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Growing Tomatoes

To mulch....or not to mulch...that is my question

13 years ago

Hey guys. I have always used that black landscaping fabric and cut holes where I wanted plant my tomatoes and that seems to do the trick to keep weeds away however I want to try something new/better this year.

Red plastic -according to every retailer it increases yeilds 12-10%!!! is this true?

What mulch methods or plastics/biodegradables do you guys use and recommend.

I have too many plants and not enough time to weed if I dont put anything down.

Thanks! Jay

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Comments (8)

springlift34
13 years ago
I live in a cluster of tall pines, so I use pine needle. Some say it acidifies the soil, others do not. Either way, I love the mechanics of pine straw.

Last night,under the moon I dug 3-45FT trenches and planted 15 Cherokee.
qaguy
13 years ago
Not new, but I use grass clippings. You can't use clippings
if you use 'weed and feed' fertilizer though. At the end
of the year, turn over the soil (clippings and all) and
incorporate the clippings into the dirt.
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Since it was donated by the electric company, I'm assuming what you received was wood chips from powerline trimmings. They make a fine mulch but perhaps not my first choice for a perennial bed - I prefer something of a finer texture and a faster nutrient source. There's a couple of possible explanations as to why you experienced the 'hardening' of the soil. The first pertains to the thickness of the mulch - too thick a layer prevents a free flow of rainwater or irrigation through the mulch and into the soil and it may just be dry. It also prevents oxygen exchange, which can lead to clumping as well. The second is that wood chips, while still considered organic matter, are so slow to decompose they provide very little of the benefit that other, faster decomposing sources of organic matter provide. And OM is what improves soil texture and tilth. There's all kinds of mulches and not all mulches will act in the same way or produce the same results. I like wood chips for shrub beds and with other woody plants, but not so much for perennials and other shallowly rooted plants. They also have a higher nutrient demand than most woodies and so something that provides faster benefit to both the soil and plants may be in order. My mulch of choice is compost but many other types of OM will work well also. Shredded leaves are a good choice and usually available in quantity and for free. All mulches regardless of material will provide some similar benefits of weed suppression, moisture retention and soil insulation. Not all will provide OM or nutrient contribution. It's just a matter of selecting what you prefer and works best for your plants and is easily and/or cheaply available. Here is a link that might be useful: all about mulch
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natal
13 years ago
I mulch the veggie garden and most of my flower beds with pine straw.
homegardenpa
13 years ago
I've read a lot on the topic of mulching and, over the years, I've tried just about everything. I've tried no mulch, black plastic mulch, landscape fabric, paper mulch, wood chips, compost, chopped leaves, and hay. Here's my observations over the years on the subject.

1.) Any mulch is better than no mulch: Yes, you should mulch. It helps keep moisture levels more consistent which helps reduce occurrence of BER and other plant stress symptoms. Any mulch should slow the release of moisture through evaporation.

2.) The type of mulch you use depends on your style of gardening. I prefer to stay organic and to make use of materials available to me so I use hay I get from a farmer friend in NJ and chopped leaves put out to the curb by neighbors in the fall. The benefit to organic mulches is you can either go no-till and just layer every year (what I'm trying again this year) or you can leave the mulch in place and till into the soil in the fall.

3.) A good mulch can save you a lot of time and headaches. Any mulch should suppress weeds and soil borne diseases which should allow you to spend more time harvesting, and less time spraying and weeding. Using a good mulch will help keep weeds down (if you're busy like myself, this is a must) and should minimize soil splashing onto the leaves of your plants, which will reduce the occurrence of certain foliage diseases.

4.) Mulch can feed your plants; These are called "feeding mulches" appropriately enough. The idea is that these mulches break down over the course of the season and release nutrients to the plants. The benefit is obvious here, but if you want a more controlled release of nutrients or do not want to do organic gardening, you may be best with plastic or landscape fabric.

I personally have switched to no-till organic mulching throughout the year - based on the results I've seen from a small experimental bed. With a little asking around I've been able to find good mulch material in the quantities I need every year and generally for free.

As mentioned above, grass clippings, if layered in finer layers will do a good job of blocking weeds and won't stop the penetration of rainwater, etc. Just make sure the depth of your mulch is sufficient to both slow water loss and block weeds.

Moral of the story, use what you have available that works best for you (money-wise, time-wise, etc.), but just use something. Naked soil is a big no-no.
homegardenpa
13 years ago
By the way, in regards to this question:
"Red plastic -according to every retailer it increases yeilds 12-10%!!! is this true?"

Well, yes and no. A lot of that is hype, but there is probably some truth to it. The advantages of plastic mulches is that they trap heat to the ground early in the season and can help warm the soil - giving your plants a head start in northern climates. You could get earlier fruiting and more fruit throughout the season - since fruiting started earlier.

Although keep in mind that trapping heat to the ground when temps are over 100 degrees (like they were last year for me) might not be best for the plants :)

As far as my recommendation for mulches I use hay, whatever I can get my hands on, and a little bit of leaves and grass clippings. And no, I don't have weed seed problems, I layer it at least 6" deep - nothing pops through that I don't want.
bluemater
13 years ago
I put down a 2" to 3" layer of cotton burr compost as a mulch and then put the red plastic over it.

The red plastic stays in place for only about a month. Once the plants are large enough the plastic is shaded too much and I do not want to heat the soil up too much in the middle of summer.
digdirt2
13 years ago
By the way, in regards to this question:
"Red plastic -according to every retailer it increases yeilds 12-10%!!! is this true?"

Well, yes and no. A lot of that is hype

I agree. Most of it is hype as per previous discussions here about it and my own personal experience with it.

My personal preference after many years of experimenting with various mulches is thick layers of straw (or spoiled hay if you can't get straw). 6-8" on top of my compost layer. It gives you all the benefits of mulching and improves the soil at the same time, especially when turned in at the end of the season.

If interested you'll find many discussions about the various types of mulches and their pros and cons (they all have both) over on the Soil & Mulch forum here.

Dave
iam3killerbs
13 years ago
When I lived in the north I got great results with black plastic.

In this climate that's too much heat in midsummer and I'm having good results with 6 inches of leaves.

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