Soil How Big of a Hole is Enough?

[Ras Mountain]

Hi errrbody, Ras M here reaching for some knowledge from you Outdoor guerilla warriors today.

I have a couple 'a plants 'been wanting to put in the ground for the Summer - they're in five gallon buckets now, about three months old already, and I just hauled ever' one of em off to the patch. They budded just a little in the Spring but are coming around to Veg once more. Now here comes the curiosity: How big of a Hole, or in other words how much soil do I need to provide each pup to satisfy her need? Won't she be happy if I bury her in a 10-15 gallon hole, and let her grow into the native Earth? Do I need to provide more? Some say they use 100 gallon fabric pots for their monsters. I simply cannot get away with that for multiple reasons.

Anyway, cheers and thanks for taking time to read!

 

[Colamaker]

Hi errrbody, Ras M here reaching for some knowledge from you Outdoor guerilla warriors today.

I have a couple 'a plants 'been wanting to put in the ground for the Summer - they're in five gallon buckets now, about three months old already, and I just hauled ever' one of em off to the patch. They budded just a little in the Spring but are coming around to Veg once more. Now here comes the curiosity: How big of a Hole, or in other words how much soil do I need to provide each pup to satisfy her need? Won't she be happy if I bury her in a 10-15 gallon hole, and let her grow into the native Earth? Do I need to provide more? Some say they use 100 gallon fabric pots for their monsters. I simply cannot get away with that for multiple reasons.

Anyway, cheers and thanks for taking time to read!

If planting in ground. Minimum hole of 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep of good soil. I usually dig the same size as my 20 gallon pots but go a little bigger and deeper.

 

[Colamaker]

As reference my 20 gal pot is 20"wide x 15" tall. So 2' x 2' is a good reference point for a hole. But I would go a little bigger 2.5'
We grew some 8' giants last season in 15 gallon pots.

 

[Ras Mountain]

Right, solid advice. I'm gonna try about an 18 gallon rubbermaid tote full of good soil per plant then, and see how it works... The native Earth here ain't bad really, just has some clay in it. May do some with 15 and see what I can get by with. It's getting hotter than Hades already during the day so the less work, the better .... Reminds me I need to build some more soil, hah... And they say pot heads are lazy.

Who else does the digging!

 

[kent]

If you got red clay in the soil dig down around two feet then dig a trench on both sides of your hole about a foot deep by a foot wide to allow the roots to run in the soil you put into the hole .They won't go much further than the hard pan underneath.

 

[SemperFigal]

Water slow and infrequent in heavy clay soils. Because that's totally what you asked

 

[Canadan]

Hey Ras I was using 30 gallon smart pots last year and watering was difficult because of the very hot and dry summer up here in ontario so this year I dug 4 holes 3' x 3' and dug down 12" and raised the bed 12" I would say roughly 16 cu/ft of soil for each hole . I used the the same soil mix as last year ( coots mix ). I dumped in the bottom of the holes which was mostly a sand clay mix last years goat and sheep compost from my neighbour ( it breaks down clay ) and then dumped last years used soil from my 30 gal pots and made another 4 cu/ft of new soil to add on top of that and mulched with my leaf mold . Watering shouldn't be a problem any more and I shouldn't have to worry about root bound plants anymore either . I will send some pics of this years girls when I get them into their new homes at the end of the month. Im using Humbolt Seed Co. beans this year Magic Melon, Pineapple Muffins, and Lemongrass they are hardening off for the next couple of weeks they are just dying to get in the ground and take off hope this helps

 

[TossWeed]

Right, solid advice. I'm gonna try about an 18 gallon rubbermaid tote full of good soil per plant then, and see how it works... The native Earth here ain't bad really, just has some clay in it. May do some with 15 and see what I can get by with. It's getting hotter than Hades already during the day so the less work, the better .... Reminds me I need to build some more soil, hah... And they say pot heads are lazy.

Who else does the digging!

The main thing if your soil is good you want the roots to travel. The biggest mistake all planters make with trees is making the hole smooth & round. Make it more square & chunk lots of holes out of sides of hole for roots to stop circling.

 

[Ras Mountain]

Good tip! I will be sure to apply it

 

[Canadan]

Im not saying smart pots are a poor choice for growing in I've seen the positive results all i am trying to get away from is constantly worrying about watering the plants during a long hot rainless summer like last year and growing directly in the ground with a good soil mix and mulch which is very important will keep your soil more maintenance free when it comes to watering your plants. Water last a lot longer in the ground , the roots stay cooler they have more room to expand and a good surface mulch ( leaf mold ) retains that moisture for quite a while when droughts happen. Ya happy digging. Its actually more work making the soil but its worth it.

 

[Ras Mountain]

Agreed wholeheartedly!