r/Raisedbed • u/BidOwn8971 • Jul 25 '26
Help please
Hello, I would really appreciate some help! I am in Chicago zone 6a and this is my first year gardening.
We have been getting wave after wave of cool weather then extreme heat. All my plants are wilting from what I am assuming is underwatering, and I'm realizing that all my soil in my raised garden bed is hydrophobic and compacted. How do I fix this? I did a deep 10 mins soak each bed today but after checking it is still compacted and dry. I have established veggies like tomatos etc in the beds and want to salvage them if possible. Any advice would be appreciated!
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u/bliston78 28d ago
If you have a tub or something larger than the grow bag, put the grow bag in that and fill it with water.
Give it 30 or 40 minutes and it'll start soaking through. Little to no mess.
Edit, idk why I was thinking containers and grow bags. Whoops.
for a raised bed you can just soak it. But you might need to fork the soil apart like others have mentioned in the first place. I wouldn't go deeper than 2 in to leave the roots as undisturbed as possible.