Pots or bed for a sustainable living soil?

Hello!

I’m getting everything set to grow some autoflowers. I would like to start there and move on to photos, eventually. My intention is to use living soil as my growing medium. My space is 3x4.

i imagine even a 2x4x1 bed would be the more sustainable option if I wanted to keep my soil going from year to year. But how would that compare to using 5 gallon pots? I hope to have 2-3 plants going. I would not mind also having a couple tomato vines and some garlic sharing the space and soil.

What says the group about my plan? Please poke holes, I’m not married to any of it.

Thanks for reading and advising!

Usually with living soil, the bigger the better, within reason. I would go with something bigger than 5 gallons, but a bed is a major commitment.

Personally I use sub-irrigated planters that hold 11-12 gallons of soil, and that works for one or two small-to-medium sized plants (can be water-only if they're kept on the small side).

I tried growing tomatoes this past fall/winter. Two indeterminate (beefsteak) plants completely took over my 3x3 space, so be careful if you think you can just stick "a couple tomato vines" in with your weed and whatever else you plan on growing

Good luck!

I’m tracking with you. How many planters do you fit in your space? I don’t know why I was thinking a 15 gallon pot would be too much for the space but after looking at some numbers it’s not that bad.

That‘s crazy about the tomatoes! I hope they were the best tasting tomatoes you’ve ever had! I think garlic is for sure. But I‘m open for other ideas as well. I got my wife excited about the prospect of year round fresh tomatoes when talking her into the expense of a tent and lights. She’s a good one for sure, lol

I have two of these thingies in a 3x3: https://www.agardenpatch.com/

They fit pretty well, with just enough room in the middle to fill them with water comfortably. Here's a couple pics from my winter/spring grow, and also tomatoes in the same space. We got a few dozen good ones, but they just got out of control and were too hard to keep healthy. A determinate variety might have worked better. And yeah, they were my wife's idea too lol...

I've also done peppers in the same space/planters, 4 plants fit well and were a bit easier to manage

I guess I should add, I recycle my soil but I don't do no-till in those planters. I usually dump them out after every flowering/fruiting round, sometimes every other, and add more fertilizer, worm castings, perlite, and sometimes just regular bagged potting soil if the mix is starting to get muddy

Those planters are brilliant. They look like they are excellent for watering. Your plants sure liked them. What a sweet grow!

I see what you mean about the tomatoes. I bet they were quite a challenge.

I appreciate seeing your pictures and learning about your growing setup and methods. 5 gallon pots for sure aren’t going to do it lol. Your setup looks a treat though. Gives me more ideas!