Raised beds in a polytunnel.

[MedicPedro]

Hello again.
When putting in raised beds in a polytunnel would you cover the existing ground utilise the soil and top up with compost? The earth around here is fantastic and would be a shame to not take advantage of it.
Cheers.
Ped.

[rustylady]

Why do you need raised beds?

[Two_Sheds]

Just what I was thinking.

If you've got excellent soil, use it

[Nicos]

We used to change the top 8" of soil in the beds in our greenhouse every Spring- mosly because it was too small to rotate things and it was built directly onto peat which held it's moisure.

As TS says- use it !

Oh, and welcome to the Vine!

...could you please put your rough location into yuour profile so it makes it easier to answer specific questions a bit more accurately???? Thanks

[MedicPedro]

Cheers guy and gals. I'm in Swindon but will update on profile. Guess I'm showing my ignorance in polytunnel gardening. Ha ha. Wasn't sure if It was good practice to use raised beds to offer better insulation against frost. However this saves me a lot of work. Good times. Better get digging then.
Thanks so much. What a great site and great people.
Ped.

[redser]

I have raised beds in my tunnel, but I only went that route because the soil was rubbish heavy clay and it allowed me to add lots of manure and make it free draining. One disadvantage you might not think of is that it will rob you of some of your tunnel height. I'm having to grow my tomatoes at a slight angle gradually heading for the centre ridge.

[marchogaeth]

We went raised beds to give an increased depth of soil and also to get further above the ground water level we sometimes suffer.




It's what your coracle is for!