Seeds in mulch. How do I plant seeds into mulch in no dig garden?

by nhgardener

I've been reading a lot about no-till gardening, and I want to do more of it for my vegetable garden. What I don't understand is how do you plant seeds in mulch? Don't you need to put seeds into fine soil? I'm especially worried about tiny seeds like lettuce.
Also, at the end of the season, should you pull plants out of the ground or just cut them off at soil level and leave the roots in the ground?

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Seeds in mulch. How do I plant seeds into mulch in no dig garden?

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Feb 28, 2010

Mulch on top of ground
by: Tom

I have never heard of planting seeds into the mulch. For my understanding and experience, you are correct. The mulch is a covering to inpede the weeds from being able to get light to grow and to help keeep the soil cooler in the hot times and to help hold in moister. Plants like tomtatos and peppers which are hot weather plants should not be mulched until they are growing quiet robustly , since mulch will cool off the soil when they most need warmth.

Apr 20, 2010

tips and tricks
by: www.P3Permaculture.ca

with regard to planting the seeds in the mulch I am not sure that this will work, especially for small seeds, you could try making seed balls or putting a small handfull of soil and compost into the mulch and seeding into that, then mulch apropriately as they grow.

when you are cleaning up at the end of the year you should not remove the roots from the ground, let them decompose naturally there, and I would even leave the dead plants to mulch themselves where they stand. If you still need to tidy in the spring then cut the plant off at the roots.

For more information on permaculture tricks visit www.p3permaculture.ca
and contact us if you have any questions.

May 02, 2010

tiny seeds in deep mulch
by: Virginia Pykonen

Ruth Stout did not advocate planting seeds in the mulch. She recommended pulling the mulch aside with a rake to expose the soil to plant in rows. Only after the seedlings were well up did she recommend pushing the mulch back up close to the plants.

Richard Clemence did recommend planting seeds on top of mulch, by first covering the mulch with a fine layer of peat moss or seived compost, which blocks up all the holes and stops tiny seeds from falling through. He said this method worked well for leafy plants, but not so well for root vegetables because they would tend to grow extremely long and skinny down through the mulch.

May 21, 2010

seeds into mulch
by: bill t

You will have to differentiate between seed size and plant accordingly.Mulch is purely a covering of rough organic material used to keep sun heat out winter cold at bay and conserve moisture. It will eventually break down to add finer organic material to your no dig patch, this is the end result with no dig gardening,keep adding organic material. As for seed planting, try buying seed potting mix for small seeds and plant them as per manufactures guide in trays or small pots. For larger seeds pull the mulch apart to make a hole, add compost or potting mix and plant your seed into the finer material.
Hope this helps,Happy no dig gardening Cheers Bill T. :)

Mar 03, 2011

Hawaii style
by: Kaufarmer

Gardening in Hawaii is surely different than on the Mainland, but here in Hawaii we are capable of growing vegetables in mulch. I recently harvested a good crop of potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, and squash grown in all mulch. The mulch is coarsely ground plant waste from the county, containing a lot of coconut tree waste. Lack of soil is a real problem on the south side of the Big Island, so gardeners are now experimenting in growing in 100% mulch. I just seeded beans, collards, kale, and onions. We'll see how they do in my 18" deep mulch beds.

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