mulch for tomatoes

14 years ago

In my attempt to find an appropriate mulch for my tomatoes, I have found a product called Mainely Mulch. It is a salt hay substitute, and I would like to know if it is ok to use on my tomatoes. It is fairly pricey, but I only have six plants.

Other than this, the only mulch I find is the typical bagged cedar type red and black bagged mulches you find at the big box stores. I'm assuming this is not usable on tomato plants.

Any advice is appreciated!

Kim

Info:

Mainely Mulch

"Salt Hay Substitute"

The Original High Temperature Heat Processed,

Dehydrated, Sterilized Straw & Hay Mulch Product!

Mainely Mulch "Salt Hay Substitute" is superior to all other packaged or baled hay or straw products!

Mainely Mulch is exposed to extremely high drying temperatures, just short of combustion. High temperatures destroy noxious weed seeds as well as the majority of any residual "crop" seeds such wheat, oats, or barley. Though not 100% sterilized, Mainely Mulch is as clean a product as we can make without resorting to the use of chemical herbicides that would render it unsuitable for organic gardening. We produce a "virtually weed free" mulch that reduces the likelihood of contributing foreign plant species to gardens, perennial beds, or newly seeded lawn areas. These high temperatures also destroy mold, mildew and fungal spores. Other hay or straw products are "field dried" and not exposed to high temperature treatment. Mainely Mulch is "Virtually weed free" because we exposed it to very high temperatures, and we put that in writing! Others cannot make that claim because theyÂre only field dried.

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Comments (10)

User
14 years ago
I'm using a thick layer of shredded palo verde trees - basically coarse sawdust and chopped twigs produced by my chipper shredder - over a thick layer of compost. They are loving it.

Just throw down a thick layer of anything you can afford, like straw (doesn't need to be heat treated), shredded paper, hardwood chips from a cabinetry shop, or pine needles (no, they won't make the soil "too acidic"), or last year's leaves.

Weed seeds are not much of a problem even where I mulched with a thick layer of compost that was never really hot enough to kill weeds. A weed or two sprouts and it's easy to pull.
thinkstoomuch
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, its not so much about price as it is locating what I can use. I don't know of a place to buy straw, and I don't know of a cabinetry shop. I rake up a million leaves every year, but those are all bagged up and gone, so that does me no good. (what should I do with the leaves this fall for next year?)
I was hoping I could use something available at the big box stores, but I get the feeling they don't have anything of use. (do they?)
I guess I can walk into some local woods and collect pine needles. Is there any reason not to do that?

Kim
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I've started using shredded leaves, and really like the result. I made up about 5 barrels of shredded leaves (that corresponds to about 15-20 barrels of whole leaves) leaves this winter and spring, so I've got a big supply for the summer. I just pile it on and make a thick layer around the plants. I used to just layer whole leaves on, but they would break down slowly and be more likely to blow away. If you have leaves that fall, they are a precious mulching resource. My back yard is heavily shaded with cottonwood, cedar elm, and live oak. Thanks to the latter, I get leaves falling though spring! I've been shredding for many months. Of course, the leaves that get shredded early can be dug into the beds well before planting, and they're all composted by that time. I have a friend without trees who drives around in his pickup and collects bags of leaves that are set out for the city to collect. He takes them home and shreds them.
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IMO mulching is one of those things i believe is a must-do if you really want to keep your plants happy. why? because it keeps the soil temps cooler and most importantly, helps keep the first few inches of the top soil from drying out so quickly, i had several containers of tomatoes without mulch for about 3-4 weeks, i noticed there were barely any roots near the first 2-3 inches of soil. about a week after adding mulch roots have exploded and are now right below the first 1/2 inch of soil. i believe this helps the plant take up fertilizer and be more readily available to the plant when watering. i typically sprinkle tomato tone on the soil surface every few weeks and when watering the roots being close to the fertilizer helps them get what they need quicker. if i had one thing to nitpick about mulching is when the time comes to fertilizing, it's sometime a PITA because you want to spread the fertilizer on top of the soil not the mulch so i often have to move away some of the mulch on each plant before i sprinkle the fertilizer. i then next season i am going to use straw because i think it will be easier to pull away from the plants when i fertilize.
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I wouldn't worry if the soil is compact. You can grow tomatoes in clay if you really want to (and there are both pros and cons to this). If your area is arid, you might not have problems with fungal diseases from mud splashing on your leaves, either. With all that ground cover from the grass around, I'm guessing you wouldn't need to worry about that as much, though. That said, however, if you have really loose soil atop clay, tomatoes may hesitate to venture into the clay, and just fill up the loose soil. I've seen this happen in a container with about half clay (on the bottom) and half potting soil (on the top). The clay was almost untouched, by comparison. One thing you can do is grow your tomatoes out bigger before you plant them outdoors (give them more light indoors for faster, stronger growth). You don't need a special grow light (CFLs will work, even if they're not 6500k, but higher color temperatures are better for leaf growth; lower ones are better for flowering and protecting your seedlings from damping off disease, but they'll help leaf growth, too). Then, you can use a post hole digger to dig a narrow, but deep hole, and plant the plant. Because it'll be deep, competing with weeds shouldn't be much of a problem insofar as nutrient competition goes, unless the grass or weeds have deep roots or are parasitic. Tomatoes will also grow roots all along the buried stem. Normally, tomatoes don't need to be planted particularly deep, but it does help them get more water and nutrients. More nutrients doesn't necessarily mean bigger tomatoes. You have to keep in mind that the nutrient balance also matters (not just the pure amount of a certain one). Deep tomatoes seem to be easier to dry farm. However deep you plant them, though, make sure there's lots of foliage up top, still. If you plant them super deep but only leave a few leaves up top, they might take a long time to grow big, but if you have plenty of leaves up top, they should grow fast. If you want big tomatoes (since I brought it up) get a variety that gets big in your climate and conditions, and make sure it gets enough potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. Not all tomatoes are the same, and many have different requirements. Where do you live? I recommend saving your seeds every year (from tomatoes with the traits you like the most) and regrowing them, because it should help whatever variety you're growing to adapt better to your conditions. Landracing could be even better, but you might not have room for that. :) As someone mentioned earlier, container gardening can also be great. I know someone who said she got about 100lbs of tomatoes from one Early Girl tomato plant in a container with nothing but Miracle Gro potting soil. She may have fertilized with Miracle Gro, too, but I think the only fertilizer was that which the soil came fertilized with. The problem with containers is that they can dry out fast in at least some climates. Having a narrow opening at the top may decrease evaporation (but unless your soil drains well, it may make watering take longer).
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User
14 years ago
Straw - call "tack shops" and stables
Big box stores - basically useless
Shredded paper ... any office

This fall, make a bin of wire mesh and dump the leaves in it. Next spring undo the wire and use the leaves as mulch in your garden. They will settle a lot over the winter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap Wire Compost Bin
bean_counter_z4
14 years ago
Every fall I pick up bags of leaves set along the curb for the local trash collectors. I store the bags all winter and in the spring run the lawnmower over them and use them for mulch. It's free, retains soil moisture, effectively keeps weeds down and improves the soil. Leaves stored in plastic bags overwinter will often break down into leaf mold which is excellent.
thinkstoomuch
Original Author
14 years ago
Bean Counter -
I'm one of those people who have the leaf bags on the curb waiting for pickup. I'm also one of those people who have 50 bags of them out there! No joking. Leaf pickup is never ending where I am. Fall AND spring.
I guess I'll have use for a few of them this year!
Kim
rj_hythloday
14 years ago
Yep, no reason to bag them, mulch mow and leave them on the lawn for food, put some on the garden as a winter mulch if you don't cover crop, and save some for mulching next year.

I still see bags on the curb even this time of year. We call them OPBL other peoples bagged leaves over on the soil forum.
ditnc
14 years ago
Thinkstoomuch, I am a newbie to tomato growing, and did a lot of research about mulch. I read about Mainely Mulch and tried to find it as my first choice to use for mulching my tomatoes. But I could not find it here in North Carolina. I read really great things about it, although I cannot recall my sources. Wish I had some here!
treno7_live_com
14 years ago
will scotts red mulch help or hurt my tomato plants when they are planted in a mixture of regular soil miracle grow veggie safe top soil and sand?
thinkstoomuch
Original Author
14 years ago
RJ......I now plan to mulch mow some of my leaves for mulch next year. But there is no way i can use all of them. I literally end up with close to fifty bags. And yes, in spring we're STILL bagging up leaves...... from the neighbors houses. They aren't very diligent about picking up their leaves, so inevitably throughout winter they all blow into MY yard. I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is. I feel like I'm raking leaves for six months out of the year!!!!!!!!!!

ditnc - I'm assuming Mainely Mulch is mostly in New England. I do not know anyone who has used it. I just came across it at a local nursery while searching for straw. This was all they could offer. I believe it was somewhere in the $20 range. I passed, hoping to find something else to use, but have not. Maybe I'll use it and post my experience with it?

Kim
sue_ct
14 years ago
Why can't cedar mulch be used over landscape fabric? That is what I was planning to try this year.

Sue

mulch for tomatoes

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mulch for tomatoes

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