Steve Solomon's recent book Gardening When It Counts has a wealth of useful and specific information. But he's really down on mulching, says it doesn't control weeds and interferes with fertilizer applications.
But I have mulched nearly my whole garden - about 230 square feet - with 3 to 6 inches of mulch. I took temperature readings a while back and the 3-inch soil temperatures could be in the high 70s to nearly 90 degrees. We have been having some fairly hot weather - July weather - in Wisconsin during June. Ed White's WORD book precribes optimal growing temperatures ranging from the 60s to mid-70s for the different crops.
Under the mulch, the temperatures are much lower, down around low 70s to high 60s. That's why I apply a heavy mulch of oat straw. And it does seem to control weeds fairly well. Sometimes I patrol the beds and pluck out weeds by hand, but that's an easy process because there really aren't very many, at least not yet this far into the summer.
What do any of you people do, what do you think, about mulching? Am I off base? Is Steve right to forego mulching and just weed using his sharp hoe?
Thanks for your comments,
Naangiwane
Mulching and Steve Solomon
I just read Ed White's book the other night, he talks about mulching walkways to keep weeds down, but not mulching the actual vegetables.
I do not think this man has gardened in the South, in 100 degree heat with long days of full sun. Oh, my! If I didn't mulch everything would be dead in a day. The trick to me is knowing HOW to water and fertilize. I pull back some mulch and water directly into the soil, pushing the mulch back after I'm done. I water very deeply and mulch very thickly. There are very, very few weeds in my garden. All my gardens are loaded with mulch which is fluffed up annually (if it doesn't decompose quickly) to let water in. Ed discusses this with soil, in his explanation of "cultivation".
So I totally disagree in my climate, with my soil that mulching does not supress weeds or cause watering and feeding problems. I add dry fish fertilizer when I turn beds to add compost. I use fish emulsion when I water every 2nd week on those things that NEED it .
I get loads of veggies, and maybe I spend about 10 minutes a MONTH weeding.
GGG
I live in a semi-arid climate and if I didn't mulch, I wouldn't have much of anything! It keeps me from watering every single day. And with water restrictions, I can't be doing that. I've also see fewer weeds. The only beds I don't mulch are the area where I just scatter seed and my raspberries.
He apparently hasn't gardened in the desert either. And he isn't gardening organically if he is talking about mulch interfering with fertilizer applications. It's a whole different deal when the soil is healthy. I use lots of compost and manure and bone meal to feed the soil and the soil feeds my plants. Grass clippings are used as mulch first lightly around things like cabbages, lettuce, brocolli, etc, to help keep the moisture in the soil, and to keep the soil from getting too hot, and then as plants that like warmer soil start to grow, I mulch around them too. I water right through it. The grass clippings decay and keep feeding the soil which feeds the plants. I do have some weeds but they are fairly easy to deal with. When I have enough clippings around the vegies, then I start mulching in the paths.
I'm not familiar with the "wisdom of Solomon" against mulching. I can understand the dangers of overdoing it, like the big volcano shaped stacks of mulch some landscapers put around the base of trees and shrubs, but an organic based mulch used in moderation seems to be not only wise but highly beneficial. I'm not sure I understand the distinction between "mulching" and "side dressing with compost" right around the vegetable plants themselves (i.e. how could you be against mulching but in favor of side dressing?) Anyway, we mulch every year and find it helps with weed suppression and, I'd say, with big healthy plants and good levels of production in our small backyard garden. But again I haven't read the book so I'm just reacting to the other comments here.
Many thanks for the helpful comments. I appreciate them.
Naangiwane