"tabletop" square foot gardening question

[Rodney7777]

Hello all I am building 4 to 8, 4x4 tabletop gardens out of free pallets.

I am ready to line the 4ft x 4 ft x 8 inch cavity with plastic. Does anyone know
how I can find some food grade plastic? I am about ready to give up and line
with regulat black plastic sheets ( not sure about the mil thickness either ).

Thank you

Rodney7777

[ElizabethB]

Rodney - why plastic? You will create drainage problems. If you are using the boards from your pallets for both the sides and bottom butt them up leaving just a small gap for drainage. If your concern is loosing soil line the box with commercial grade landscape cloth. If you are using plywood for the bottom you need to drill holes in it for drainage.

I use the square foot gardening method at ground level but helped my sister build table top boxes for my niece who is confined to a wheel chair. Instead of a 4'x4' box we made 2 4'x2' boxes and set them on saw horses to get them to the correct level.


Good luck

[hendi_alex]

I use landscape fabric to line those kinds of beds. The landscape fabric is UV stabilized, allows for drainage, and is very long lasting. If it is not breaking down, then I don't think very much of anything would be going into the soil. Also, since landscape fabrics are designed for garden use, I would expect them to be made out of more stable plastics that would be less likely to cause problems.

[Rodney7777]

"Thumbs up" to you both. Going to create some kind of drainage relief. I might just splash some water into the plastic covered cavity and see which corner it goes to and put in a tube with a flange and caulk it.

Thanks for the tip on landscape fabric. I will look into that.

Rodney7777