How do you plant summer vegetables in your raised bed?

At the end of May, summer vegetables raised indoors can move to their permanent places in your raised bed.

First let them get used to outdoor conditions. This is called hardening off, and you can read how to do it here.

Young summer vegetable plants being hardened off outdoors — *Indoor-raised summer vegetables getting used to outdoor conditions*

Once they are hardened off, you can plant them in your raised bed.

The app gives precise instructions for each variety. On this page, I will show you the main difference between planting tomatoes and planting courgettes, pumpkins and cucumbers.

Soak the root ball first

It is important to soak each root ball thoroughly before planting. Stand all the plants in a container of water first.

Potted summer vegetables standing in water to soak their root balls — *Summer vegetables soaking in water before planting*

Make planting holes, fill them with water and add plant food

Use a trowel to make holes by pushing the mix aside.

Fill each hole with water and add two tablespoons, or 30 ml, of extra plant food. All summer vegetables are hungry plants.

Deep planting hole prepared in MM-Mix — *Prepare the planting hole*

Planting courgettes, pumpkins and cucumbers

Once the water has soaked into the mix, place the plant in the hole.

Plant courgettes, cucumbers and pumpkins at the same depth as they grew in their pots:

Young cucumber plants planted at the base of a trellis — *Cucumbers planted beside the trellis*

Keep the mix moist over the next few weeks. If necessary, place a small cane beside the plant to guide it towards the trellis.

Plant tomatoes as deeply as possible

Tomatoes, on the other hand, should be planted as deeply as possible. When part of the stem is below the surface, it develops new roots. These extra roots help the plant grow larger and stronger.

Here is how we do this with the Bush tomato:

Bush tomato planted deeply in MM-Mix — *Plant the Bush tomato as deeply as possible*

By the time you plant out tall tomatoes such as the Yellow snack tomato and Cherry tomato, they often have a long stem. The more of that stem you can bury in the mix, the better.

Dig a wide hole right down to the bottom of the raised bed and sprinkle the plant food into it:

Deep wide planting hole in a square for a tall tomato plant — *Dig a deep, wide hole in the square*

Remove the tomato from its pot and lay the root ball flat on the bottom of the raised bed. Work very carefully so you do not break the stem.

Tall tomato plant laid horizontally in a deep planting hole — *Carefully lay the tomato plant flat in the square*

Carefully bend the stem upwards and refill the square with mix.

Gently firm the mix, give the plant some more water and tie it loosely to the trellis:

Young Yellow snack tomato tied loosely to a trellis — *Newly planted Yellow snack tomato beside the trellis*

Watch out for strong sunlight

If your raised bed is in full sun and the sun is bright on planting day, give the plants some shade. They also need time to get used to intense sunlight.

Look at my courgette. It had been hardened off properly in a sheltered spot with partial shade. But when I planted it in the raised bed, the sun shone brightly all day, with this result:

Courgette leaf with pale sun-scorched patches — *Leaf bleached by overly strong sunlight*

This is not a disaster, and the plant will probably grow through it. Still, the more healthy leaves it has, the better. I could have prevented the damage by giving it shade for the first few days.

After planting

The plants need a little time to settle after planting and will not grow very quickly at first. That will soon change, especially if the weather cooperates.

Good luck!