Wet Newspaper??

[tlcmd]

My wife recently mentioned to me that she saw an article in the Wall Street Journal recommending the use of wet newspaper to put around freshly planted tomato plants to act as a weed barrier.

Anyone tried this? Results? Reasons to or not to use it?

Thanks,
Dick

[feldon30]

A layer of black and white or NON-glossy color newspaper, followed by a layer of herbicide-free grass clippings (it cannot have been "weed n feeded") is a fantastic mulch which will break down into good nutrients for your plants. You might wish to Google "lasagna gardening" as you can add many layers to your soil such as a light dusting of spent coffee grounds, dried leaves chopped up with your lawnmower, etc.

Tomato and pepper plants should always be mulched with something like pecan shells, straw, non-dyed pine bark mulch, dried shredded leaves, grass clippings, etc. so that rain will be less likely to splash up onto the plants, spreading fungal diseases.

[giardiniere]

I used newspaper around my tomatoes and peppers last year... and will again this year. It worked fine. I spread straw on top of the newspaper, but like Feldon mentioned, grass clipping will do fine too. I would however stay away from the clippings if they are from bermuda grass.

[feldon30]

Not sure how I left straw out of my list, since that's exactly what I used last year. I have been saving newspapers and leaves too. I hope all these extra steps are worth it.

[TheDens]

I did the newspaper thing last year, and it worked great! Just be more patient than I was and wait for a calm day to lay the paper down, putting that stuff down in the wind was a real challenge.
I covered it with pinestraw, worked like a charm all summer. It never did break down, though.

[tlcmd]

Thanks, y'all. I'll start saving newspapers today.

[Ruth_10]

I use paper with straw on top of it. Most newsprint, B&W or color, is vegetable-based these days, but check with your paper folks (it often says something to that effect somewhere in the newspaper). Stay away from the glossy inserts.

You do want to give your soil a chance to warm up before putting down the mulch and you do want to wait for a relatively calm day. I don't water the paper down, but do put the straw on top of it right away. Otherwise the paper will blow away with the slightest of breezes. At the end of the season everything can be tilled in.

[matereater]

I've never used newspaper around my tomatoes or any other plants in the garden. I've always been skeptical about how the ink on the papers might affect the plants and fruits.

Does anybody have any info on newpaper inks ?

[feldon30]

http://landscaping.about.com/...newspaper_mulch.htm

[garnetmoth]

ill use all my kraft paper this way!

I got a few big packages this year, and had a mound of crinkled paper- its out next to the compost pile now because its too big to go in our recycling can. Mulch it am!

[matereater]

Thanks Feldon, my skepticism was correct, at least about older inks.

[Warren]

would shredding the newspaper make it less likely to have splash back?

[the999bbq]

I read that most black ink on newspaper these days are from soy(a) so that should be ok; I was wondering about this too since I made all my seed and transplant containers from newspaper rolls.

I don't know why the newspaper should be wet though, will the mulch be good enough to keep it wet all season ? ;-) or do you have to keep it wet ?

[maupin]

This is the only method I have used for 8 years on tomatoes. Wetting the paper keeps it from blowing away as you put the grass clippings on it. I prefer fresh grass clippings over straw as the green/brown mix is better for soil building, but straw would work just as well for mulching.

I use raised beds, and anchor a 16' long piece of cattle panel with 3 5' T-posts on the mulched beds. then punch a hole in the mulch and plant the tomato. It espaliers up the panel--tied to it with shredded bedsheets I get at Goodwill and treat with a weak bleach solution.

End of the summer--wipe down the T-posts and panels with diluted bleach and stack them for next year, till in the mulch and finished compost from the pile, and repeat next year.

It's a lot of work in April-May, but it makes for a reasonably lazy sumer as it is a terrific weed barrier, and the cattle panels keep the fruit and leaves off the ground, while the mulch prevents splash-up diseases as the rain never hits soil.

[Tomstrees]

I think shredding it would help it eventually break down ...
I have tried it "yet" in my garden, but would like to tst the flower beds ~

Tom