How much soil to move

[veggiechicken]

How big is your raised bed, rary? How many toms do you grow in it?
I'm only asking because, at your ripe old age, you don't want to over exert yourself.

[Small pumpkin]

I’m with VC. I Just top up. I don’t remove soil.

[rary]

QW, I believe you when you say that pathogens exist but, until one comes along and introduces him/her/itself to me, I shall feign ignorance.

Like rary (I do really - he's old so I respect him), my GH beds are on a solid floor and the beds are only a few inches deep - but comprised solely of old compost from earlier year's tomatoes. Each year it builds up another inch or so. In the oldest GH its about 6" deep and I grow root crops in it overwinter. That compost has been there for at least 20 years.

Photos at
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ml#post1667967

I like this post VC interesting that you have grown in more or less the same soil for 20 years would it work the same planting directly into the soil rather than using pots or would you recommend putting fresh soil/compost on the top, i don't want to use pots as that would require more watering

[rary]

How big is your raised bed, rary? How many toms do you grow in it?
I'm only asking because, at your ripe old age, you don't want to over exert yourself.

this year I had 18 plants in the bed, as for the exerting my self that what keeps me young, you should try it, no maybe not you might be too late at your age

[veggiechicken]

When I first read about "Ring culture" it said, IIRC that you water the soil that the pot stands on and feed into the pot itself.
For a few years I sat the pots on a bed of gravel and kept that watered but, like all good ideas, it didn't work in the long term. The compost in the pots seeped out into the gravel and looked a mess. So I got rid of the gravel and just used compost for the base.
The "beds" are edged to create a path in the centre. The first GH no 2 beds were lined with plastic but its disintegrated now. GH No 1 beds are unlined.

[ameno]

To be fair, tomatoes aren't overly prone to soil pathogens, so it's probably not an issue for them
It would be more of an issue if you grew cucumbers in the same soil year on year, as they are very prone to root rots. Although growing those in bottomless pots of fresh compost would probably alleviate that, too, as it's the base, where the roots join the stem, which usually rots, and that would be in the fresh compost.

[veggiechicken]

I grow cucumbers the same way, without problems.

[bario1]

I dig a trench along the length of the poly beds each year, a spade’s width and depth, and fill that with farm yard manure, and plant my toms in that. Same thing really but without the bottomless pots. I use bottomless pots for the cucs though, to keep the stems dry where they meet the soil.

[broadway]

I wouldn't know a pathogen if it jumped up and bit me.

[quanglewangle]

Lots to think about here including VC's almost reinterpreting French Gardening (urban gardening with made soil) and ring culture, which I didn't even know was a thing until I read this thread.

But still... I was rather expecting to have a clean break over the winter: dig out, wash down with j e y e s [1] fluid, burn sulphur candle. I am worried loosing some of aspects of having a greenhouse that I really liked in this, my first, year. I liked no weeds; almost no bugs; OK I got some botrytis but a fan is in the plan; but mostly the produce looked good and we were successful.

How much of that success was due to growing in fresh sterilized soil? Don't know, but worried about loosing it for the sake short-cuts or false economies.

Not decided really yet - thanks again for good discussion. Keep it coming.

[1] Writ funny because the pesky forum software keeps replacing it with asterisks. Perhaps it's a bad word in some cultures?

[Bren In Pots]

my GH beds are on a solid floor and the beds are only a few inches deep - but comprised solely of old compost from earlier year's tomatoes. Each year it builds up another inch or so. In the oldest GH its about 6" deep and I grow root crops in it overwinter. That compost has been there for at least 20 years.

I read in a Bob Flowerdew book that he's had the same GH compost/soil for 15 years, I like his way of gardening so I've been following him, mines been in there for 9 years with dalek compost added to the planting hole. When the toms have finished I plant winter lettuce so my beds are always in use.

[veggiechicken]

Lots to think about here including VC's almost reinterpreting French Gardening (urban gardening with made soil) and ring culture, which I didn't even know was a thing until I read this thread.

Never heard of French Gardening before but a quick gogle seems to show its double digging and adding compost to the lower layer. Definitely not for me - I don't dig, let alone double dig. I'm just a simple chicken who scratches around on the surface

[1] Writ funny because the pesky forum software keeps replacing it with asterisks. Perhaps it's a bad word in some cultures?

It always happens, its a forum quirk, nobody knows why, its lost in the History of the Vine.
Jayes, J*yes, J_ eyes................

[quanglewangle]

Edit - see VC's post just below. The chicken has a better link. Well, the right link actually
VC no double digging. Not much digging at all. See https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/urban_..._used_in_citie

J word. I 'spect there will be a "stop list" somewhere in the forum settings to filter out cussing and controversial words like brexit or albigensian heresy (ok, not those, then)

[veggiechicken]

QW that article seems to be about using hoop houses to protect crops whilst my gogle came up with summat like this https://extremehowto.com/how-grow-ve...rdening-style/

....and yes, there is a Blocked word filter

[quanglewangle]

QW that article seems to be about using hoop houses to protect crops whilst my gogle came up with summat like this https://extremehowto.com/how-grow-ve...rdening-style/

....and yes, there is a Blocked word filter

Yes. You right, I wrong.