Organic mulch

[Lrn2Yield]

Hi guys,

Question for you guys .. I was looking into mulches, and heard pine bark works fairly well. I went and pealed some bark, gathered some leaf compost, dead grass clippings, and some some straw. I had some left over casting tea , so I've been soaking all this in the tea.

My question, is this a sensible idea? Would the fresh bark be okay to provide a cover for my soil? Would the left over tea from this be alright to feed the plants with? Very new to organic, and living soil grows.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Dmannn]

If i were forced to use conifer chips, i would used decomposed red wood and not pine. I don't think pine is a good choice..do you have a picture of what material you have been working with?

 

[Lrn2Yield]

Dman,

I don't have a picture on hand. I'll grab one tomorrow though, and post it for you.

What would be a good alternative, to Bark? I see lots of talk about comfrey leaves, alfalfa hay, rocks, moss etc and I really don't know the best route to take

 

[Wetdog]

If i were forced to use conifer chips, i would used decomposed red wood and not pine. I don't think pine is a good choice..do you have a picture of what material you have been working with?

Sorry Dmannn, that is simply an ill informed and wrong OPINION. There is obviously no VOE (Voice of Experience) anywhere in that post.

Pine Bark fines has been an intregal part of my mix for over 45 years and not using it is never even considered. It is also used in the bedding for the 6 worm bins I have going and as mulch for the comfrey bed along with the rest of the garden.

I would have to be "forced" to NOT use it. It's good stuff.

Lm2Yield, please don't be stripping live bark from trees. Pine bark mulch (the closest thing to graded Pine bark fines I can locate now), is super cheap at Lowes or HD. Like, $2.75/2cf bag, cheap. *I* like the "Evergreen" brand from Lowes better, because it is milled a bit finer, but, have used both with no problems.

Pine bark is a totally different animal from all other parts of the pine tree, so don't try and equate them. I use no other pine stuff in my organics. No pine needles, sawdust, wood, etc. I have used rotted pine logs, chunks of limbs and such in a Huegle (?), type deal, but that's not a regular thing.

Pine bark is also a myco magnet and indeed I've found some bags of the mulch that were nearly white with mycellium growth. Like I said, it's good stuff.
HTH

Wet

 

[Lrn2Yield]

Thank you guys for the response. As I'm very new to this type off growing, I always hesitate when I go to do something that I think will be beneficial.

I will however skip out on the concoction, as you suggested. I thought the bark, when sitting in some old compost, would stir up some growth and the left over liquid, would provide a good tea.

@Wetdog - do your suggest not using the bark I picked, mainly do to possible disease, would potentially be too hot without decomposing first, or just due to the simple fact that it's cheap, and easy to source at day HD?

I very much appreciate the help!



Here is the mix I have been letting stew



Don't know how this happened, but two seedlings grew in one cup. I think they are both going to die though.



Couple days old

 

[Dmannn]

Sorry Dmannn, that is simply an ill informed and wrong OPINION. There is obviously no VOE (Voice of Experience) anywhere in that post.

Pine Bark fines has been an intregal part of my mix for over 45 years and not using it is never even considered. It is also used in the bedding for the 6 worm bins I have going and as mulch for the comfrey bed along with the rest of the garden.

I would have to be "forced" to NOT use it. It's good stuff.

Lm2Yield, please don't be stripping live bark from trees. Pine bark mulch (the closest thing to graded Pine bark fines I can locate now), is super cheap at Lowes or HD. Like, $2.75/2cf bag, cheap. *I* like the "Evergreen" brand from Lowes better, because it is milled a bit finer, but, have used both with no problems.

Pine bark is a totally different animal from all other parts of the pine tree, so don't try and equate them. I use no other pine stuff in my organics. No pine needles, sawdust, wood, etc. I have used rotted pine logs, chunks of limbs and such in a Huegle (?), type deal, but that's not a regular thing.

Pine bark is also a myco magnet and indeed I've found some bags of the mulch that were nearly white with mycellium growth. Like I said, it's good stuff.
HTH

Wet

No apologies needed. By decomposed I meant NOT FRESH chips; with sap and all that..Thanks for the clarification. I have seen the benefits of bark with the Myco inoculation. I once had mushrooms grown on my lawn In the desert of NM, because i used the stump grindings for long term fertilizer..My words of advice were to steer our friend from acidifying his soil or mixture with FRESH CHIPS..I NEVER use pine bark. Seems other people do, and that is great! My base soil this year was top soil from Paradise CA. They have conifer forest up there, I made sure I used dolomite lime..but no needles or chips were visible when mixing in my ammendments.

TO Op, you might find better or faster results with some fresh alfalfa or other fresh soft walled organic matter (i.e.dandelion, non seeded weeds, even just green plain grass.) If any of these are pulled by hand, make sure you introduce the root material and dirt from that plant into the mix for MYCOS. Good luck!

EDIT:


Couple days old

Things are looking good! Keep it up!