I don't recommend cedar, or any other wood chip/shred mulch for that matter in the veggie garden or in containers. It is purely a decorative mulch with little benefits for the plants or the soil.

But mulching containers with a good organic mulch such as those used in gardens - hay, straw, shredded fall leaves, compost, pine straw, grass clippings etc. is very beneficial. It helps stabilize soil moisture levels and can help feed the plant at the same time.

Dave

Thank you I read an article that it helps keep disease off of the foliage

Dave,
I was gona use pine bark mulch this winter on my tomatos grown in lg containers instead of straw. I was planning on adding a little more dolimite then usual, buttttttt, I respect what you say and was wondering why you dont think pinechips are good. I use as you probally know Al's mix as a medium. Brandywine I didnt mean to butt in on your thread. Im trying to learn something here, and im sure Dave knows what hes talking about.
Plant em if you got em.
Sam

Hi Sam - in the garden it doesn't do diddly for weed suppression and jams the tiller ;) but you don't have that problem.

Seriously, it doesn't have either the insulating properties or the nutrient benefits of the others, it compacts, it grows fungi when kept damp, harbors pests, and it takes forever to break down. But my biggest problem with it is the soil nitrogen binding it does as it decomposes. I'd rather my plants got the nitrogen and if I have to keep it away from the base of the plants to accomplish that then the whole point of using mulch is defeated.

Like I said above, wood chip mulches are primarily decorative rather than functional garden mulches IMO. But I also know that some swear by them and that's fine. Fortunately, I have easy access to plenty of other options. ;)

Dave

I used pine bark mulch in my containers and raised beds last year but I never will again. They created a very nice home for fungus gnats (thousands?), slugs love them (although with containers up high enough, it's easier to prevent slugs), and my mosquito population seemed to be much higher than before.

I scraped all the mulch out of my containers and raised beds in the middle of the season. I then used wheat straw. Things got much better (although the slugs love straw).

This year I am procrastinating mulching because I need to get some leaves shredded. I am also experimenting with some reflective mulch for which I am waiting for delivery. If neither of these works out, I would go with pine straw.

I like to use grass clippings. They're free and abundant. Just make sure you haven't recently applied weed killer to the lawn.