How Long To Wait To Plant Tomatoes After Sheet Mulching?

[pdxwindjammer]

I spent the entire weekend landscaping my yard. I did this so I could grow more tomato and pepper plants mixed in with ornamentals. I am tired of driving 2 miles up the road to my community garden to get my veggies!

I spray painted the area I planned on filling with a great 5 way soil, wet the ground thoroughly, wet and placed the cardboard weed barrier down and covered it all with about 8 inches of the soil and watered it all down thoroughly.

I am not sure I want to cut holes through the cardboard, braking the weed barrier. I don't want to fight the weeds. If I plant tomato and pepper plants now, will the roots be able to grow through the wet cardboard?

I have some extra tomato and pepper starts that I would love to plant in my yard now that I have a sunny area to plant them in!

Next year I am going to give up one of my community garden plots because now I can plant a bunch of tomato plants in my landscaped front yard! Wahoooooo!

[PaulF]

My opinion is to cut some small squares in the weed barrier to plant tomatoes and peppers. They need more than 8 inches of soil for the root zone and probably would not go through the cardboard. The soil on top of the cardboard will have some weed seed germinate anyway. A mulch layer on top of the added soil will help keep weeds at a minimum.

We always find a way to plant more tomatoes, don't we?

[pdxwindjammer]

Well, this was a project that got way out of hand! I will post the story behind it on this forum in the next couple of days.

I did end up cutting into the cardboard and got another 6 plants in the ground tonight. They are a few weeks later than the previous 35-40 plants but they will do great in this area!

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by pdxwindjammer

Well, this was a project that got way out of hand! I will post the story behind it on this forum in the next couple of days.

I did end up cutting into the cardboard and got another 6 plants in the ground tonight. They are a few weeks later than the previous 35-40 plants but they will do great in this area!

My sheet mulching method uses mulch over the weed barrier. You used soil. So there could be differences. However in answer to your question, "How long to wait?"

I think any period is ok. I have tried every time difference between 6 months and 1 hour. They all work.

Main thing is if you use raw manure or heavy nitrogen mulch materials that heat up in decomposition you have to wait till they finish cooking. Besides that, you don't have to wait at all.