Author Topic: To Mulch or Not to Mulch (Fruit Trees)  (Read 13285 times)

behlgarden

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Re: To Mulch or Not to Mulch (Fruit Trees)
« Reply #75 on: April 18, 2019, 09:18:54 PM »
I had a hard top layer of soil, over past 5 years with mulching the soil has become very soft and you can drive a thin stake 12-18 inches without hammer. I believe that work mulch needed to do is done, as trees mature, all I will be doing is fertilize them both organic and non organic. once in a while do a very thin layer of much may be every 2-3 yrs, no more than 1" thick.  Thoughts?

Jose Spain

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Re: To Mulch or Not to Mulch (Fruit Trees)
« Reply #76 on: April 19, 2019, 04:15:30 AM »
I had a hard top layer of soil, over past 5 years with mulching the soil has become very soft and you can drive a thin stake 12-18 inches without hammer. I believe that work mulch needed to do is done, as trees mature, all I will be doing is fertilize them both organic and non organic. once in a while do a very thin layer of much may be every 2-3 yrs, no more than 1" thick.  Thoughts?

I can't answer to the question about if you should keep working with mulch at the same rate or change to the every 2-3 years model. But I can confirm that my soil became very soft as well, and I'm using mulch only since 2017. Under mulching is much easier to drive a stick to ensure a grafting that is growing too fast for example.

pineislander

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Re: To Mulch or Not to Mulch (Fruit Trees)
« Reply #77 on: April 19, 2019, 02:23:46 PM »
I had a hard top layer of soil, over past 5 years with mulching the soil has become very soft and you can drive a thin stake 12-18 inches without hammer. I believe that work mulch needed to do is done, as trees mature, all I will be doing is fertilize them both organic and non organic. once in a while do a very thin layer of much may be every 2-3 yrs, no more than 1" thick.  Thoughts?

I agree with the thinner mulch under mature trees, and you may even explore living shade loving cover plants under the tree. They can help become a "catch net" to hold leaf fall and encourage build up under a tree. Most if not all prunings from the trees need to be recycled and can amount to a large amount of material. Organic matter isn't permanent, it does eventually mineralize especially in humid tropical conditions. If something isn't added, grown or recycled organic matter levels won't stay in equilibrium but will steadily decrease over time leaving the soil unprotected.