Using Mulch For Plant Nutrition

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

About mulch without secrets. Part 1

The use of various mulching materials on the site allows you to get high yields without the use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides

A large number of articles have been written about mulch. This topic has been discussed many times in periodicals and the Internet. The opinions of gardeners are different, often diametrically opposed.

There are reports of unusually high yields from mulch applications. There are also reports of the negative effect of mulch on plants, up to and including death.

This topic interested me several years ago. During this time, I tried to understand the issue, communicated with practitioners and theorists, and experimented myself. And that's what I want to say. Mulching, as a technique, deserves more attention from gardeners and gardeners. I specially went to the practices and saw their sites, saw the harvests.

On the basis of this (and not my own reasoning), I can say that fantastic harvests, obtained largely thanks to mulch, without the use of fertilizers, stimulants, pesticides, are reality. I see the same thing on my site.

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Mulching reduces moisture evaporation. It protects the soil from erosion, and plant roots from freezing in winters with little snow. Contributes to the preservation and improvement of soil structure. Prevents the formation of soil crust. Reduces mulching and daily temperature fluctuations. It inhibits the germination of weeds, enhances microbiological processes in the soil that improve plant nutrition.

Why have so many mulch applications failed? Certain stereotypes have developed in the minds of gardeners under the influence of the media. These strong opinions carry over to mulching, no matter what mulching material is used and under what conditions.

Often, failures are associated with all sorts of mistakes: the wrong choice or incorrect use of fertilizers, the planting of plants unsuitable for the given climate and soil, and untimely care of the plantings. The diverse flora and fauna in our areas is a living system that is influenced by a very large number of factors. Without considering this, gardeners often draw the wrong conclusions about mulch.

Often, gardeners refer to certain methods or preparations as a magic wand: it is worth applying, and a super harvest is guaranteed. Keep in mind that mulching alone does not magically correct mistakes. This technique does not negate work in the garden, in the garden, in the flower garden, but it greatly simplifies the care of plantings, provided that it is applied deliberately, taking into account the climate, plants, mulching materials. Here everyone needs to observe and think.

On my site, I used various mulch: compost, humus, straw, hay, leaves, needles, sawdust, green grass. In private communication, gardeners often ask: which mulch is better? There is no definite answer here. To avoid failures, you need to take into account that each type of mulch has its own characteristics, depending on the materials used. This article is an attempt to summarize and analyze the use of various organic materials for mulch.

All of the above is based on the experience of the application in the region where I live. In other conditions it may be different. Unfortunately, there are no universal methods. Every time when the conversation comes about mulch, it is worth figuring out for what purpose the person used mulch. Often disagreements arise due to the fact that gardeners set different goals for mulch, and arguments are given without taking this fact into account.

It makes sense to evaluate mulch for two purposes:

• the first is mulch as a source of nutrition for plants;
• the second is mulch to ensure favorable environmental factors.

Mulch for the second task should be evaluated according to several criteria:

• mulch - as protection from weeds;
• mulch - as a temperature optimizer;
• mulch to retain moisture;
• according to the degree of durability (time to decomposition);
• by the degree of accessibility and ease of use;
• beneficial or harmful effects on plants (allelopathy, acidity …);
• by the degree of aesthetics.

Even taking into account such a division, it is necessary to pay attention to other aspects of the technology that can affect the effectiveness of the use of this organic material.

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Let me give you an example. The task of the gardener is to reduce the number of weeds. A person considers two options for using mulch: compost and unfermented organic matter. Gardener B. S. Annenkov uses ready-made compost in his practice. Another gardener - I. P. Zamyatkin uses unfermented organic matter. Both have no weeds in their beds. What to choose? I compared: one bed was covered with compost, the other with straw.

There is an abundance of weeds in the compost bed. On a bed of straw - here and there a sow-thistle and bindweed made their way. It turns out that Annenkov is lying? Not at all. The fact is that Boris Sergeevich in the fall introduces compost into the soil of the ridge and spills it with a solution of an EM preparation. This provokes the shoots of annual weeds, which soon die from the cold. That is, the task of getting rid of weeds is solved not with mulch, but with an EM-preparation. In this case, mulch (any) is not needed at all to get rid of weeds. In my experience no EM formulation was used, compost and straw were in the same conditions. As a result, the straw was better. In the future, I will make a comparison with the same other conditions in mind.

The first task - mulch for plant nutrition

In the minds of modern gardeners, the belief that plants need to be fed is firmly entrenched. And the source of such nutrition is mineral fertilizers, compost, humus, manure. Straw, hay, leaves, post-harvest residues, as a rule, are not included in this list.

Strictly speaking, organic materials used as mulch cannot be called plant nutrition. Plants do not “eat” grass, straw, compost, etc. - this is understandable even for a student. Microbes, fungi, soil insects, worms decompose organic matter to a state that can be assimilated by plants. In the process of this decomposition, organic acids, carbonic acid, enzymes of microorganisms are released, which in turn make soil minerals available to plants.

Carbon dioxide emitted by microbes and other soil digesting agents is used to feed plants. We will not go into the details of this process. The fact remains: only the use of organic mulch and the creation of conditions for its decomposition are able to provide sufficient and balanced nutrition for cultivated plants. And this is without adding manure, compost, humus, mineral water, EM-preparations, humates, etc. to the soil. This is what happens in nature. And I have seen the same processes in my garden for several years now. I saw even more impressive results on the plots of other gardeners and gardeners.

But the most impressive argument is nature. In nature, there are no piles of organic matter, no piles of manure, no mineral fertilizers. And yet, everything is growing beautifully. In order for the mulch to provide nutrition to plants, it is important that it quickly releases nutrients, promotes the development of microorganisms and other soil inhabitants.

Compost and humus are perfect for this purpose. They still contain a lot of undecomposed organic residues. They contain a large number of saprophytes - organisms that decompose organic matter. They contain a lot of the so-called "mobile humus" - nutrients available to plants that have not yet combined into organo-mineral aggregates - humus.

Such mulch immediately begins to give food to the plants and, in the presence of favorable conditions, gives food for a long time. This type of mulch is most acceptable at the stage of transition to natural farming, when natural microbiological processes in the soil are still extremely sluggish, there are no worms and there is very little humus in the soil. However, it should be borne in mind that all that has been said does not apply to old humus and compost that has been stored for several years.

Freshly cut grass, torn out young weeds, green manure - when creating optimal conditions, they "work" as well as compost, humus. They have a lot of water and little fiber, and they decompose very quickly. At the same time, the plants are provided with fast and abundant nutrition. But not for long. A thin layer of this mulch decomposes very quickly. Thick - rots, then it turns from a source of food into a source of plant poisoning with decay products. This mulch should be used for "feeding". But creating optimal conditions for such mulch is difficult. It is required to constantly add it very often.

Dry hay, non-lignified weeds - contain easily decomposing fiber. When optimal conditions are created, this mulch decomposes rather quickly, providing good nutrition to the plants. You can speed up the supply of nutrients to plants by grinding these materials. Depending on the conditions, it requires one or several additions per season.

Straw, dried woody weeds - contain fiber that is difficult to decompose. This slows down the decomposition process and feed is supplied more slowly than from hay. But the period of food intake is more extended. This mulch lasts longer, you do not need to add it. Decomposes faster when crushed.

Leaves of trees and shrubs - decomposes even longer than straw. Accordingly, plants receive less nutrition. In addition, food for garden crops from foliage decomposition is of lower quality. It becomes a complete nutrition after processing by worms.

Sawdust, bark - are decomposed by microbes extremely slowly. To use them as a food source, mushrooms are needed. It is worth using this mulch on perennial crops.

The needles of coniferous trees - as a source of food, it is advisable to use on crops that prefer acidic soils. In other cases, it is worth using needles with caution, in some cases acidification of the soil is possible. Mushrooms are also needed to quickly decompose needles.

Read the next part of the article "About mulch without secrets":

Mulch for weed control, moisture retention and thermoregulation →