Do you need to mulch now?
I don't mulch beds until June. I will lay a thin layer of mulch (cut grass or straw) around tomatoes and lettuces, ect. to prevent soil splashing, but that's it.
No. 1. Thick mulch prevents the soil from warming up if laid too early
No. 2 slugs, roly-poly's and earwigs live in mulch and destroy little seedlings.

I always give them enough time to grow and warmer soil helps to achieve that :D

Oh my....I think I made a mistake. I laid a ton of wood chips in my beds the last couple of weeks (cardboard under them), now I don't want to plant in them if the bugs are going to eat my babies. I wish I would have known.

Shasta...
Do you think you can rake it away for a little while or at least most of it? Even if you don't have alot of slugs or earwigs in your yard it would still help you not lose your seedlings and get your soil warmer :D

Vera

I agree with vera. In the spring, I push back (or remove) any remaining mulch so that the ground can warm up faster.

You don't want mulch around your seedlings/sprouts. It just gives bugs a hiding place. Bare, hot ground is the best defense against slugs, in my opinion.

I do use a cup ring (I plant the cup the seedlings are in - with the bottom cut off - or I cut a cup in half and push it into the soil for protection) around my new transplants.

Shasta, push the mulch back a good 4 inches away from your new transplants and they should be fine.

Okay will do, thanks for the help. I thought these chips would keep the ground warm, so I'll rake it away next month when I chunk & plunk!!! I can always put a can of DH's beer out for the slugs :)

Well, I guess I messed up. I had a brand new area I turned into a flower garden (about 30 x 120) I had mulch brought in and spread out to about 4 inches deep because I didn't want to deal with weeds coming up. Now what do I do? Do I keep them in pots until they get bigger?

proudgm, you could create pockets of soil in the mulch for your sprouts. I would use a fairly dense soil (not potting mix) so that it holds onto moisture for a while. Otherwise, if your mulch is made up of large pieces you will be watering 2 or 3 times a day.

As the season progresses that mulch will break down and be a good growing environment for your plants.

Depending on how loose the mulch is, I would create large pockets of soil, say 6" wide and 6" deep.