How to Make Your Own DIY Organic Raised Bed Soil Mix to Grow Big & Healthy Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs! (2024)

FAQs

How to Make Your Own DIY Organic Raised Bed Soil Mix to Grow Big & Healthy Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs!? ›

Add a mixture of compost and purchased topsoil in a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio, to the top of the bed. There are vendors who sell topsoil mixed with compost. Alternatively, fill the bed with compost and a soilless growing mix in a 1:1 ratio.

Add a mixture of compost and purchased topsoil in a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio, to the top of the bed. There are vendors who sell topsoil mixed with compost. Alternatively, fill the bed with compost and a soilless growing mix in a 1:1 ratio.

Gardening magazine's trial of the best soil mixture for raised beds found that a blend of 50% topsoil, 25% coarse sand and 25% compost was best. It determined that although the mix was quite heavy to put in the bed, it didn't settle much and was simple to dig.

Some organic gardeners use 50 percent topsoil, 30 percent high-quality organic compost, and 20 percent organic materials, such as shredded leaves, mineralized soil (check with a landscaping supply company), worm castings, ground bark, wood-based fire ash, and completely composted cow or chicken manure.

Loamy Soil: The gold standard for most gardeners, loamy soil has a balanced mix of sand, silt, and clay. It retains moisture while ensuring good drainage and is rich in nutrients and organic matter.

Compost, vermiculite, and peat moss.

Whether deep or shallow, raised beds give a gardener a way to create ideal soil conditions on an even larger scale. While potting mix alone is too light for use in raised beds, creating a 50:50 blend of potting mix and Miracle-Gro® All Purpose Garden Soil will give just the right balance.

There are three main components to the soil mix: compost, peat moss (or coconut coir), and vermiculite (or perlite). Mix these together in 3 equal parts to make the soil mix. Important note: Make sure you wear something to cover your mouth and nose while mixing the ingredients.

Composting your own green clippings and veggie scraps is ideal but you may not have enough to fill a new bed. Compost should make up about two-thirds of the soil in your raised bed garden, the rest you can fill with “Garden Mix” or Top Soil which you can also find at your local garden center.

Bagged raised bed potting mix is commonly used in small raised beds, but you can purchase it in bulk from local landscape companies. Another option is to make your own potting mix by blending equal parts of topsoil, compost, and sand to create a quality mix that's appropriate for most vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

What is the best soil mix for raised bed tomatoes? ›

The soil is the key ingredient to a successful raised vegetable bed. Get enough light topsoil or raised bed soil to fill the estimated depth of the raised bed. Since tomatoes are heavy feeders and prefer a rich, organic soil, mix in two- to three-inch layers of compost or cow manure to the top one-third of the topsoil.

Look online and you'll find that opinions differ when it comes to what soil to put in raised beds. However, it's generally accepted that the optimum raised bed soil mix includes a blend of topsoil, compost and organic matter.

Layers of yard debris, such as grass clippings, sticks, branches, trimmings, and leaves, can be beneficial when filling a raised bed for several reasons: Organic Matter: Yard debris is rich in organic matter, which helps to improve soil structure and fertility over time as it decomposes.

For Those With Compacted or Bad Soil

Remove all rocks, old roots, and plant debris. Dig down a little further with the shovel (a few more inches) to just loosen up the soil. Mix the soil with organic matter such as compost. We recommend that the compost make up about 25% of your soil.