Mulching

[hedwarr]

I have heard of everything from black plastic to newspaper to coffee grounds being used as a soil covering. I grow strictly in containers and have always used Bagged cedar mulch. It is decorative as well as aromatic and seems to retain moisture relatively well. Basically, i am just curious as to why there are so many variations on this. thanks ed

[TomatoDon]

A lot of it is personal preference. Many seem to favor wheat straw, and that's what I use when I can get it. I use it with containers also. I think with containers the more mulch the better to keep down the heat and help retain moisture.

I think a lot of people like putting down a double or quadruple layer of newspaper and then wheat straw on top. Both will eventually break down and help the soil. It's a good method, but others use different things. I'm sure you'll get a diversity of replies on this.

Don

[shelleybean]

I also like wheat straw. It's easy to find is pretty inexpensive. One two inch layer will last me all season. When I'm ready to pull the plants in the fall, I can quickly rake the straw out of the way.

[Tomaddict]

You're right on there being many variations on mulching - everyone has their pet method, and many have what seem to be good reasons for using them. Such as dark coverings - absorbs heat and warms the soil, encouraging faster growth (probably more of a factor for us northerners), red coverings (reflects light that speeds growth of tomato plants - I guess?), etc.

I did use horticultural paper" for several years, but it is more of a bother to apply than mulches like straw (must cut openings for each plant, and can be torn), and the heavier stock that I preferred was hard to find. It's certainly costlier. Now am using straw, which is pretty good, but has some drawbacks - wheat seeds sprout in abundance and it often carries some weeds in it, although it does keep alot of other weeds down - not grasses, though. I'm not a proponent of newspaper or cedar mulches (concerned about possible acidity or ink residue accumulation with repeated use) or grassclippings (form mats that would prevent air contact with soil). But these are personal preferences - am not sure how much validity there is to my concerns.

Grow on!

[hedwarr]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The cedar mulch i use is natural cedar, no dyes. But i am still concerned about any bad affects it may have on my toms. The whole newspaper thing is also of concern to me. I would be willing to try it for cost effectiveness but are'nt there chemicals and dyes in newspaper that would be detrimental to toms?

[cottonpicker]

I believe the concensus nowadays is that the black & white pages of newspapers are safe to use in gardens but to AVOID USING the COLOR pages.

[JrzyTmata]

I work in the printing industry and most inks used on newspaper printing is soy based.
More than 90% of the nation’s daily newspapers are printed with color soy ink.
you can call your local newspaper printer and ask if you're concerned.