Do you want to start a garden or increase the size of your garden, but you’re unable to build expensive raised garden beds? Never fear! In this video, I share how to grow a productive garden in a cardboard box. I made an instant raised bed out of an Amazon box and tracked its progress from start to finish, with shocking results! You will not believe how well vegetables grew in this cardboard box raised garden bed.
• The I use the following products* most often for growing vegetables:
Outdoor Potting Mix: https://amzlink.to/az0iNoewlgid3
Organic Outdoor Potting Mix: https://amzlink.to/az01nvwFG8ocU
Coco Coir, Large Brick (10 LB): https://amzlink.to/az0jx9X29JqCd
Perlite (4 CU FT): https://amzlink.to/az0LLPXV8MMnq
Watering Wand: https://amzlink.to/az0O3ZfEhftZ8
Alaska Fish Fertilizer [5-1-1] (Gallon): https://amzlink.to/az0Jhw8liNoe3
True Organic All Purpose Fertilizer [5-4-5]: https://amzlink.to/az0lVAel6Wss7
Espoma PlantTone [5-3-3] (36lb): https://amzlink.to/az0gylQKIH3hO
Espoma PlantTone [5-3-3] (50lb): https://amzlink.to/az0dh0dYaye1l
Organic Bone Meal (8lb): https://amzlink.to/az05b9eediHpy
Organic Blood Meal (3lbs): https://amzlink.to/az0jNeCruTl6a
Crab & Lobster Shell Meal (4lb): https://amzlink.to/az0LtijP1fn7p
Azomite Trace Minerals (44lb): https://amzlink.to/az0iu3dLSptN7
Jack’s All Purpose [20-20-20] (1.5lb): https://amzlink.to/az0JG0Dv6Da0h
Jack’s All Purpose [20-20-20] (25lb): https://amzlink.to/az0F6FgxdhKjO
Jack’s Blossom Booster [10-30-20] (25lb): https://amzlink.to/az08lv7ZJFnUu
Weed Barrier: https://amzlink.to/az0SKEHO2Kg9E
Pruning Snips: https://amzlink.to/az0tPwwuBt0YX
Insect Netting: https://amzlink.to/az0ZdeiIJWHMw
Shade Cloth: https://amzlink.to/az01boLJy9JNI
•• Full Amazon Store: https://amzlink.to/az0yli4Cz0iXX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Introduction
0:38 Free Raised Bed Experiment
1:40 Building and Filling the Bed
2:43 Fertilizer and Soil Amendments
3:32 Planting the Garden Bed
4:44 Raised Garden Bed Orientation
5:23 Garden Bed Check-In
6:21 Final Results – Incredible!
8:35 Lessons Learned
11:07 Adventures With Dale
If you have any questions about raised bed gardening, growing a vegetable garden at home, how to grow fruit trees or the things I grow in my raised bed vegetable garden and edible landscaping food forest, are looking for more gardening tips and tricks and garden hacks, have questions about vegetable gardening and organic gardening in general, or want to share DIY and “how to” garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please leave a comment!
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MY WEBSITE
https://www.themillennialgardener.com/
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VISIT MY AMAZON STORE FOR PRODUCTS I USE MOST OFTEN IN MY GARDEN*
https://amzlink.to/az0yli4Cz0iXX
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CUSTOM MERCH!
https://shop.spreadshirt.com/themillennialgardener
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SUBSCRIBE TO MY 2ND CHANNEL!
https://www.youtube.com/c/2MinuteGardenTips
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SOCIAL MEDIA
→ INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/millennialgardener/
→ X (@NCGardening) https://x.com/NCGardening
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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
Zone 8B, 34.1°N Latitude
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*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
© The Millennial Gardener
#gardening #garden #raisedbeds #vegetablegardening #vegetablegarden
28 Comments
If you enjoyed this video, please LIKE it and SHARE it with family and friends! TIMESTAMPS here:
0:00 Introduction
0:38 Free Raised Bed Experiment
1:40 Building and Filling the Bed
2:43 Fertilizer and Soil Amendments
3:32 Planting the Garden Bed
4:44 Raised Garden Bed Orientation
5:23 Garden Bed Check-In
6:21 Final Results – Incredible!
8:35 Lessons Learned
11:07 Adventures With Dale
It' works great but it isn't a 0$ garden. I'll cal it low cost. Potting mix and all the various fertilizers do cost something. I have grown potatoes, radishes, beets and sweet potatoes in cardboard boxes.
Do you wear a dust mask when you fill pots? Because I could see a lot of dust rising. I always forget and it makes me cough.
I tried this box always collapses when it rains
Now i am glad that i was to lazy to shred my big boxes.. And just use this 🥹🙏 ill do it today.. Well tbh its not aesthetic but on Low Budget its worth it.
I have planted all my potatoes in cardboard this year. Sick of ground pests. So time will tell.
Always enjoy your videos.
Love the video Anthony! You inspire me so much to keep trying and growing. Can you do a video on everything you can trellis or vertical grow?
I need a box to protect plants from the cold. I don’t think I will start germinating next year until mid march.
I also like to use the tray-type boxes that grocery stores get veggies & fruit in – they are really heavy duty. Since they have holes in them, I line them with a feed bag (the multi-layer paper type bags that livestock feed comes in or paper grocery bags, not plastic bags like pet food comes in). These boxes tend to range from around 4" deep – good for lettuce/greens and bush beans – to around 8" deep, which works for most veggies. Bigger boxes like the one you used are also great for root crops such as potatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes. For veggies that take quite a while to mature, you can stuff one box inside another so they are sturdier & last longer.
I was all in and thinking about those heavy duty Greenstalk boxes that I saved in the garage. I even was undeterred when I saw that termites and ants also like cardboard. When the Texas commenter talked about snakes taking up residence in the filled box, that brought a big WHOA for me. I could put them in my chicken pen since it has been reinforced with hardware cloth but it is covered in tin and polycarbonate to keep my girls dry so I'm no sure the plants will get enough sunlight and rain (not to mention that I should put a sign on the box that says Hen Buffet!!
You reinforced the bottom of the box, would it help to reinforce the sides as well?
This is inspiring! I started a veggie garden this year and keep looking for new things to put dirt into 🙂 I messed up with my tomato transplants, which I put outside the second week of April. They were flowering a few days ago, then we had a random frost overnight on the 19th and now they're dead 🙁 I guess the Farmer's Almanac is not always correct!
My first year in my new house we moved in in April. Planting season. I had zero time for a garden as this was a total Reno. I grabbed bags of soil and popped holes in the bottom for drainage then slit holes in the bag on top and planted seeds. Everything grew! I had gorgeous tomatoes and squashes and herbs. lol. They didn’t hit peak growth but we got a lot of food out of just bagged soil.
What happens when it rains
Last year I grew russet potatoes in a cardboard box. This year I'm doing russets again, and broccoli in a separate box.
I thought about using cardboard box to grow you just confirm that I can. I keep all glass jars from sauces I like to reuse items and Dont like to throw useful items away. I don’t like to waste anything
Dale is THE BEST!
Love this. Thank you:)
you got damn near $100 into that box @ 3 minutes in.
For THAT much money, buy/build a real wood bed so you can keep the "soil" for the next 10 years. Booooo
Nice
Inspired ❤ now I need to grow in my Amazon boxes 📦🌱💚❤️
You were really thinking 'inside the box' on that one! 😁
This is such a great idea!! Bezos/Amazon don't get a dime from me, but the PetSmart recycling dumpster generally has sturdy boxes available.
Ive used boxes for yrs now.. onions potatoes corn ginger root tumeric lettuces
Another great video!
Curious, will you be doing anything to celebrate one million subs? I remember some posters threw out a bunch of ideas a few months ago.
Hey just had a question.Also here in Wilmington NC and noticed I either have an outbreak of spider mites(bad)or Clover Mites (semi harmless)within the raised bed. For mulch I’m using straw . Haven’t yet seen any webs the mites might lay. Should I top dress with Diatomaceous Earth now and get ahead of problem? Just afraid I might be killing other insects that will feed on them.
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Can you do a fig video ? Or maybe rooting cuttings
I tried growing potatoes in cardboard boxes a few years ago. The wet cardboard attracted pillbugs and my garden ended up infested with them. The following summer, my garden suffered terribly. Eventually, the pillbugs died out and I’ve been very careful not to add anything in my garden that might attract them back.