Mulching my raised bed to reduce water loss..?

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passiflora07 Fern Park, FL(Zone 9b) Aug 15, 2007

This is my first week with my raised veggie/herb bed. Its blazing hot here in central Florida right now, and I am having to water two to three times a day. You can actually see the marjoram and lavender wilting in dehydration if I don't water this much. I sowed a lot of new seeds two days ago, so I'm waiting for them to sprout. My question is, can I add grass clippings to the top as mulch while I wait for seeds to germinate to help conserve water? Will this help my water situation? Or will the water just continue to drain out fast? I'm also wondering if this is a good idea because I don't know how/if adding mulch will affect the seeds.

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glendalekid Tuscaloosa, AL(Zone 7b) Aug 15, 2007

I can sure sympathize with the "blazing hot" there. We are in the third week of 100+ temps. I have straw mulch in my raised beds, and it helps a lot to keep the plant roots cooler and retain moisture. I have put straw mulch around the base of my shrubs as well. Even so, I have to water every day. If it were not for the mulch, I would have to water at least twice a day.

I would think that mulching would help with your seeds as well as the plants. They need to be kept moist, but not wet, to sprout. Grass clippings or straw should be light enough for the seeds to push their way to the top after they sprout.

Karen

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eweed Everson, WA(Zone 8a) Aug 16, 2007

Straw yes .Grass clippings only if they have been through a heat because they will generate even more heat as they decompose. They pack tighter than straw as well. Real small seeds will not do as well under the mulch as larger seed will. Ernie

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glendalekid Tuscaloosa, AL(Zone 7b) Aug 16, 2007

Ernie,

Good point about the grass clippings decomposing. It's way too hot here to have any grass clippings. The grass isn't growing.

passiflora07,

What you might do is mulch with straw everything except where there are small seeds planted. Then if that helps you to cut your watering of the the larger seeds and the plants down to once a day, maybe you can go out every couple of hours or so with a spray bottle and spritz the little seeds to keep them moist. After they come up and are growing well you can put mulch over them, too.

Karen

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