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soil depth for beds

J

justsmoke

Is 12 inches of soil deep enough to grow big plants in a soil bed? I'm thinking of using a 4x4 or 4x8 bed thats 12 inches tall
 
_tessarecting

_tessarecting

ஓ
I would go with at least twice that. 2x2 and 2x6 lumbar and some screws are all you need.
And chicken wire if you got gophers.
 
V

vostok

Active member
Veteran
61KoCeqFKvL._SX522_.jpg

Give thought here to the tap root, piss that off and you will have small plants indeed,
I prefer a minimum of 18 inches,....that why kiddie pools are so popular ...lol

http://www.amazon.com/Intex-Center-...toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1433019491&sr=1-22
 
heady blunts

heady blunts

prescription blunts
Veteran
depends how big you want to grow your plants.

taller plants need deeper root balls to stay sturdy.
 
J

justsmoke

heady blunts said:
depends how big you want to grow your plants.

taller plants need deeper root balls to stay sturdy.
Click to expand...

Thats a good explanation. I read a few soil bed threads
some people are only using 10 inches of soil depth, not so sure about how sturdy it is.
 
J

justsmoke

I'm just looking to hit the gpw or close to it with as many as 12 plants per 48x48x12 bed for now. In the future i'd like to shoot less plants and yield the same.
 
EastBayGrower

EastBayGrower

Member
Veteran
yeah ive heard that the top 18'' of roots is where all the feeding happens so i'd try to make it 18''+ min., but im sure less will work, just not optimally
 
barnyard

barnyard

Member
lol, deep is good, but that's shallow

Very Shallow — surface is less than 10 inches from a layer that retards root development.
Shallow — Soil surface is 10 to 20 inches from a layer that retards root development.
Moderately deep — Soil surface is 20 to 36 inches from a layer that retards root development.
Deep — Soil surface is 36 to 60 inches from a layer that retards root development.
Very deep — Soil surface is 60 inches or more from a layer that retards root development.
 
FatherEarth

FatherEarth

Active member
Veteran
Those numbers of roots and soil depth mainly apply to topsoil. I can assure you in a properly mixed potting soil with plenty of O2 in the mix there are certainly remarkable root activity greater than 20" deep. I'll be glad to film a rootball at harvest...
 
Microbeman

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=6663823&postcount=4791

It is an interesting subject; the occupation of availble soil by cannabis roots. When we grew as VG mentioned by reusing and reamending soil from 5 gallon pots, the pots were usually fully packed with roots (an enormous root ball).

After that we switched to no-till in 36"x12x14/16"(deep) bins and 5 to 7 years later when we took them down, once again we found the whole volume filled with roots.

This past growing season we tried a new method. We built up a bed of soil on top of domestic ground (shale & clay) about 14 to 18" deep. It was built with a mix of topsoil, vermicompost, thermophilic compost, sphagnum peatmoss, pea gravel, sand, local rock dust and topdressed with 2 year aged horse manure & wood shavings. In the first season we grew crimson clover and killed it. The next season it grew up with local weeds, mostly horsetail & burdock. We weed wacked and covered with landscape cloth and built a greenhouse on top.

This past season we cut about 10" holes through the cloth and planted various cannabis cultivars (indica & sativa). We have a very high water table here but had an exceptionally dry hot summer. Plants in pots needed daily watering and in our other greenhouse on average every 4 days. Despite this dry spell, the cloth planted ones were watered only once in the entire season and this was with compost tea. They received no nutrient supplements yet grew so vigorously that they had to be cut back around 2 to 4 feet twice.

I assumed they had shot roots deep into the ground for water and nutrients. After harvest I got my buddy to excavate a few of the root systems just to see. I was completely astounded to find the roots had spread rather than gone down...pretty much the top 8 to 10 inches. Always learning. The soil itself must have wicked moisture from the water table and perhaps the nutrients stored in the
[v]compost and killed weeds was plentiful.
Click to expand...
 
FatherEarth

FatherEarth

Active member
Veteran
No doubt there is a concentration at those depths but the amount of roots that do go beyond that depth I wouldn't say the presence wasn't worth the acknowledgement.
 
FatherEarth

FatherEarth

Active member
Veteran
Besides that it's not about where most of the roots are, but how they work together. As the author in the quote gave credit to the movement of water to the soil via wicking action. I would of given that credit to the plant was my first thought..
 
J

justsmoke

FatherEarth said:
Besides that it's not about where most of the roots are, but how they work together. As the author in the quote gave credit to the movement of water to the soil via wicking action. I would of given that credit to the plant was my first thought..
Click to expand...

Hey FE, where did you get your custom square pots?
 
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