In this video, I put no dig gardening to the test! I didn’t remove old roots from one side of my garden bed, removed the roots on the other side, planted a new crop evenly across and THIS happened! You won’t believe the results from this no dig gardening experiment!
This video was filmed over 3 months to reach a conclusion to the no dig garden experiment. No till farming has become popular, and for good reason. Maintaining a no till garden preserves the soil microbiome, which may result in healthier soil overtime. But is it compatible with high intensity gardening where we rapidly turn over our garden beds? Let’s find out!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 My Typical Garden Bed Turnover Routine
0:56 No Dig Gardening Explained
2:10 The Problem With No Till Gardening
3:29 The No Till Corn Experiment
8:54 67 Days Later
9:56 The Control Group Results
11:30 Regular Corn VS No Dig Corn Results
14:23 No Dig Garden Bed After 67 Days
18:06 Adventures With Dale
If you have any questions about the no dig gardening concepts outlined in this video, have questions about growing fruit trees or want to know about 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 some DIY and “how to” garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please ask in the Comments below!
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34 Comments
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching ☺TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 My Typical Garden Bed Turnover Routine
0:56 No Dig Gardening Explained
2:10 The Problem With No Till Gardening
3:29 The No Till Corn Experiment
8:54 67 Days Later
9:56 The Control Group Results
11:30 Regular Corn VS No Dig Corn Results
14:23 No Dig Garden Bed After 67 Days
18:06 Adventures With Dale
I really enjoy your videos, BUT the amount of ads makes it unwatchable. This one gets a thumbs down due to the constant interruptions. Way less ads would make much better viewing.
interesting experiment..Im not a patient gardner..
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS 🎂🎊🎉。Thank you for a good lesson to me . I think the roots is so hard to break down so when I cleaned my garden last month I even take all the baby roots whatever left over from the garden I put out.I am in Canada and not planning any things until next spring.Will keep them next fall.😂😂😂
Maybe also be sure that you rotate as well.😊
Excellent experiment. Thank you!!
Corn is a heavy feeder, so following corn with more corn is potentially a recipe for disappointment to begin with. Cow peas might have been a better follow up.
Oh how cute! Happy Birthday Anthony!🥳
Dale's got some great vocals!😃 He's so sweet!🐕
Interesting experiment. I think Charles D. (Guru of no dig) intercrops while the corn is growing…something shallow rooted. This keeps the production going allowing the corn roots to decompose over a longer period of time. Plus his no dig beds haven't been till for years…probably loaded with a huge number of micro organism, etc to tear down roots quickly.
Love your experiments.👍
it's probs easier to tell if it made a difference of you work in extremes. like completely tilling one side and leaving the roots in another. Adding more mulch may help the roots break down faster. Maybe plant away from the root mass next time?
I prefer to leave my roots in so that carbon dioxide stays in my soil.
Love your videos. I practice no dig in my gardening but I appreciate your experiment and conclusion. Love the Adventures with Dale! 🌻🐾🐾
No till and cut and drop. Try mulching with the cut up corn leaves on the bed also.
It has been my experience that corn is one crop that needs to be rotated whether you do dig or no dig method. Thanks for showing your experiment.
I never understood this obsession with "no-till" method.
Love Dales singing voice! Happy belated Birthday!
Great video – what do you use for the raised bed mulch?
Hope you have a good one mate.
I would think no till should work so long as you rotate your crops. Planting the same species or family of species with the same decomposing roots are likely to lead to disease stress and a decline in harvest (at least according to Gary at Gary's Best Gardening YT channel – he's a scientist too).
Thanks so much. I have a question about how does water get in the bed you cover with plastic for a month in between plantings.
I never understood your no no till bias. It’s not a theory. It’s soil science.
I tried to practice a no dig I leave my roots in the ground my tomatoes and squash did okay last year didn't pull them up this year they didn't do good at all pulled roots to see if I had bad nematodes sure enough so it's good to check your roots cuz if you have bad nematodes you're not going to have a good crop so I've got to plant mustard and turn it in start all over
Who is this fun guy in the soil we keep hearing about?
Ha ha
I would think a better home garden practice to adopt would be a crop rotation schedule for ALL of your beds regardless of using till or no-till methods.
Happy Belated Birthday! Dale sings beautifully… so does Britt. 🙂 Best birthday yet I am sure!
I follow a no dig approach like Charles Dowding (look up his channel, it's awesome) I only add compost on top once a year, never pull the roots out, and never dig except a hole just big enough to plant. Never had a problem with planting new crops right after old ones. Only difference is that I add organic fertilizer so I can space things closer. I have fantastic results and it's way easier than any other method. I've even started doing this in containers with great results.
Where are you getting your corn seeds?
I suggest you actually follow the practices of no dig instead of half asrsing it. You have just picked up some info and not all of it. I do both methods and our no dig beds have slightly more produce but with much less work and no spray or fertiliser inputs. Get your info right
Corn plants look pitiful😂- BUT LOVE YOUR EXPERIMENTS!!👍
For no dig done right check out Charles Dowding or Huw Perkins on YouTube. Both are expert gardeners with very helpful information.
This is nothing like no dig.
Happy Birthday Dale!!!
I garden in SW Louisiana, zone 9 and do not spray any pesticide on anything. Instead on my corn, I use a wooden clothes pin to seal the end of corn cobs as soon as the silks begin to dry out. That keeps the worms and pests out and give me beautiful corn all the way to the end. It would be too labor intensive for a large plot of corn but I do it on my 60 by 4 foot row without any problem. Hope you try it.
Very interesting
Good experiment! You always make interesting videos! Thank you😊👍🦋Yay, Dale! 🎂🎉
Thanks for posting this experiment, even though you had a mistake in the planting temp of your corn seedlings! This fall will be my first fall garden. When I removed my plants from summer, I cut them at the soil base as you did but then I took a 1.5” diameter pvc pipe and pushed it into the ground at the largest part of the stem to take out the biggest part of the stem/roots. I then added my compost, worm castings and some organic fertilizer granules and mixed it around. I planted my fall seedlings in those 1.5” diameter holes. I feel like the tiny roots rot as the fall seedling grows. This is my experiment, for my first fall season, to see if the outer roots stunt my fall plants or supply nutrients. I have areas where I took out the whole root ball and also areas where I used the pipe and left the baby roots in. I am excited to see my results!!
PS: your comment section is the shiiiiit! Your link to get merch doesn’t work either.
I have seen an amazing difference in my garden sing no-till. I use the chop and drop method and add compost to amend my beds and then cover it with a pine straw mulch or leaves from the trees around my property. I also use cover crops in 1 or 2 beds and let the others rest. I can say I notice the fertility in my soil has improved along with my clay soil is more easier to work with and plant.