Mulching question

[Douglas14]

I'm thinking of mulching my tomato plants with grass clippings this season. I'm wondering at what stage in plant growth is it best to apply the mulch? I live in Minnesota, so the growing season isn't real long. I'm concerned that applying the mulch too early will keep the soil cooler, and slow early plant growth. Is there a "best" stage to apply mulch for tomatoes?

I'm considering mulching because it will save on weeding, conserve moisture, and hopefully prevent/lessen foliage disease. Any downsides you can think of with grass mulch? I support my plants with the Florida Weave method.

[pauldavid]

The only downside could be grass seeds in the clippings. I use pine straw with pretty good results. Mulching helps to conserve moisture and helps with BER-it keeps the soil moisture more consistent. I mulch when I plant out. Good luck!

[squirrel789]

I have used straw many times in the past and it works well, but it can contain some unwanted seeds and I've definitely spent some time pulling some weeds when using it.

IMHO grass clippings are alright, but they tend to get mushy and decompose quickly through the season, not to mention the seed issue from the previous post above.

I am using large pine bark nuggets this year and I really like the form and the function so far. It depends on how big of an area you're trying to mulch to determine if it is cost effective for your garden or not. I think I paid about $3 per bag for 2 cubic feet (Timberline brand at lowe's if I remember correctly). I didn't have to spread it very thick,maybe an inch or so to be effective. Just don't get the colored or shredded stuff

Also, It doesn't break down too quickly but I've read it can be tilled into the soil if you wanted to at the end of the season. You may want to read up a bit more on that depending on your garden type and growing medium.

Anyway, just a suggestion. Best of luck with your tomatoes!

Granted, mine is in a container, but I don't see why that has to make any difference unless you have a huge tomato patch. Here's what mine looks like (please ignore the close plant spacing, I'm aware it's not correct... its more of an experiment). Here's a pic:

[Gardeneer]

Second Pine Straw and Pine Bark Nuggets.
Down in GA, where there were a lot of Pine Straw, that is what I used as mulch. It is durable for one season and then mixing with soil make good amendment.
Up here in PNW, there is no pine straw, but I can get pine bark nuggets. I get/prefer the small ones because at the end of season I just work it into the soil.
Both pine straw and bark, wont get mushy. That is what I like about it. Grass clippings, cardboards, newspapers ... get mushy and caked when dry and water wont go through them freely.
Wheat straw is good too if you can get them at reasonable cost. So is hay. But they tend to have seeds.

Gardeneer

[carolyn137]

Doug, I'd stay way away from grass clippings, I tried it once when I first moved back East from Denver in my side garden and what I ended up with was a fermenting, stinking, black mess.

Then I bought a couple of bales of hay and that was bad b'c of the seeds. So I said what the heck and mulched nothing, and over the years having grown about 4,000 different varieties, all was fine.

Carolyn, who also notes that years ago Doug was my source for two excellent varieties, Todd County Amish and Amish Potato Leaf which were snapped up by Lisa at Amishland and given wrong histories but nothing new for her at her website.

[bughunter99]

Douglas don't put down the mulch until you are truly into summer whether, ie the soil is nice and warm.

I disagree with the others. IMO grass clippings are better than no mulch at all. You would want to put down newspaper or cardboard underneath it, or landscaping fabric so you don't have to worry about seeds. Grass clippings decompose pretty fast other things last much longer.

Lots of things you can use to mulch. I use cocoa bean mulch, it is too pricey to use for a very large area but for my space it works great, looks great and mats together to form a nice weed barrier. Finely chopped leaves work awesome and is fantastic for the soil. Straw is also good provided you are sure that it has not been treated with herbicides.

[carolyn137]

I disagree with the others. IMO grass clippings are better than no mulch at all.

&&&&&

I think it depends on how many plants are to be mulched and in my main field the dimentions were 250X 90 ft, and I had usually 10 rows 250 ft long and grew many hundredsof plants and varieties each summer. As well as long rows of melons and potatoes and all kinds of squash, I think you get the picture. The side garden I referred to was where I grew many different varieties of radishes, carrots, beans, beets, peas, chinese greens, etc,

So there was No way I could mulch all of them.

Just trying to clarify what my circumstanes were when you said that grass clippings are better than no mulch at all.

Carolyn

[carolyn137]

I disagree with the others. IMO grass clippings are better than no mulch at all.

&&&&&

I think it depends on how many plants are to be mulched and in my main field the dimentions were 250X 90 ft, and I had usually 10 rows 250 ft long and grew many hundredsof plants and varieties each summer. As well as long rows of melons and potatoes and all kinds of squash, I think you get the picture. The side garden I referred to was where I grew many different varieties of radishes, carrots, beans, beets, peas, chinese greens, etc,

So there was No way I could mulch all of them.

Just trying to clarify what my circumstanes were when you said that grass clippings are better than no mulch at all.

Carolyn

[AlittleSalt]

We use oak leaves. It works really well for us.

[seaeagle]

It's nice to see the old internet myth about pine needles being bad for your soil has run its course.I use them every year and have research report somewhere that prove aged pine needles are not acidic.Green pine needle are acidic, but who uses green needles.And once you put them there they aren't going anywhere, i don't think a Cat 5 hurricane would move them

[FarmerShawn]

A couple of tricks to using grass clippings are, first, mow before it goes to seed, and second, let it dry before applying. Just mow on a sunny day in the morning, and rake it up in the evening. That avoids the soggy mess mentioned previously. I use grass clippings a lot (I mow about two acres!) and I figure, even if there are weed seeds present, as long as I keep mulching, and mulch deep enough, they won't be a problem! That's part of why I mulch, is to keep weeds from sprouting.

[crmauch]

I like grass mulch. If I don't put it on more that about 6 inches deep it lasts about 2 months. My main tomato bed was never plowed, tilled, etc. It was a rose bed gone bad (we're talking 10 ft. tall trees). After clearing it with chainsaw and a rented bushhog the tomatoes when in between the stumps. I do have a problem with perennial weeds, but the grass keeps them mainly suppressed. I put it on shortly after I planted out (and generally it doesn't smell except maybe the first day or so). Kept my soil quite evenly moist. I put it on soon after planting out. Since I'm much further south than you I can't speak to the soil warming bit.

I would be concerned about the bark mulch robbing nitrogen from soil as it breaks down? But then again I barely fertilize (one handful of 10-10-10 buried below the plant at planting and top dressed with compost (if available)), otherwise only grass clippings (which are high in nitrogen).

[habitat_gardener]

I usually use wood-chip mulch, but this spring we've had lots and lots of puddinglike yellow slime molds (aka dog vomit fungus) growing in the mulch. Not wanting to subject my tomato plants to potential yellow pudding (which did briefly engulf my rhubarb plant, and got into a few container plants!), instead I used horse-manure compost for one raised bed. I get it from a local horse-boarding facility. They have a huge pile of it, free, all you can haul. I planted that bed 3 weeks ago, watered the plants in, added a couple inches of horse-manure compost, and have not watered it since then!! It doesn't rain here, either. I expected to water every 5-10 days, at least. The plants are thriving.

[jmsieglaff]

I use chopped straw in my southern WI garden. I mulch immediately after planting to prevent splash back onto the plants. I use raised beds and buckets so the soil warms fairly quickly, prior to planting.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

We use oak leaves. It works really well for us.

This^

I have also used hardwood and pine mulch and both are fine. Never used grass clippings so cant say how well they work but if its free I pretty much use it.