Use of pea residue as mulch?

javafxnoob · May 9, 2018

In few days should be the time for me to start harvesting my peas. I guess until the end of May there will be no more peas to harvest so wondering what to do with plants residue. I don't make my own compost because my small garden is in urban area and I am afraid neighbors would complain about smells. Also, it is only around 1.800 square feet, so not sure I can spare any part of it for composting pile.

I was thinking to use residue as a mulch around my tomatoes. Is it good idea? If it is, how? Should I cut it with lawnmower and just mulch it as with grass clippings? Or just cut plants with pruning shears to small pieces and place around tomato plants?

Before mulch idea I was considering to cut all pea plants above soil level and dig them in a trench for improving soil.

Any suggestion what to do with residue are most welcomed and what you people do with it.

PhilaGardener · May 9, 2018

Sounds good - I'd chop it up and use as mulch or the stems are likely to be tough and slow to break down.

taboule · May 9, 2018

I like old pea plants once done, they have a nice texture and break up easily when dry. Just make sure they're not sick, no diseases. Zero tolerance, if any doubt, don't use them.

KarenO · May 9, 2018

Quite often (almost always) end of season pea vines are affected with fungus. Don`t put them on your tomatoes if that is the case. good healthy compost of just vegetation does not have an offensive odor and although an open `pile`is not practical in a small garden those commercial compost bins work well and don`t take up much space. your old pea vines would make great compost in a bin.

karenO

Labradors2 · May 9, 2018

I always cut my peas/beans at ground level to leave those nutritious root nodules in the soil to break down there. Sounds like the residue will be great as a mulch (assuming, as others have said, that it is healthy).

Compost really shouldn't smell if you do it right. Never compost meat, bones or fatty things, just veggie scraps, egg shells, tea/coffee grounds. It works very well.

Linda

Ann123 · May 9, 2018

Compost doesn't smell. I have neighbors who complain about the 'horrible smell' of my lilacs

but never about the compost.
I have seen people use a tube placed in the soil as a compost thing. You drop food scraps, plant residue and so on in the tube and it gets eaten by the worms. That doesn't use up a lot of space at all.

May 9, 2018	#1
javafxnoob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Serbia - Zone 7b Posts: 119	Use of pea residue as mulch? In few days should be the time for me to start harvesting my peas. I guess until the end of May there will be no more peas to harvest so wondering what to do with plants residue. I don't make my own compost because my small garden is in urban area and I am afraid neighbors would complain about smells. Also, it is only around 1.800 square feet, so not sure I can spare any part of it for composting pile. I was thinking to use residue as a mulch around my tomatoes. Is it good idea? If it is, how? Should I cut it with lawnmower and just mulch it as with grass clippings? Or just cut plants with pruning shears to small pieces and place around tomato plants? Before mulch idea I was considering to cut all pea plants above soil level and dig them in a trench for improving soil. Any suggestion what to do with residue are most welcomed and what you people do with it. __________________ “He who plants a garden plants happiness.” Chinese proverb

May 9, 2018	#4
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Quite often (almost always) end of season pea vines are affected with fungus. Don`t put them on your tomatoes if that is the case. good healthy compost of just vegetation does not have an offensive odor and although an open `pile`is not practical in a small garden those commercial compost bins work well and don`t take up much space. your old pea vines would make great compost in a bin. karenO Last edited by KarenO; May 9, 2018 at 11:48 AM.

May 9, 2018	#2
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	Sounds good - I'd chop it up and use as mulch or the stems are likely to be tough and slow to break down.

May 9, 2018	#3
taboule Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: MA Posts: 903	I like old pea plants once done, they have a nice texture and break up easily when dry. Just make sure they're not sick, no diseases. Zero tolerance, if any doubt, don't use them.

May 9, 2018	#5
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,895	I always cut my peas/beans at ground level to leave those nutritious root nodules in the soil to break down there. Sounds like the residue will be great as a mulch (assuming, as others have said, that it is healthy). Compost really shouldn't smell if you do it right. Never compost meat, bones or fatty things, just veggie scraps, egg shells, tea/coffee grounds. It works very well. Linda

May 9, 2018	#6
Ann123 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Belgium Posts: 240	Compost doesn't smell. I have neighbors who complain about the 'horrible smell' of my lilacs but never about the compost. I have seen people use a tube placed in the soil as a compost thing. You drop food scraps, plant residue and so on in the tube and it gets eaten by the worms. That doesn't use up a lot of space at all.