Another 11 trees, Lisa? WOW I would love to visit all your trees one day.

It's very acidic, so if you are planting something that needs an acid ph, such as blueberry or azalia, it should be happy. Anythign else might want you to raise that ph.

Excess mulch may not hold moisture well, so be sure that you can add in some soil.

Raw mulch tends to deplete the soil of nitrogen as the bacteria break down the wood. Add some back in.

Check the pH after a rain to see that it's not too acidic.

Amber you are right about the acidity. I made my Blueberry bed using pine, sand and peat. It seems to have made them happy, I've been picking Blueberries for over a month:).

Alex, that is the info I had seen before but forgotten- that Pine can rob nitrogen.. Thank you very much. I will be sure to keep the trees well fertilized, and will monitor the pH.

Lisa

Lisa,

anything breaking down uses nitrogen. In my hydroponic system I would use cypress mulch as the growing media. Its perfectly neutral pH and thats why it is used this way. When it starts to decompose, it flat out robs all the nitrogen you can add. The tomato plants would go from nice dark green to yellow in a couple days even if nitrogen was added in truck loads.

All I am saying is, all decomposing mulch will use nitrogen no matter its origin.

Tony

Tony, I'm confused. If all decomposing mulch uses nitrogen, then why is compost useful? Why are so many soil additives derived from decomposed material?

Why do my potted plants, with pine bark added to potting soil, do well?

I thought that organic materials were useful to plants- as they decayed?

Please explain, so I don't kill my trees..

Lisa

It uses the nitrogen for a part of the breaking down, but once it has broken down, it lets it go again.

I killed a garden by not knowing that.

Hi Lisa,

Amber is right, its during the breakdown process that all mulches and organic matter WILL require and will take nitrogen from its surroundings.

The beauty of mulch imo comes from keeping the soil cooler by insulating the direct sun from the root areas. I find it helps keep moisture underneath itself as well.

In my hydro example before, because I would monitor the nutrients in the beginning, all was well until the mulch starting turning color. By this I mean it went from the nice new cypress color to somewhat of a blackish/grey color.

I was puzzled by my mato plants leaves looking sickly all of a sudden but thanks to Nancy who came over to visit one day and thought that the decomposing process required a supply of Nitrogen, and thats why the plants looked yellowish. Then it did click, thanks Nancy, you are such a Brainiac.

The next following seasons while growing in Hydro, I could predict just by looking at the color of the mulch when the tomato plants would start to turn yellowish. Then, as the mulch would start to turn color, I started to increase the amount of fertilizer(nitro) and from that point on, I had it back in check.

Pine bark acidifies the soil, and maybe due to its own acidic properties, maybe pine bark/mulch prolongs the breakdown period? Maybe it speeds it up, I am not sure, yet I would bet that pH has to be at a certain level to facilitate the decomposing of the material. Soooo if the pH is off, so will the rate of breakdown of the product.

They (organic mulches) all do it, its simply the nature of things. Pine is best if you need to maintain acidity, and also best if you have a bunch for free and if you like its look more than the others.

I would use whats available and only be concerned about the pH not too much else.

Hope this kinda makes sense.

Tony

I recently acquired some freshly shredded pine trees. I let the mulch set for two months and put over newspaper around my herb garden. I am hoping that I didn't use it too soon. I read on the internet that pine only required a couple of months. I will look for the discoloration that was mentioned. I have also been fertilizing some with a bloom booster. I hope I haven't killed them by doing this.... it sure looks pretty. What do you all think?