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Container Gardening

Roots growing through mulch

16 years ago

In my container veggies I have a layer of cypress mulch on top to retain moisture and prevent the soil from washing off the roots. So now some of the soil is mixing with the mulch when I water and the roots are growing in the mulch! Could this be causing poor growth of these plants. I moved the mulch to the side and put some more potting soil on top but I'm afraid I damaged the roots a little and that its too late to do anything about it now.

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Comments (2)

calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
16 years ago
I wonder if you are watering often and NOT with enough water at a time, causing the top soil to have most of the water. The roots will grow where the moisture is and in this case that appears to be the very top. I make a practice of applying water until I see it draining from the container, assuring the whole soil mass has received water. Al
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years ago
.... plus cypress mulch as a garden mulch is mildly allelopathic (inhibits growth), and that effect would be more pronounced in containers because of the small soil volume.

Al
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