To mulch or de-mulch garlic & garlic roots
compulsivegrower
11 years ago
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stevelau1911
11 years agoAiliDeSpain
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Using winter garlic mulch as summer tomato mulch?
Comments (2)Hamiltongardener I agree with justaguy. I've never heard that tomatoes and garlic dislike each other. In fact, tomatoes grow well in soil where onions have been, and aren't they in the same family with garlic? Here is a link that might be useful: Companion planting...See MoreShould I Mulch Garlic?
Comments (5)Garlic ends before hot summer arrives, so mulching is not that critical like it is for tomatoes, peppers ... Mulch, on the other hand, can help to prevent the top layer of soil from drying up, while down below is good n moist. But it depends on your climate and soil. Here we get more rain than sun. So I rather see my garlic bed to dry up a bit, faster. In about 2 -3 weeks I'll be pulling....See Morewhen to mulch garlic
Comments (7)The main reasons to mulch garlic are weed prevention, and soil temperature stabilization. Ideally, the mulch insulates the ground long enough to allow the cloves to develop some root growth before the ground freezes - which helps prevent frost heave. The insulation provided by the mulch also prevents premature sprouting during early warm spells in Spring. Rocks might reduce weeds somewhat, and the garlic should push through (unless the rocks are large) but rocks are poor insulators. I get a few very windy days here too, and would recommend mulching with dried alfalfa (if you can get it), or an alfalfa/hay mix. Bales are not hard to come by here, and I found quite a few current Wyoming sellers here. Alfalfa binds together well when spread in a layer & wetted down. Clover hay would be my second choice....See MoreLeaf mulch garlic
Comments (7)Yes they definitely shrink down to about 1/10 the volume when shredding. Leaves are one commodity that are never in short supply on my forest property...it's just a matter of how much time and energy I want to put towards collecting them. I don't shred the leaves that go into my compost piles. I only shred those that will be used as mulch on my raised beds and since many of my beds have already been amended or mulched with unfinished compost I won't be shredding too many this year. Probably just enough to put 4" on my 3 garlic beds and 4 Asparagus beds....See Moregemini_jim
11 years agoplanatus
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11 years agomdfarmer
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10 years agozeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
10 years agozqnmegan
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10 years agokristincarol
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