Raised beds, pots and grow bags

There are three common options: a raised bed (a wooden or block frame filled with soil), pots, and grow bags. Choose by space and budget — all of them work if the soil inside is good.

Raised beds

Make them 25–30 cm (10–12 inches) deep: enough for almost every vegetable, and high enough to clear the hard calcareous layer found under much of Qatar (see Turning Qatari sand into soil). For carrots and other long roots, go deeper.

A good bed mix is about 60% soil and 40% organic matter by volume — compost, vermicompost or well-rotted manure. Use well-rotted manure only: fresh manure and poultry droppings burn roots and add a lot of salt.

Pots and grow bags

A simple pot mix is one part garden soil, one part compost or other organic matter, and one part cocopeat, peat moss or sand (1:1:1). The cocopeat or sand keeps it light and free-draining; the compost feeds it.

Rinse cocopeat in fresh water before use: some brands carry a lot of salt, which is the last thing a pot in Qatar needs.

Size matters more here than anywhere: a small pot heats and dries out within hours. Use at least 10 L for herbs and leafy crops, 20 L for tomato, chilli, cucumber and eggplant, and 40 L or more for gourds. Each crop page gives its minimum pot size.

Keeping pots cool

• Light-coloured pots and grow bags stay cooler than black plastic, and fabric bags let the roots breathe.
• Lift pots slightly on bricks or a rack so air moves underneath, and stand them close together so they shade each other’s sides.
• Mulch the top of every pot, water in the morning, and expect small pots to need a second drink in the afternoon from March.
• Use a saucer under the pot in winter only; in summer standing water in it turns hot and cooks the roots.