Using Sawdust In The Garden, Vegetable Garden And Greenhouse

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Sawdust as mulching material, sawdust in greenhouses and greenhouses

• How does sawdust affect the soil?
• Sawdust as mulching material
• Sawdust in greenhouses and greenhouses
• Sawdust in compost

• Sawdust on strawberry ridges

  • Sawdust when forming ridges in low places
  • Sawdust on high ridges
• Sawdust as a substrate for seed germination
• Sawdust for an early harvest of potatoes

About the benefits of sawdust

The overwhelming majority of gardeners are convinced of the value of such fertilizer as manure, although at current prices, very few people buy it, alas, they cannot afford it. But few people know about the benefits of sawdust, although it is a very valuable organic matter, which, if used correctly, can provide very good results.

At the same time, this organic material in considerable quantities regularly appears in everyone who enthusiastically continues to do construction work in their garden. Yes, and buying a sawdust car for many is not a problem, since in comparison with manure they are much cheaper. Sometimes some enterprises even take them to landfills.

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Meanwhile, there are quite a few options for using sawdust in the garden plot - they are laid in compost, used as a mulching material and when forming ridges, sprinkled with paths, etc. And even used as a substrate for germinating potatoes and seeds, seedlings are grown on them. However, you should not take these words completely literally and start right away, for example, grow tomatoes on sawdust or cover raspberries with a thick layer of sawdust - nothing good will come of it, since everything is not so simple.

How does sawdust affect the soil?

Soils containing a large amount of loosening organic matter, in particular sawdust, are breathable and absorb moisture well, and plants on such lands thrive. Such soils practically do not form a crust harmful to plants, which means that they need to be loosened much less often.

However, all this is true only in the case of using rotted or at least semi-rotted sawdust, which, in contrast to fresh sawdust, have dark brown or, accordingly, light brown shades. And rotting sawdust is a slow process: fresh sawdust rotting in the open air very slowly (10 years or more). The reason is that the sawdust needs live organic matter and water to heat it.

There is no living organic matter in the heap with sawdust, and as for water, there is no water inside the heap either, since the top layer of sawdust forms a crust through which moisture does not seep into the heap. There are two ways to speed up the reheating: either add sawdust in small doses to the compost heap or greenhouse beds along with fresh manure, or use it as mulch after enrichment with nitrogen.

In addition, sawdust from our tree species, unfortunately, slightly acidifies the soil. Therefore, when using them in large quantities, the soil must be additionally limed.

Sawdust as mulching material

For mulching, you can use rotted, semi-rotten, or even fresh sawdust with a layer of 3-5 cm - such mulch will be especially good under bushes, in raspberries and on vegetable ridges. Over-mature and semi-rotted sawdust can be used directly, and fresh sawdust will have to be pre-prepared, if this is not done, then they will take nitrogen from the soil, and therefore from plants, as a result, plantings will wither.

The preparation process is relatively simple - you need to put a large film on a free area, then successively pour 3 buckets of sawdust, 200 g of urea on it and evenly pour a 10-liter watering can of water, then again in the same order: sawdust, urea, water, etc. etc. At the end, close the entire structure hermetically with a film, pressing it down with stones. After two weeks, the sawdust can be safely used.

True, it is wiser to use such a mulching material only in the first half of summer, when moisture from the soil is actively evaporating. In this case, in the second half of summer, only one memory will remain from mulch, because thanks to the vigorous activity of worms and loosening, it will be well mixed with the soil. If such a thick layer of sawdust is poured in the second half of summer, when there is a lot of rainfall, then such mulch will prevent the evaporation of excess moisture from the soil, which will negatively affect the maturation of annual shoots in fruit and berry plants and their preparation for winter.

If the mulch layer turned out to be too large, and its mixing with the soil did not occur, then in the second half of summer, with heavy rains, it is imperative to carefully loosen the mulched soil. If the rains are rare, then this operation can be transferred to the fall, but you will still have to loosen (or dig or process with a flat cutter, if we are talking about vegetable ridges), otherwise in the spring the frozen layer of sawdust will delay the thawing of the soil layer. This is especially important for areas where planting is carried out early.

Sawdust in greenhouses and greenhouses

Indoors, sawdust is absolutely irreplaceable. It is useful to season with them both manure and plant residues. In combination with sawdust, manure and all kinds of tops warm up faster in spring. In addition, the speed of their overheating increases, and the resulting compost will be much better both in terms of looseness and air permeability, and in terms of its nutritional value and variety of composition.

It should only be borne in mind that when using fresh manure, fresh sawdust is used, which will take away excess nitrogen from it, and if rotted manure is introduced, or if you do without it at all, then only rotted sawdust is used - they do not need additional nitrogen.

Sawdust can be introduced into the ridges of greenhouses and greenhouses both in spring and autumn, and it is best to mix them with other fragments of the formed soil. It is most reasonable in autumn to lay a layer of plant residues on the ridges in the form of straw, fallen leaves, cut grass and various tops. And in the spring add a layer of fresh manure, sprinkle the latter with lime and a small amount of fresh sawdust, then use a pitchfork to mix the manure with other organic residues. After that, you will need to cover the manure with a small layer of straw or leaves, lay a layer of soil, adding ash and mineral fertilizers to it. For better heating, it is also advisable to spill the ridges with boiling water and cover with foil.

Sawdust in compost

Since it is the rotted sawdust that is of the greatest interest, it is more reasonable to punch some of the sawdust. It is best to mix them with manure and poultry droppings (for 1 m² of sawdust, 100 kg of manure and 10 kg of poultry droppings), and then let them lie down for a year, moisturizing and covering, if necessary, so that nutrients are not washed out. It is also useful to add mowed grass, hay, fallen leaves, kitchen waste, etc. to this compost. In the absence of manure, you will have to add urea to the sawdust (200 g of urea for 3 buckets of sawdust), you can replace the urea with a diluted mullein or a solution of bird droppings.

To speed up the process of rotting sawdust, before laying compost, it is necessary to moisten them well with water, and even better - with slurry or kitchen waste. In addition, it is useful to add soil to the sawdust: two or three buckets for one cubic meter of sawdust. In such compost, earthworms and microorganisms will quickly multiply, accelerating the process of wood decay.

If sawdust was stored near abandoned tracts overgrown with weeds, they must also be composted first. Moreover, the compost heap must warm up to at least + 60 ° C - only in this case, the weed seeds, which can remain viable for up to 10 years, will die. You can achieve such heating of the heap by sprinkling sawdust with hot water, followed by a quick cover of it with plastic wrap.

Sawdust on strawberry ridges

Sawdust will also be useful when mulching strawberry beds - they will not allow the berries to touch the ground, and this will reduce the loss of fruits from gray rot.

And when applied in autumn (a very thick layer is required), sawdust will also protect the strawberry plantings from winter freezing, and next year they will not allow many weeds to germinate. True, when mulching strawberries, fresh sawdust is needed, pre-treated with urea, and preferably from conifers. Indeed, in this case, they will to some extent begin to scare away the weevil.

Sawdust when forming ridges in low places

Sawdust will also help raise ridges in low places. In this case, wide (30-40 cm) furrows are dug around the proposed ridge to a depth of 20-25 cm. The soil removed from the furrows is laid on the garden bed. Sawdust is poured into the formed trenches around the beds. This is beneficial for a number of reasons. First, after any rain, you can walk to the garden bed in slippers. Secondly, by filling in the furrows, you will thereby prevent the drying of the bed (especially its edges). Thirdly, the sawdust will prevent weeds from germinating. Fourthly, in the future, rotted sawdust will become an excellent fertilizer - when they are transferred to the garden bed, the earth will become not only lush, but also warmer and more fertile.

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Sawdust on high ridges

In tall beds, formed on a thick layer of organic matter with the addition of a small amount of soil, vegetables, flowers and other garden plants grow well. You can also form such a multi-layer bed using sawdust. First, remove the top fertile soil layer and set it aside. Lay a layer of grass (hay, straw, etc.) in the resulting trench 1 m wide and 3-5 m long (the length depends on desire), pour a layer of sawdust flavored with urea.

Then lay another layer of organic debris, such as leaves, and cover the entire structure with previously laid down earth on top. And so that the earth does not crumble along the edges of the ridge, build around it a kind of barrier of mowed grass, straw or layers of turf (it must be put with the roots out). Keep in mind that plants on such a ridge require more water, so it is also a good idea to cover the sides of the ridge with plastic to reduce evaporation.

Sawdust as a substrate for seed germination

There are two technologies for sowing seeds for seedlings: directly into the soil or into stale sawdust. Sawdust is an ideal soil for a short period of time, because they represent a very loose substrate, which ensures intensive development of the root system, on the one hand, and guarantee absolutely painless plant transplantation, on the other. True, we are talking about a short period, because sawdust does not contain nutrients in a form accessible to plants, and therefore plants can develop on them only as long as they have enough nutrition from seeds - that is, approximately until the first true leaf appears.

Sowing technology in sawdust is as follows. Take a flat, shallow container filled with wet sawdust. Seeds are sown into it at some distance from each other and again they are sprinkled with sawdust - the last operation for many seeds may not be done, because in the light, seed germination increases. True, in the absence of the upper layer of sawdust, the danger of drying out the seeds increases, and if you are not able to check their condition several times a day, then it is better not to refuse the upper layer.

The containers are placed in slightly opened plastic bags in a warm place (for example, on a radiator, if it is not too hot there). During the germination period for many seeds, in particular, nightshade crops, it is desirable to maintain a temperature of about 25 … 30 ° C. With the emergence of seedlings, the temperature is reduced: in the daytime to 18 … 26 ° C, and at night to 14 … 16 ° C, but the given temperature data, of course, differ for different plants.

After sprouting, the bags are removed, the sawdust is sprinkled with a layer of fertile soil about 0.5 cm, and the containers are moved under fluorescent lamps. When the first true leaf appears, the plants are seated in separate containers.

Sawdust for an early harvest of potatoes

If you dream of getting an early harvest of potatoes, then sawdust will come to the rescue. Get enough light-sprouted early potato tubers, a few boxes and stale, moist sawdust. Two weeks before planting the tubers in the garden, fill the boxes 8-10 cm with sawdust, place the tubers upside down in the boxes and cover with a 2-3 cm layer of the same substrate.

Make sure that the substrate, on the one hand, does not dry out, and on the other, does not become overmoistened. Provide him with a temperature not higher than 20 ° C. When the sprouts are 6-8 cm high, pour them abundantly with a solution of complex mineral fertilizers and plant them together with the soil into prepared holes, filling both the tubers and sprouts with earth. Before this, the soil must be pre-warmed up, covered in advance with plastic wrap, and after planting, cover the entire potato area with straw or hay, and then with the same plastic wrap so that the tubers do not freeze. As a result, you will speed up your potato harvest by several weeks.