How to Use Grow Beds for Vegetables

Check the bottom of a grow bed for drainage capabilities before filling it with soil. The bottom of a grow bed is not the ground itself; you should have at least a layer of weed block on the bottom of the grow bed. If the ground upon which the grow bed is built does not drain well, add a layer of small rocks or peat stones on top of the weed block. Pour water on the stones and check to make sure that they drain in, at the most, a couple of hours.

Fill grow beds with high quality potting soil. Potting soil is steam-sterilized to remove any weed and grass seeds, as well as insect eggs. Some potting soils have plant food added. Whatever you choose to grow in a raised bed, you will need to add plant food occasionally just as you would for a potted plant. Follow manufacturer's directions when adding food to soil.

Plant companion plants together in large grow beds. Small grow beds may have only one crop, for example, one bed for tomatoes, one bed for strawberries, and one bed for green beans. Plant sweet-soil crops together in large grow beds, and acidic-soil loving crops together in other grow beds. If you combine these two types of crops, for example, if you plant sweet-soil-loving tomatoes with acidic-soil-loving broccoli in the same grow bed, they will compete and make each other sick.