You direct seeded tomatoes???? Can I ask why? I hope your season is long enough.

As for the cukes, whether they can "poke" through or not depends on how thick the mulch is. Mulch usually goes down after the seedlings have emerged or if it is already in place, it is pulled back from the row until the seedlings emerge and then replaced.

Can you tell us where you are located? It is early in much of the country for mulching as the ground is still warming.

Dave

I usually mulch around the plant, not the whole bed. They are going to struggle more than they need to and have a good chance of dying off if you mulch directly over them.

OP has previously stated zone as 7b (Virginia). It'll probably be July when the direct seeded tomatoes reach transplant size with first productivity finally arriving in August or possibly September. You'd be better off finding some tranplants and getting them in the ground right away.

As Dave said, pull the mulch away from where you remember planting the cucumber seeds and let them pop through and get established. They should be up by the end of this week. If the soil is cooler due to the mulch covering, they could take longer. The warmer the soil, the quicker they'll germinate.

Nitsua " with first productivity finally arriving in August or possibly September" LOL That's a normal growing season for many of us. Late August through beginning of October is usually when we have tomatoes. I normally don't direct seed though since we get late frosts and early fall frosts, but I'll still managed to get fruit from plants that self seeded the year before and came up.

Oh my ... I can't wrap my mind around only a month and a half of tomatoes. I think I'd have to move somewhere else - heheh. Here, its fairly close to four months, depending on when first frost arrives, which in 2014 was November 1st. Another reminder that zone is not much of an indication of growing season length.

Thanks, all. Yes, I'm in Zone 7b (I really should change my username to add that). I do already have four other tomato plants, of an original six. Two died shortly after being transplanted (not 100% sure why... Probably our sudden, unbelievably dry, hot, and gusty weather which lasted about a week). So, I thought since I had space for two more, I'd try direct seeding. I'm realistic as to my expectations, of course.

Yes, I think I will start to move the mulch after a few days. It just seems that right now I need the mulch more for water retention, even though it may prevent the soil from getting to ideal warmth. With no mulch, the soil dries out very quickly. Unless someone else has a better idea?

fadiver I think your zone shows up if edit your profile to add it under garden zone. You don't have to touch your user name.

Nitsua -One year we had snow on Mother's day and heavy frost September 1st. Needless to say the garden did not do well that year. We just had 0 c temperatures the other day with a killing frost. I had to cover what I had already set out with heavy straw and tarps. It's definitely not easy being a veggie gardener is cooler zones.

Yeah just complete your profile and fill in the blank given there for zone/location. Then it is automatic.

You don't have to pull the mulch back much - just an inch or so on either side of the seeds.

Dave

I use mulch quite liberally - about 25-30 bales of hay each year, plus grass clippings - but only around established plants. Personally, I prefer not to apply mulch over seeds when planting. It can give refuge to snails & insects that will attack the seedlings as they emerge. It also keeps the soil from warming... and in my zone, I need all the soil warmth I can get this early in the season.

There are exceptions; I use a light mulch over carrots, which benefit from the cool, moist conditions.

In warmer or more arid zones, or absent irrigation, mulch may be necessary to get good germination for most seeds... so your results may vary. ;-)

Something I was thinking off last night, if you are using straw, what kind are you using? If it's a grass straw you may have some seed still attached which could have you keep getting grass coming up.

"Grass straw"? Grass is hay, not straw. Both hay and straw can contain some seeds but they are easy to remove and the benefits of mulching with either of them heavily outweighs any seed sprouts one may get.

Dave

digdirt2 Straw is sometimes cut with the berries and seeds for things like wheat, barely, and oats, which are all types of grasses. It's just at the end of it's life cycle. No need to get picky about it. There are other types of straw like pea straw, which is why I was asking.

I was just saying that is something to keep in mind as the straw we use does contain the heads. Which is actually nice for my chickens because they tear apart the bales to eat all the grain, not so nice for me.

Sorry but it isn't just semantics and it is often very confusing to gardeners if the terms are used interchangeably. Many discussions here to support that claim of confusion.

So the vital differences between hay and straw in the world of mulching, soil improvement, and composting need to be understood and the labels used correctly whenever possible to avoid contributing to that confusion.

Straw is a waste/byproduct. It is the dry, hollow stemmed,residue of grain crops (wheat, oats, barley, etc.) that is mowed and baled after the grain is harvested and so contains only minimal seed. It does not regrow after mowing and has no forage value. It has a high insulating factor even when used in shallow layers, is very slow to decompose, and is moderately water repellent. It is an almost pure carbon and has little to no nitrogen content.

Hay is not a byproduct. It is an almost pure green, high nitrogen/low carbon, flat stemmed, mowed and baled grass (rye, orchard, alfalfa, buffalo, etc.) that is grown expressly for animal forage. It always regrows after mowing and its seed content can be quite high depending on when in the life cycle it is mowed. It has little insulating value even when used in thick layers, decomposes rapidly, and can harm plants if in direct contact as it decomposes, and has little to no water repelling characteristics (it mats).

While both may work, when used properly, to suppress weeds in the garden their moisture retention, decomposition, insulation from heat, and soil improvement characteristics are very different.

Hope this clarifies for future readers.

Dave

Dave I wasn't trying to use the terms interchangeably. I was referring to straw, no hay. Can you clarify what you mean by straw not having "forage value". Straw still has protein and fiber and it's actually recommended to also feed to animals that deal with cold winters. The animals fair much better than those fed hay alone. So I'm not sure what you mean by forage value. Do you mean less nutrients?

I've never, ever had a bale of straw that didn't have grain in it by the way. Perhaps it's because I'm not buying specifically for garden? Even before I farmed, I remember getting straw bales for fall décor and in the spring time I'd have wheat growing. Completely different area that I lived in as well so I don't think it's just where I am now that does this.