Mulch on vegetable garden

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I'm thinking about my upcoming garden year. One of the items I really like and hardly ever plant is watermelons. I never end up with more than a couple even if I plant a bunch of them. This year I'm going to try to get serious about it. Deer are a big problem, but I have a solar powered electric fence all ready to go that I'm going to use. That should hopefully keep the deer out. My neighbor used one last year with great results.

The other problem is weeds. It's not really a huge deal but I'm thinking about buying either a truckload of hardwood mulch, or a bunch of straw. Have any of you had good success mulching the top of a garden? On top of weed control, we always end up getting really dry during the summer and I think the mulch will help keep a little moisture in the soil.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Also, best case would be if I could till the mulch into the soil at the end of the season to help the soil nutrients for the following year.

 

[ponytug]

We've had reasonably good success with old grass hay or straw. Straw and wood chips won't do much for soil fertility (nitrogen sink) if you till them in, so you may need to add something richer in nitrogen to help like chicken manure before you till it in.

I spread fairly coarse commercial wood chips in our cattle feeding area, and till it after a year or so. I think that its utility as a mulch for vegetables might be limited unless you can get a finer version, but I wouldn't rule it out. I would comment that our soil (heavy clay) is much much better after a few cycles of wood chips and cattle waste. For a few years we used aged relatively coarse sawdust and that was great at suppressing weeds in the garden.

YMMV.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Oaktree]

Trouble with wood chips or sawdust is they take forever to break down. I've used them off and on in my asparagus patch with only so-so results. Maybe the weeds here are more aggressive than they are out your way.
Old hay seems to work reasonably well, as do leaves and both break down by the end of summer.

 

[t1kilo]

The good thing about using straw, instead of hay, is the lack of seeds. Grass seeds sprout, therefore, more to weed out. Lawn clippings from grass not allowed to seed is another story.

Watermelons prefer slightly acidic soil. Have you thought about pine bark mulch?

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

OP.... unfortunately for good crop of melons being heavy on the water is very important. We are in climate zone 5 which is a cooler zone but light soils type and we need to about 3" of water per week. Much less and we get a great crop of vines and leaves but no fruit.

 

[sixdogs]

In your climate I'll bet powdery mildew is a problem on vines and mulch will likely make it much worse. Wood chips take time to deteriorate and they "eat" nitrogen which is what plants need for growth.

We used to grow 8-10 acres of pumpkins and squash in northern New England and tried everything. Best result was no much at all and drip tubing irrigation, next best was fall-planted oats or rye or whatever. Spray to kill in spring and then no till the crop in.

A great idea that works well but is labor intensive is to plant through plastic with a drip line for water. That works, no mold, no weeds and the plants love the heat. But need labor and a plastic roller and fall plastic removal implement.

 

[EddieWalker]

My wife is a Master Gardner. She likes pine needles on her garden beds.

For Valentines, I get her a dozen sacks of potting soil, and a dozen sacks of compost instead of two dozen roses.

Every Spring, Lowes has a sale on 40 pound sacks of mulch for $1.99 a sack. I also get 10% off of that price for my Military Discount. I buy two pallets at a time because that's what I can put on my trailer. My biggest year I bought 6 pallets

 

[ponytug]

@EddieWalker that's quite the score both on volume and price! It is always nice to have a master gardener in the family.

I get my wood chips from a local utility tree trimming service for free, delivered, usually within one day of my calling. One year I put down 52 cu.yds. of chips, plus the chips I generate from my trimming. The cows love the chips as bedding. In a few more years, when the soil is even more improved, my plan is that I will move the feeding area, and use the area as an orchard.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MMC]

We've had reasonably good success with old grass hay or straw. Straw and wood chips won't do much for soil fertility (nitrogen sink) if you till them in, so you may need to add something richer in nitrogen to help like chicken manure before you till it in.

I spread fairly coarse commercial wood chips in our cattle feeding area, and till it after a year or so. I think that its utility as a mulch for vegetables might be limited unless you can get a finer version, but I wouldn't rule it out. I would comment that our soil (heavy clay) is much much better after a few cycles of wood chips and cattle waste. For a few years we used aged relatively coarse sawdust and that was great at suppressing weeds in the garden.

YMMV.

All the best,

Peter

I'll second using old hay in deep successive layers. I understand the concerns about seeds in hay vs. straw, but I personally believe the gains in nutrients are worth it when using old hay.

I also like to use seep hoses under the mulch in certain areas of the garden and plant winter rye in the fall as a cover crop to be tilled under in the spring. I believe soil testing is a must for planning purposes and good production.

As others point out, watermelons take, well, lots of water. The mulch will certainly help conserve available moisture. Vine management to encourage bigger, if fewer, melons seems a good plan also.

If you have a local farmer who still does small square bales, he might give you some old hay just to get barns cleaned out. A few vegetables and a couple of watermelons might be a nice trade...

Or you could just go to Kroger's and get a couple of melons later and concentrate on smaller veggies in the garden. Watermelons take a lot of space. A lot. And yet...I continue to grow a few myself just to give away.

For myself, I always have said my goal is to eat a hundred dollar tomato right alongside a hundred dollar potato.

I believe I'm reasonably close now...

Best of luck.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Or you could just go to Kroger's and get a couple of melons later and concentrate on smaller veggies in the garden. Watermelons take a lot of space. A lot. And yet...I continue to grow a few myself just to give away.

I have lots of space, and I'm much too cheap to spend what they want for a watermelon at the store. I like to just pick one when I get the hankering, eat what I want, and let the chickens have the rest. I also enjoy giving them to friends.

 

[Jstpssng]

A great idea that works well but is labor intensive is to plant through plastic with a drip line for water. That works, no mold, no weeds and the plants love the heat. But need labor and a plastic roller and fall plastic removal implement

This was my first thought also. There also are porous weed blockers which let some water pass through and which will last several seasons. A home gardener doesn't need a roller; simply prep the beds, lay the plastic on top and hill the edges in with a hoe. My father was great at this, his plastic laid flat like the sheet on a bed. Unfortunately I never thought to ask how he did such a nice job.

You also could hold the edges down with sawdust... that keeps the weeds out of the row.


Plastic also solarizes the soil, which will help the seedlings get a head start.

 

[sixdogs]

This was my first thought also. There also are porous weed blockers which let some water pass through and which will last several seasons. A home gardener doesn't need a roller; simply prep the beds, lay the plastic on top and hill the edges in with a hoe. My father was great at this, his plastic laid flat like the sheet on a bed. Unfortunately I never thought to ask how he did such a nice job.

You also could hold the edges down with sawdust... that keeps the weeds out of the row.


Plastic also solarizes the soil, which will help the seedlings get a head start.

We commercially used an implement that put down plastic tight, shaped and covered the edges. I could do a lot in a hurry and the job was perfect.

If anyone uses plastic in a garden and it's windy, the plastic has to be tight and the edges firmly covered or wind can get under and blow some up or away. For a home garden, plastic 100% solves the weed and moisture issues and is pretty easy.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I might try old hay this year. There is about 180 acres of hay land that I can see from my windows. I know they push bales that fall apart out into the woods just to get it out of the way. I'll take my little tractor and see if I can get enough to make it worth my time. It's all round bales so it may be too much work for what it's worth though.

Alternatively, if I use the mulch and don't till it in at the end of the year would that be ok? The only reason I keep bringing that up is that I am acquainted with the owner of a local tree service. The good trees that he takes down he mills into lumber and sells for a good price. He said he mostly does it to save on landfill fees. I feel pretty confident I could get a good deal on a bunch of his chips for the same reason.

 

[Oaktree]

This was my first thought also. There also are porous weed blockers which let some water pass through and which will last several seasons. A home gardener doesn't need a roller; simply prep the beds, lay the plastic on top and hill the edges in with a hoe. My father was great at this, his plastic laid flat like the sheet on a bed. Unfortunately I never thought to ask how he did such a nice job.

You also could hold the edges down with sawdust... that keeps the weeds out of the row.

Plastic also solarizes the soil, which will help the seedlings get a head start.

Tried that one year (think I got the idea from you), found it to be more trouble than it was worth. Was a real PITA to put down and while not many weeds grew thru it, they sure did find every seam and cutout for plants. Tried the black plastic in the spring thing too, didn't seem to help much.

The one advantage the weed blocker cloth had was that the soil didn't compact anywhere near as much as it did without it. Very fine, silty soil here that compacts easily.

I might try old hay this year. There is about 180 acres of hay land that I can see from my windows. I know they push bales that fall apart out into the woods just to get it out of the way.

That's what I do. There's an open field a couple miles from me we call the "party field"...only used for one week each summer for someone's family gathering/campout. They have it mowed about a week before, but most of the cuttings are just left. Asked someone one year if I could take some, and they said have at it.
Seeds can be an issue, but no worse than what I seem to get every time I get a load of manure (and grass is a lot more manageable than some of the manure weeds!).

 

[skipmarcy]

I wouldn't use commercially bought mulch for a garden, they usually add coloring chemicals/paints to make their mulch consistent looking. I was told by a supplier once that the red mulch actually had red paint in it. Also found out the hard way that mulch in your flowerbeds along the house will bring termites - I use creek gravel now!! Also, about the "mulch" from tree company chippers, just think about how many different plants & vines are mixed in with those tree chips. Around here poison oak and ivy are heavy. Also that stuff takes YEARS to break down to soil.

 

[ponytug]

I might try old hay this year. There is about 180 acres of hay land that I can see from my windows. I know they push bales that fall apart out into the woods just to get it out of the way. I'll take my little tractor and see if I can get enough to make it worth my time. It's all round bales so it may be too much work for what it's worth though.

Alternatively, if I use the mulch and don't till it in at the end of the year would that be ok? The only reason I keep bringing that up is that I am acquainted with the owner of a local tree service. The good trees that he takes down he mills into lumber and sells for a good price. He said he mostly does it to save on landfill fees. I feel pretty confident I could get a good deal on a bunch of his chips for the same reason.

When you say "don't till it in at the end of the year" are you thinking of going to "no till", or waiting for spring to till it in, or something else? One year, we tried no till and planting through the hay mulch from the prior year, and then adding fresh mulch, but the weeding was more than we liked, and switched to tilling the hay in, usually in the springtime, and then adding fresh mulch around the plants.

I wouldn't use commercially bought mulch for a garden, they usually add coloring chemicals/paints to make their mulch consistent looking. I was told by a supplier once that the red mulch actually had red paint in it. Also found out the hard way that mulch in your flowerbeds along the house will bring termites - I use creek gravel now!! Also, about the "mulch" from tree company chippers, just think about how many different plants & vines are mixed in with those tree chips. Around here poison oak and ivy are heavy. Also that stuff takes YEARS to break down to soil.

Yes, I wouldn't be wild about using colored mulch for a garden. Last I checked, the red and black colorants were iron oxides (no fading, and "natural"), but I haven't clue what they use as a binder, or even if they use a binder.

The poison ivy/oak issue is why I now only get wood chips from the big operations who aren't brush clearing for homeowners. They are clearing limbs 20+ feet up, which eliminates the poison oak risk around here.

Poison ivy is a different story. I've seen poison ivy vines 70' in the air out on trails. I have to grit my teeth to even walk by anywhere in the neighborhood when the poison ivy vines are that high. It just feels to me as if it is going to be raining poison ivy sap. Yikes!!

All the best,

Peter