Raised beds

Question

I think I messed up. I started a raised bed and I put it on top of an existing bed of fine gravel. I don’t have it completely filled yet but over night I woke up with a jolt realizing that the gravel bed has heavy duty black plastic underneath. I’m going to halt work on the bed until I hear from you. I’m sure it will make a huge difference in the drainage. Should I remove the plastic? I’m very determined to do this right. My tomatoes have been non-existent the last 2 years and I want tomatoes! I will do about anything to have them, including moving all the dirt I have in this bed. Meanwhile, I’m going out and stare at the bed with my cappuccino until I hear from you.

Answer 1

How high is your raised bed? If it’s 18 inches or more above the ground and the plastic is only across the bottom of the gravel, you might be able to get away with not removing the plastic. Tomato plants can usually stand any pooling of water at that bed height. If it’s less than 18 inches you’ll need to provide some sort of drainage for the bed or, even better, heavily perforate the plastic if that would be easier than trying to remove the plastic.