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| I've used cut grass as mulch for the past couple of seasons and had good results with it. But it's not something I can just go get whenever I want and I'm always worried about it bringing blight or somthing with it. All the mulches I've seen available in stores are more tree type products, like different types of bark, or pine straw. I've been led to believe there's a big difference in the acidity of tree type plants and grass type plants, and tomatoes seem like they would do better with a grass type mulch. Can anyone help me understand this better, and maybe suggest a type of mulch that would be as good or better than cut grass? Also, at this time the pots are only about half full of dirt. I like have plants grow about 5 vines starting them in half a pot of dirt to begin with, and then later fill it to the top after the vines have had a chance to grow over the top of the pot. That way when I fill in the rest of the dirt each vine can grow its own root system. That worked a *lot!* better last year than before I learned to do it. The question is: If I put mulch in now, is it good to just cover it with dirt later when I fill in the rest, or should it be removed before adding the dirt? Thank you for any help! |
This post was edited by nopeda123 on Sat, Apr 26, 14 at 15:55
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Hi David -- First of all, you shouldn't be gardening in pots/containers with "dirt." Any kind of soil, whether sandy loam or compost, will compact too much in a container -- causing a host of issues. Over on the GW Container Forum, there are many posts discussing the 5:1:1 mix for containers. Five parts fine pine bark mulch, and one part each peat and perlite. Now, if the pine bark mulch you find locally is unsifted, you can adjust the mix perhaps without much added peat. That is the case with the fine pine bark mulch I have available locally. The downside of this soilless mix is that you have to supply all nutrients and minerals on a constant basis, because it has very little on its own. Other questions you need to ask yourself have to do with the size of the container vs. the type of tomato you wish to grow, drainage, location, etc. -Bruce |
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| I mulch the top of pots wit pine nuggets. It has several advantages(IMO) over, for example grass clipping. --- It allows the water to go down w/out splashing/disturbing the soil. --- it can help in preventing the soil get dry fast. It also looks nice. |
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| I use a lot of Coconut Coir coarse mulch and have for years. It lasts for years, looks natural, and plants seem to love it for protection, oxygen and air flow, and moisture retention. I never use peat, it should be valued and protected. |
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| I use a lot of Coconut Coir coarse mulch and have for years. It lasts for years, looks natural, and plants seem to love it for protection, oxygen and air flow, and moisture retention. I never use peat, it should be valued and protected. |
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- Posted by garystpaul z4 MN (My Page) on Sun, Apr 27, 14 at 10:07
| Try a layer or two of newspaper material, stuffed down a bit on the sides. |
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| Hay if you can get it is the next best thing to grass clippings. But as already mentioned, based on the info you have provided, you have more serious potential problems than which mulch to use. Good luck with your plants. Dave |
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| My mistake. I'm not using dirt. I'm using Miracle Grow potting mix. In the past I've used moisture controlled, but this year I'm trying the non-moisture controlled. I've also mixed in some dolomite lime to try helping with BER. |
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| No...I actually add about 1/3 part of cactus mix. It helps the standard potting mix to drain better. You might consider more perlite as well. Drainage is a really big issue. |
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| I use free city mulch from Los Angeles, made from shredded and (partially?) composted yard waste. http://www.lacitysan.org/srpcd/mulch_giveaway.htm It does have a small amount of plastic particles mixed in (due to people putting these things into their green recycling bins) but they are easily enough to pick out. But they are free and work pretty well for the tomato garden. |
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