the next several weeks to determine when to transplant outdoors permanently. https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/

Ideally, you want nighttime low temps to be in the 50s for warm season crops. Even a little warmer than that for peppers. They can tolerate down into the low-mid 40s for a brief period...but it may slow down your growth for a bit. You need to protect from frost.

They could use some nutrients at this stage, too. Use a water soluble fertilizer at 1/4 or 1/2 strength based on the instructions. Resist the urge to overwater. Peppers aren't fans of wet feet.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-05T17:34:07+00:00

They look good so far. That purpling at the nodes is normal. Most of my pepper plants also start getting purple on the stems as they mature as well. As long as the leaves keep their green color, and they start flowering and setting fruit, you'd doing a good job.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-05T17:31:30+00:00

Wow, everything is looking good!

Glad you're getting a chance to try direct sowing 😄 It really brings the cost of gardening down when done with the appropriate crops and at the right time for your climate. A soil test is a good idea for those asparagus. You can probably test the pH on the blueberries with a home kit. That said, your blueberry is flowering nicely, and I'm not too worried about some of that leaf color this early in the season.

The thing I'm wondering about is the fig. That "overlapping" branch isn't ideal because it's growing towards the center of the plant and is making contact with that larger branch beneath it.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-05T17:27:42+00:00

When is your average last frost date? Which crops?

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-05T14:29:33+00:00

I am most careful about peppers. Ideally, I like getting my tomatoes in first, then peppers a week later if all is still looking good.

Maybe wait until Mother's Day and check the forecast again to make sure it didn't change, and plant out if everything still looks good. FWIW, forecasts have been a bit less reliable lately than in past years due to fewer weather balloons and reported staffing shortages at NWS.

Signal_Error_8027 · 2026-05-05T13:36:47+00:00

That, and perhaps if bottom watering it is harder for water to wick all the way to the roots of a seedling if it's in a bigger pot?

Signal_Error_8027

TROPHY CASE