Be Careful of Over-Mulching Your Plants

Be Careful of Over-Mulching Your plants More is NOT better when it is more than 2 or 2.5 inches at MOST!!!! Sometimes people ask me to advise them because their plants seem to die one at a time. One after another after another aftyer... That's terrible! They report that they have watered and mulched their plants and followed instructions for to the best of their abilities. How might I help? Well, when plants die one at a time, that is a different symptom than when the plants die in a group. Either "issue" has a definite source, right? We both want to know the answer and prevent repeating the problem. Even when I didn't sell the plant, I don't want it to die, and I don't want to see its owner dissatisified either. Now, what is the cause of the plant's demise? Sometimes it can be the mulch. Look for tip burns on plants. Tip burns can be the result of esterification of volatiles in cedar mulches. If the mulch had not sufficiently aged before being used as a mulch, this could be the problem. If it appears to continue, I'd suggest that you remove the mulch. You can use it next year so stockpile it, then reuse it again. You must be able to address problems before the plant declines to the point where it is stunted or doomed. Mulch can act as a barrier to air flow to the root zone. Thus limit the amount of mulch. Remember that mulch is like asprin. One or two (inches or tablets) is what the doc recommends. If you use 10 or 15 you too may die. More is not always better. Poor quality mulches can also contain plant pathogens. Well composted mulches that have a heat history should contain less pathogens. For this reason I try to use mulch sparingly. You can see more aticles and information about plants at http://www.seedlingsrus.com