Does Mulch Tie Up Nitrogen? Should You Add More Nitrogen If You Mulch Your Garden? | Soil Scientist

Mulching a garden can tie up nitrogen. Does this mean you should fertilize more when you mulch? In this gardening in Canada video we look at why mulch takes nitrogen from the soil. We also look at how to mulch in a way that won’t allow nitrogen to be removed from the garden soil. Mulching and nitrogen reduction are only an issue if the mulch is incorporated into the garden soil. Does Mulch Tie Up Nitrogen? Should You Add More Nitrogen If You Mulch Your Garden?
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PLEASE SUBSCRIBE if you are wanting to know more on gardening in Canada & gardening in Colder Climates in general. My methods apply to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 1 - Zone 6. As a soil scientist I always try to incorporate science into my videos. Soil science can be over complicated so allow me to guide you.
Leave a comment and let me know where your are gardening. And let me know what videos you would like to see in the future!
Ashley is an agronomist who has had a passion for plants since she was a small child. In the long summers as a child, she would garden alongside her grandmother and it was then that she realized her love for greenery. With years of great studying, Ashley had begun her post-secondary education at the University of Saskatchewan.
At first, her second love, animals, was the career path she chose but while doing her undergrad she realized that her education would take her elsewhere. And with that, four years later she graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor’s degree in science and a major in Soil Science.
Some of Ashley’s interests are KZbin, in which she posts informative videos about plants and gardening. The focus of Ashley’s KZbin channel is to bring science to gardening in a way that is informative but also helpful to others learning to garden. She also talks about the importance of having your own garden and the joys of gardening indoors. Ashley continues to study plants in her free time and hopes to expand her KZbin channel as well as her reach to up and coming gardeners.
#gardeningincanada #canadiangardener #soilscience

[@GardeningInCanada]

Here is the deep mulch method video 😌 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mabTlWqmndWWh68

[@jessletteer8430]

I love it 😂❤️.. “blame it on the education” and like it’s not like u gatekeep... you tell people what you have learned to help them. Smh ppl are mean. Thank you for sharing soil and plant science with us!!!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Haha ❤️ you are welcome

[@brianramsey3824]

I don't think u see comments on old vids...but Ashley u called me lame..that's 10x funnier than offensive.

[@johnjude2685]

I've learned not to believe everything taught on you tube. YOU have my ears Thanks

[@GardeningInCanada]

Haha never should believe everything

[@maggiemanzke7926]

I love the way you boil down the soil science and make it approachable by geeky gardeners like me. Great video!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Hahah love that

[@jenniferrea1609]

You are so not lazy! You like the rest of us chose to be more efficient with our time🤗

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s a great way of seeing it!

[@nikkid1038]

That was awesome thank uuuu! I’ve been searching for so long for a video that explains in such detail n not just someone’s random experiment. Nice job

[@utubemouse]

13:00 clearest summary!!! Thx.

[@lesfibresfantastiques7265]

You help me understand so much of my past mistakes and catastrophicly small quantity of product. I often had one or two tomatoes per plant, without understanding why. Thanks a lot!

[@elizknight8262]

I had no idea that weeds were suppressed with mulch because of the nitrogen moving from the soil to the mulch decomposition! I always learn something new here! Thank Ashley!

[@robertaylsworth4716]

Great video!!!

[@andrewpiereder2768]

As some who learned vegetable gardening from generation family lore, I soon observed fertility issues and decided to get scholarly about it. Unfortunately, a lot of gardening advice on KZbin is also family lore. It's very nice to find someone who can talk about the chemistry and ecology of fertile soil. I found you when I was looking for insights on "cold" composting leaves and how the resulting product could be used. Subscribed.

[@lauraroman7414]

Excellent video!! Thanks!!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@johnroehsler6440]

So now we know. Thank you !

[@leafylotus]

Hi Ashley, thanks for the video

[@GardeningInCanada]

Absolutely anytime! Glad you enjoyed

[@lordeverybody872]

I am using maple leaves from the tree in the front yard. This year i am getting a boat load of oak leaves as they take longer to decompose giving me the top layer of the forest effect as i am trying to bring my yard back to it's origional state for the birds and insects to come and hang out. I am also incorporating many native plants to make this dump of a place look even more dumpy!

[@ceedee2570]

Thank you so very much for the science! We are at a new property and we have a pretty heavy clay. I didn't know what to do. We had actually bought a tiller for a one till method. Although, I have been watching a lot of your videos and it is so refreshing that you are balanced and know that each environment is different and could need a different mix of solutions. I do not need to bring all of my areas into cultivation at the same time; therefore, I am going to use a variety of methods, including tilling with organic matter incorporation; no till with 3 years of mulching with a mixture/rotation of leaves, arborist wood chips, and hay with cover cropping with a variety of plants, including tiller radishes, nitrogen fixing, and biomass generating plants. In the meantime we are building some raised beds and trying out growing in containers.

[@myfitstoreuk5608]

Very helpful! Thank you!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Glad it was helpful!

[@USSBB62]

Thank you so much for the information. Makes total sense. Very useful. I always cheated and added supplemental nitrogen when tilling in organic matter to loosen up my heavy clay soil. PS. Love your analogy as to Millineals. I never new they had such a problem as I laffed till I cried. Again thanks so much.

[@RoschetzkyPhotography]

Good stuff , great video , great info

[@GardeningInCanada]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jennifergilbert9596]

Very good video, thank you. You answered my question I had about nitrogen use.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Glad it helped

[@joestoppard5281]

I have used wood chip mulch left over from flower beds, I have also used finished or partially finished compost. To mulch right around my plants. This year using straw from Halloween decorations that chickens have climbed on for the past 6 months. Learning so much since checking out KZbin on soil health the past 4 months.

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s awesome! Love to hear it

[@chesterhobbs7244]

I am fortunate enough to have a reasonably large lawn of heavy St. Augustine grass on which I bag the clippings. I use these clippings as a garden mulch and compost pile ingredient. It is such a superior mulch source and so easy to spread around plants, etc.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Great tip!

[@scottsmith507]

Started watching even tho you just did a mulching 101 video. Had to go back to see what you were talking about being called out. Then I saw it. "You should do some research, you dont know what your talking about" OMG GINGER ANGER FULL STRENGTH 😡 A win for us cause now were going to get an extremely detailed explanation of how this really works. You didnt disappoint Ashley! So much information to digest. For me this is very helpful. Our yard waste facility wind rows piles of wood chips and leaves and let's them decompose. Last year put on thick layer of years old mulch. It's almost completely broke down. Almost like soil. I was wondering instead of moving it aside, if I can plant right in it? I did put leaves on top that last fall also. This year I plan on following your advice and do both mulch and intercroping in vegetable garden. I purchased a pollinator seed mix and summer soil building mix followed by a fall cover crop of soil building mix. Advanced deep mulch class 901

[@GardeningInCanada]

Yea you could plant directly into it. Especially if it’s years old. You’re going to see maybe a bit of over growth foliage wise the first few years. Try counteracting it with a rock phosphate or anything higher oh phosphate/potassium. Also try planting heavy duty feeders to help reduce runoff etc.

[@magorzatakujawa307]

Thanks for all the info! Super helpful for someone starting at no dig gardening! :)

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s awesome! Glad you enjoy

[@cboyd3469]

I’ve had spectacular results with cover crops in my raised beds.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Nice! What are you using for cover crops?

[@GardeningInCanada]

Who here mulches and if so have you ever incorporated any into the soil profile? Also I have to apologize if I’m not answering your comments it’s not due to me ignoring you. My KZbin studio is throwing a lot of comments into a no response needed type area. But I’m trying to find and answer all of them.

[@derekcox6531]

Me and weeding don’t get along very well,so I mulch pretty heavy with leaves and grass clippings(mix) and compost when I have it. I do tend to mix a bunch of the mulch into the garden beds in the fall as my garden is pretty new and is quite heavy at this point. So far I haven’t noticed anything that worries me. Here in the foothills area of southern Alberta,it can get really dry in the summer with the dry air/wind,so mulching is a must as far as I can tell.🤔 in any case,mulching appears to be working ok for me at this point,but I don’t get too fancy in my garden I suppose. 🙂

[@dymondwillow2]

i have been using leaves to mulch with. they stay on top always. never mixed into the soil. this video with Paul Gauschi makes sense to me: Back To Eden Organic Gardening....

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s awesome!

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s awesome

[@maggiemanzke7926]

I'm trying straw and wood chip mulch. The wood chips I bought was triple shredded - beautiful! I topdress with compost first.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Yea!

[@Gardening-FarmtoTable-andMore]

Hi this is Sabrina from Kimbles freedom from. Every year I drop mulch now from the bag on my herb garden and other gardens and I noticed things don’t grow well until the end of the season. And I always just layer year after year after year is the soil is black and I started adding coffee grounds for I heard that was supposed to help

[@WarGardensForVictory]

I am so glad I have found your channel! I have so many questions!!!!!!!!! It was to the point I thought about taking college classes about soil to get the information I want/need.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Oh no don’t do that I already took all the pain and suffering for you 😉

[@WarGardensForVictory]

@@GardeningInCanada I appreciate that. You’re definitely going to get tired of me and all my questions. But glad I found your channel.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Haha nope never get tired of questions 🤓

[@ehovrens]

I started a new 20' X 20' garden plot in NW MT this spring (zone 5). I layered cardboard and then about 4"-8" of fresh chipped fir/pine over my clay soil. I planted beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers in their own hole vs rows. Everything is turning out fine considering my July late start. The only thing I observed, the peppers looked yellowish the first month. I researched and thought probably nitrogen deficient. I then thought, another gardening error on my part with these wood chips. But now, almost Sept, everything is doing better than I have ever done in past. The peppers are now as green as everything else. Without the wood chip, it's weeding, not gardening and I feel I can now move forward building a productive garden. I will certainly add more chip next spring if necessary. Even if there is a nitrogen depleted environment, I feel I can address that with fertilizers easier than pulling weeds and depleting my gumption to garden. I am now a new fan of yours after recently finding your videos. I don't go anywhere else for my info now.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Awe thank you! i appreciate that

[@flowerpixel]

I feel much better bc I'm dumping woodchips in my nonseedling yard. Great video 👍👍👍

[@GardeningInCanada]

Anytime!

[@tmontero8492]

Hi, you chose a great topic and I have learned much from your videos. Can you offer your thoughts on my present mulching methods? My vegetable beds are mulched with straw -- it breaks down beautifully into the soil with no adverse effects. "Clean" straw is getting difficult to locate, so I must purchase the prebagged straw, which works pretty well.6 My raised pollinator beds have been mulched with bark for 4-5 years and refreshed every season. Many new seasonal plantings no longer survive or thrive and you have confirmed the lack of nitrogen is the likely culprit as I had suspected. To combat this condition, last fall I heavily distributed alfalfa pellets which didn't seem effective for my spring plantings. Should I remove the bark? I do need to add new soil and compost anyway and would like to mulch with shredded redwood (gorilla hair) which I've started using in my herb beds and planter boxes. By adding minute amounts of urea beneath it, these plants are doing well. It stays in place, retains moisture well, doesn't flatten out too much, suppresses weeds, looks lovely, and is easy for this old lady to manage. Thank you for sharing your expertise. Any advice would be appreciated -- Teresa 🐝👩🏼‍🌾

[@HakanSkoglund-gv6ph]

Hi, great content. Appreciate that you use science in a simple down to earth practical way without dumbing it down... , anyway I live in Sweden, very similar to Canadian climate, and my question is about using fresh grass clippings as mulch (no dig). What is your take on that regarding both weed suppression and soil health, in particular nitrogen content over time.

[@aimeepearn9991]

Thank you! Been enjoying your vids for a couple of weeks now. Finding them very helpful and informative. However, my dear, anyone who put themselves through four years of uni is not lazy. Be kind to yourself.

[@GardeningInCanada]

glad you are enjoying

[@carolhartley5982]

I mulch as many of my plants as I can. We've been having hotter and hotter summer temps with less rain (B.C. south coast), so while some plants respond well to the heat, I have to do all I can to limit evaporation. I use maple leaves I pick up in the fall. I have problem English ivy that I'm cutting back. I hoard the leaves in brown paper bags till dry & brittle when I can safely use them as mulch.

[@ruthschlegel2384]

It only took me a few moments of listening to your talk to respect your education and your viewpoints. How could you not know about all kinds of phases of gardening with all of your education. Please don’t pay attention to the naysayers. I think some people obviously like to go on social media just to be haters and leave nasty comments. I have just About enough education for a doctorate And understand where you’re coming from. Hang in there and stick with your guns! Love your channel!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Glad you are enjoying!

[@sultanbev]

I mulch with no dig methods on my vegetable & flower beds here in England. I use grass cuttings, leaf fall, rabbit poo and straw from a local rabbit sanctuary, wood chip when I can get it out of the council, and compost, bought and home made. I'll throw on torn up dock leaves (the theory being that they are supposed to draw N2 out of the ground, so I put it back by laying dock leaves on the mulch). Comfrey leaves when I can get them. I don't worry about the N2 content much, as the mulch serves more functions than just soil food - it prevents water evaporation in dry periods massively, and reduces water damage when it rains too much as it slows down water flow into the soil. And as you say, it's a great weed suppressant I do expect a slightly lower yield than say a chemically fertilised bed, but mulching is a long term game, to get a consistent yield year in year out. I consider it feeding the soil, and that is my mantra "feed the soil, feed the soil, feed the soil." Do that and the plants will look after themselves pretty much. Am also trying Hugulkulur beds, but rather than doing raised mounds, I dig about 3' down to put the logs in, then build up alternating layers of mulches and soil. With a final top coat of woodchip. All the neighbouring allotments use woodchip on their paths, I use it on my beds, heh, and my paths are grass cuttings. Something I learned from a film about South American farmers, they cut long grass and lay it on paths round their raised beds, mainly because they're barefoot. Getting neighbours to give me their grass cuttings from their monoculture lawns to feed my paths seems, erm, none-mainstream lol, but it's better than those cuttings going into the council incinerators.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Very very good post! Thank you for this! Plant People in our KZbin crew will most definitely benefit from it. Very thorough ❤️

[@sultanbev]

@@GardeningInCanada Thanks! Are you and your viewers familiar with the book One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka?

[@GardeningInCanada]

No sorry I’ve never heard of that before

[@sultanbev]

@@GardeningInCanada His Wiki entry here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka But the book is the my muse if you like, the philosophy behind my gardening, highly recommended. 2nd most important book of the 20th Century, after William Catton's Overshoot. ISBN is 978-1-59017-313-8, you should be able to get it from a Canadian bookseller or Ebay for about £8, perhaps $18 Canadian. Picture of cover here: www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/642936/the-one-straw-revolution-by-masanobu-fukuoka-edited-by-larry-korn-preface-by-wendell-berry-introduction-by-frances-moore-lappe/9781590173138

[@booswalia]

I use anything for mulch but mostly leaves and straw. When I pull weeds they go on top of what ever mulch I have down and they add nitrogen to help break it down. Grass clippings are great if you add a thin layer.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Nice sounds awesome

[@gfutube1]

Great as usual. I am lazy and leave wood chip mulch on my flower beds. I never mix it in. If I add granular fertilizer on top of the mulch won’t it still eventually get down to the plant roots.

[@josezambrano4263]

Yes it will

[@Horsewoman-pt2ku]

I have many aeroid plants and want to use orchid bark chips, pumice stone, coco peat and worm castings. Will that be too acidic for them and will adding Timothy hay help?

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

One of my garden beds has last fall's tomato plants filling the deep trench through the center of the garden bed, including a ton of tomatoes, and some leaves, it was prolly a little too close to the surface so it's prolly affecting the plants a little, but it was the first garden bed to cover itself with plants grown from seed in the spring. My pepper garden bed has a couple wheelbarrels full of chickweed in the deep trench, and the surface has dropped a couple inches already, so I'm brushing in the dirt from the sides a little. I leave the center somewhat lower to guide water into it, even letting the water from the pathways flow into the garden beds. The trenches are narrow enough so that the plants' roots still have some undug dirt on each side if the center part is still too raw, but since they are usually packed in with high nitrogen organic matter, it should be okay. What do you think Ashley?

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s sounds really well thought out. I think it will work really nicely

[@Blaccsparrow]

Will adding leaves under cardboard help in the winter? I notice the worms come to the top more when it's covered. Then take the cardboard off before i start planting in a few months and add more compost.

[@tiamaria2241]

now I'm so interested on your take on the "nitrogen-crisis" in the Netherlands, purely based in science without the politics.

[@mikethecaveman90]

Well explained Great video Wilde says so too Mulch love :) xoxox

[@GardeningInCanada]

Woohoo ❤️

[@mikethecaveman90]

@@GardeningInCanada 🐿️💞

[@GardeningInCanada]

I love squirrels 😂

[@mikethecaveman90]

@@GardeningInCanada lol chip chip

[@kasseymydog]

How can I test wheat straw for persistent herbicide before using as mulch?

[@RADCOMJ1]

I think you've overthought that one mih darling :-s I was thoroughly confused by the end. Re science and academia my two other soil scientists Elaine Ingham and Catherine Jones both concur that what is taught in schools is sometimes at odd with the real world. Could you do this one again with some diagrams...I'm thick lol if I ever get to Canada I'm coming to see you and if you're ever in the UK I'd love to Interview you😍 . .

[@Mike-rk2tj]

Is there any issues with using pine needles for mulch? I read it takes much longer to degrade and may increase acidity…?

[@Gardening-FarmtoTable-andMore]

Hey the Sabrina hi and I guess you call Ron mulch every year to the herb garden and my pathways. The only problem is I noticed things don’t grow until the end of the year. I assumed it was nitrogen problem so I started adding coffee grounds. After years the ground is black

[@Gardening-FarmtoTable-andMore]

Heat voice on phones and they switch stuff I have no idea who Ron is but I was just saying I drop raw mulch not from the bags

[@GardeningInCanada]

Are those your puppers in the profile? So cute and yea its likely

[@ooheasy01]

I'm using mulch In my orchard. ( small area with fifteen fruit trees) I have citrus peach and cherry trees. Using mulch to keep weeds down as well as helping with water evaporation. I'm just piling mulch on mulch. I feel I need to add something for nitrogen??

[@bryanmoir3184]

I am a funiture maker and generate a large amount of fir,pine pruce, cedar, maple, walnut wood shavings & sawdust. In previous years I have resisted using this as mulch. But, with increasingly hot weather, and the fact that all of my growing planters are elevated off the ground,-think planter on a table for a visual- would this be a suitable mulch?

[@rayfast]

" ... once the microbes pass away ... " I love how you treat the death of the microbes with such tenderness and respect. "Those microbes aren't dead. They're pining for the fjords!" (I guess I'm showing my age here. I suppose that was from before your time. LOL)

[@Darth_X0]

Monty Python! yay!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Hahaha my one high school teacher was obsessed with those movies

[@GardeningInCanada]

Hahaha is impressed

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

I like that president grant made Yellowstone a national park, which kept people from drilling oil in the caldera, thus saving the planet from a super volcano. Since I referenced something from that long ago it makes me older than trees and sand, internet logic!~

[@Kozickih]

Very informative! All I keep thinking when watching this is that you could use diluted pee to add nitrogen easily.. If the other components dont cause issue.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Yea that’s a good point

[@xaviercruz4763]

I want to know what to do now dear: woodshavings hindered growth of a lot of basil in production for a company I work for and I’m serving in the garden. What can be done so this doesn’t take years thwarting growth? Please show me

[@valerie4975]

So I shredded up leaves and put about 2 inches top on my raised beds. In the spring should I add nitrogen to the soil? And if yes - what? I am organic. I was thinking of fermenting comfry tea for the spring.

[@billherrick3569]

Using high N green grass clippings for mulch seems to work well for me. always stacking not tilling. Zone 3 - 4.

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s awesome! And no weed issues on account of the depth?

[@billherrick3569]

@@GardeningInCanada Thats correct, no weeds. I plant winter rye in the fall in my raised beds and then cut it down to ground level in the spring, rake it off to plant and then use the cut winter rye as a mulch.

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s awesome. Very good choice

[@Lochness19]

So I'm trying out hugelkultur which I guess is similar to tilling mulch into the soil. That means I should have the faster degrading materials (ex leaves) closer to the surface and the woodier stuff deeper down? That way the wood won't be using up the nitrogen closer to the surface where the feeder roots of my plants will be (a lot of them would be heavy feeders)? And I guess I should use a lot of bulk top soil and manure too at the surface for the added nitrogen? Or would I be risking low nitrogen in the first year even with the added manure?

[@GardeningInCanada]

Yea so Hugelkultur has its issues but also it’s benefits. I would check out my video on this topic to get a better idea on how to set this up in a way that minimizes this phenomenon. But in theory a thicker layer and maybe a supplementary fertilizer will help kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWeTnYifZs-hmKc

[@nomanejane5766]

@@GardeningInCanada thanks, u sort of answer my question, even tho I'm not doing Hugelkulture.

[@deborah3783]

Any chance you can talk about zeolite as a soil amendment? Also, what are your thoughts about inorganic substrates for indoor plants such as Lachuza Pon?

[@GardeningInCanada]

Yea absolutely I can!

[@deborah3783]

@@GardeningInCanada Yay! Can't wait!

[@GardeningInCanada]

❤️❤️

[@dariogonzalez6249]

Hello to everyone in this channel, what can anyone tell me in regards to a hayfield that I now have access to wood mulch should I use it on small acrage? please give me your thoughts. Thanks

[@tobruz]

Thanks Ash, Iam into year 3 or 4 of a no dig style garden adding compost in fall and shredded leaf mulch in the summer. I estimate a layer above the original soil layer of about 3” now. I seed carrots on top covering with 1/4 inch of potting compost and they germinate just fine yet you say this is not possible because the nitrogen is busy dancing with the microbes. This doesn’t seem to affect germination, what gives? Bruce

[@GardeningInCanada]

It’s not 110% impossible but you have to keep in mind that a carrot is not living in just that too portion of soil it’s whole life. The taproot will soon bring it out of that initial area. Weeds (with some exceptions like dandelions) have a very fibrous subsurface root system. That form of root system allows them to grab all the water before plants can. When a weed lives it’s life in that upper portion of the soil the mulch will effect it.

[@blackmber]

If I’m not mistaken, seeds don’t need nitrogen to germinate; they can sprout in moss, paper towels, and plain water. After they start growing true leaves you will see if they have enough nitrogen to continue growing.

[@marm2371]

I always use wood mulch in my flower gardens. Does it matter that the mulch I use is coloured? I dont like the look of the natural one. I use Scotts Nature Scapes in classic black.

[@angeloflores2614]

Yea mulching make sense we had a bamboos and i just notice that there is no a single weed in that 2 meter radius full of dry bamboo leaves that had fallen

[@GardeningInCanada]

That’s awesome! Very effective then

[@greenedyfrio338]

To see if i get the idea... Leaf mulch its the same of leaf compost but in different stage. Right or not? If so, should i apply more nitrogen when i apply leaf or garden mulch?

[@GardeningInCanada]

Yup! You are 110% correct. 🥳 And you can apply more. But if it’s not incorporated into the soil then don’t stress it too much. If it’s just a top dressing you will be okay.

[@williamwaters4506]

Just ignore the people who engage in name calling. You give college educated, science based information to help people better understand the complexity behind gardening. Is it always 100% right, No. Is everything you say worded perfectly, No. There are people who will pounce on one error and act like your comment changed the course of humanity for ever. Unfortunately, this is one of the worst aspects from social media presentations where attack dogs are lying in wait; small minded people who seem to patrol the internet looking to discredit others.

[@kendravoracek3636]

💚💚

[@GardeningInCanada]

❤️❤️❤️

[@Norbingel]

Ah, I have really heavy clay soil with a lot of small rocks. I can't dig into it to plant seeds without hitting rocks and the seeds that do get planted can't get out from under the sticky clay soil to germinate. I was considering digging out at least a foot, remove the rocks, then dump some wood shavings or coco peat/fiber into it for some aeration, along with lots of green nitrogenous stuff like manure, green market waste, and coffee grounds then backfill over the entire thing with the original soil. But I've been told this won't be enough to make up for the nitrogen tie up? Anything else I can do that might? Maybe pee on it regularly? :D

[@nomanejane5766]

was gonna use it at the bottom of the (plastic) barrel so the plants have a water reservoir, do you have a vid on blood meal? wondering if it really takes months or weeks to break down in soil

[@GardeningInCanada]

I don’t but I can most definitely make one.

[@nomanejane5766]

@@GardeningInCanada yes, that be great! a explanation/comparison btw blood meal, bone meal & alfalfa meal would be great ( also which ones are water soluble too.). I fell for the okie doke at 1st, I was buying specialized fertilizer for tomatoes/herbs & another one for flowering plants when I already had bone meal, in my stash.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Yup absolutely. I do have one just on alfalfa.

[@nomanejane5766]

@@GardeningInCanada thats, ill go look for it now!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Ok!

[@MURPHxiii]

Ok… I’m kind of sweating it right now… when I repotted my Fiddle in spring I mixed some Fox Farms Happy Frog with some Better Gro Orchid mix… which is fir bark and chunky pearlite essentially (I was just trying to make sure the drainage was good)… now I’m thinking… did I hurt my plant? Fiddles love nitrogen too… should I carefully repot him 😬

[@MURPHxiii]

And I know you said it not overly detrimental… but… idk I don’t want to stunt growth or anything. I fought the urge to ask you but I’m an overthinker, with an anxiety disorder, so I lost that battle mentally lol I completely understood your explanation of the adrenaline dump you get when your brain enters ‘fight or flight’.

[@GardeningInCanada]

I would just supplement with fertilizer rather then repotting the entire plant. So grab a liquid all purpose and you will be off to the races

[@IsabelleIsabelle01]

I got a huge pine tree and I use the dryed needles and no they don't change my soil either

[@TahirKhan-cu6fd]

Mam I wanna use mulch of rice hulls for my plants. Should it be carborised?

[@GardeningInCanada]

No I would actually leave them in the original form.

[@TahirKhan-cu6fd]

@@GardeningInCanada Right. Thanks for your kind response.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Anytime! Did you see my rice hulls video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKW3oXidlp2In5I

[@TahirKhan-cu6fd]

@@GardeningInCanada yeah that was a great video as well.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Awesome!

[@kjrchannel1480]

As I mention elsewhere. I have no problem tilling in 1\4 inch minus wood chips no matter the age. I screen it so plants don't fight huge pieces and makes any mulch easier to till in if I desire. Given that real dirt is such a good buffer and a huge area for plants to get nutrients from. If I already have my clay to a workable stage and add compost in at planting. I see absolutely no ill effects. I think a lot of people think gardening is like baking a cake that might be ruined if the ingredients aren't exact. I don't add extra nitrogen. My plants just grow like weeds unless the earwigs chomp them down. I even have huge Dandelions growing where no fertilizer was ever applied by me. I know you have a long way to catch up to Gardner Scott and others. I thought I would keep the discussion going.

[@mikaellindqvist5599]

Microbial life is what matters its what make nutrients plant available. Tilling kills them by the millions. Not something you wanna do if you care about your soil in the long run. It can be done once or twice if your soil lacks organic matter but after that it does way more harm than good.

[@kjrchannel1480]

@@mikaellindqvist5599 I will have to kindly disagree. In my area when the clay gets dry enough worms for example are nowhere to be found in it so tilling does not kill them. Tilling also has an advantage of exposing those damned overwintered earwig egg nests to die that I am plagued with. Soil organisms like fungus quickly attack all organic matter I till in especially wood chips. I do what works for me from decades of real experience with absolutely no ill effects.

[@aaron6841]

I've always thought that the microbs use nitrogen to break down the carbon in the uncomposted material then the mircros release the nitrogen in a form plants can use.

[@GardeningInCanada]

They do it just ends up tied up in the process and is unavailable to plants for a period of time.

[@aaron6841]

@@GardeningInCanada those naughty tiny microb things o

[@mikaellindqvist5599]

Never heard this being debated. However mixing it into the soil does borrow some nitrogen. But if you care about your soil you wouldnt do that ever except perhaps once if your soil needs a boost in organic matter.

[@mindydiaz9015]

So more plant food 😁

[@GardeningInCanada]

Haha yas!

[@ezhelpingu]

Good or bad interaction helps your algorithm 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@GardeningInCanada]

It does very very true! But don’t tell the haters that😉

[@anthonyromano8565]

I love microbes.

[@boosted211]

ill go out on a limb and say nope.

[@GardeningInCanada]

Love it!

[@highthoughts1]

I came to see if I could learn something from human. Nothing is perfect. I rather listen to you but still keep an open mind - Although you are educated. I learned a lot from COVID19. 'Education?' So many things I learned in school are not true anymore. Even biology...COVID19 proved that biology lessons were wrong...(Sarcasm? Maybe)...The world is either flat or not...who knows??? Choose one. Science education is conditioning, just like religious beliefs. The US Police are supposed to be trained to uphold the constitution but hardly any one of them knows it. To believe does not mean to know. I like listening to people. Sometimes it resonates, but sometimes it won't... It is not necessary to be 'educated' to enter into a debate. To know is the greatest thing. Doesn't matter how you gained that knowledge.

[@taitsmith8521]

Just because you spent four years at a school doesn't mean you understand everything you were taught, nor does it guarantee that you teachers knew what they were talking about. Here are 3 examples: Until 1985, medical schools taught that infants do not feel pain and were thus not given local anesthesia for any surgical procedures. (Idiots) Currently, college geology classes teach "continental drift theory" despite the fact that the world's leading expert on the subject, the very man who came up with it, denounced it 70 years ago. And finally, moron chemists who work for Bayer and 3M and Dupont that always insist their chemicals are safe. Bayer is part of a multimillion dollar lawsuit because it turns out that Roundup DOES in fact cause cancer, DESPITE YEARS OF ARROGANT ASS HATS WITH A CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION insisting otherwise. If you hide behind a title, you don't have an education. A degree is not an education.

[@dustyflats3832]

Ruth stout method would never work here, too many rodents love all that fluff.

[@courtneyruelland7853]

Female soil scientist mansplained to about soil... 🙄🙄🙄

[@GardeningInCanada]

HAHAHA I wasn’t going to say it 🤣 but I’m glad you did LMFAO. He even cited me another male scientist opinion to show me I’m wrong. And I was think “Jesus this looks so bad on your part... this is why women don’t do agriculture science”

[@courtneyruelland7853]

@@GardeningInCanada my education was in Forestry, I hear ya!

[@GardeningInCanada]

Woohoo! Love that!

[@danilkopaskudnik3002]

chernozem .. lol .. sounds Ukrainian .. or Slavic in general ..

[@GardeningInCanada]

haha