Does old cut grass help?

[jm]

I have a lot of bags of cut grass that's just been sitting in a pile. Is any of it good for fertilizing a vegetable garden? Thanks.

[Ray Drouillard]

It makes great mulch -- as long as it wasn't sprayed with weed killer.

Ray

[jm]

Does mulch mean I can mix it up in the soil before I plant the seeds? How long does it have to sit around before I can use it?

[Janice]

uh.. how long has it been sitting there? It's going to ferment and be stinky.. but yup you can use it, but be prepared to cover it with something else, if nothing more than dirt... I'd layer it in with other material from week to week depending on its state of dryness or liquidity.

Janice

[Janice]

Mulch is on top of the ground stuff. Say you mow the lawn, you have some plants up and growing in the garden, they're watered but not soggy, you'd take the grass clippings and spread them out between the plants, an inch or three thick and as you get more, you continue from where you left off until you get they areas you want mulched covered then start over at the other end again where the first layer has packed, decayed, and pulled down by worms.. just layer it on and move on.

You dig compost in, the remains after you have stacked stuff in the compost bin and it's broken down to a nice black crumbly lookin' stuff. But even that you don't need to work it in too far, most of the fertility in soil is in the top few inches. Extreme example would be rain forests that pretty much kind of sit on top of the soil and live from the nutrients in the top few inches of leaf litter that's decayed over the years.

Janice

[Loki]

il Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:18:24 GMT, "jm" ha scritto:

Grass clippings will remove a lot of the nitrogen from the soil to help it break down. Sounds like if it's in bags you may be making silage...

[Fred Theilig]

Are you sure of that? My understanding (and experience) is that grass clippings will add nitrogen to the soil. I used fresh clippings on tomatoes many years ago and I had giant plants with few fruit. Also, they matted down a lot and I had trouble with blossom end rot.

[Ray Drouillard]

il Tue, 13 Apr 2004 02:18:24 GMT, "jm" ha scritto:

Does mulch mean I can mix it up in the soil before I plant the seeds? How long does it have to sit around before I can use it?

Grass clippings will remove a lot of the nitrogen from the soil to help it break down. Sounds like if it's in bags you may be making silage...

Are you sure of that? My understanding (and experience) is that grass clippings will add nitrogen to the soil. I used fresh clippings on tomatoes many years ago and I had giant plants with few fruit. Also, they matted down a lot and I had trouble with blossom end rot.

If you use lots of nitrogen fertilizer on your grass, finding some in the clippings wouldn't be unexpected.

Ray

[Loki]

il Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:45:39 -0400, Fred Theilig ha scritto:

To break down they need the nitrogen, but once it's broken down I guess it's back. Blossom end rot seems to be due to an inconsistency of moisture. If mulch prevents water actually reaching the soil, then it's a problem I guess. Even loose soil on top can be a mulch by breaking the capillary action.

[Glenna Rose]

Wow. You all have given me something to think about!

I have in past years loaded my garden with aged horse manure and surrounded my plants with fresh grass clippings for mulch. It has worked very well in the past, huge plants and mighty good bearing as well on everything. (BTW, my clippings did not mat but composted providing heat to the soil and helping retain moisture, showing, once again, mileage does vary.)

This year, I may not be able to get the *good* manure as in the past and it seemed best to do something else just to get it done. Though the garden would probably produce well just on the *leftovers* from years past, today I asked my favorite nursery person what to do.

He told me that horse manure puts *too much* nitrogen into the soil and that he doesn't like it for that reason. He advised me to put a handful of sweet lime at the bottom of each tomato hole and then throw in a some of the fish fertilizer they use at the greenhouse (no chemicals, all organic). Now tonight I read that grass clippings rob nitrogen. If that is true, perhaps the grass clippings I used for mulch balanced the horse manure. Then you say the clippings add nitrogen.

On the other hand, many sources have told me that barkdust will rob the soil of nitrogen as it breaks down, and it's better not to use bark dust on rhodies since they are surface feeders.

I seem to have been better off without knowing anything and just digging in the manure, mulching, watering, and enjoying the harvest!

Glenna just call me confused!

[Bob S.]

It's a matter of balancing the scales. If the decomposing material contains enough nitrogen, it uses it for breaking down into compost. If it doesn't have enough, it will pull nitrogen from a convient source(soil, other material, fertilizer, etc.). End product compost will be nitrogen neutral or positive depending on how much was available during the process.

Blossom end rot is caused by a lack of calcium. It can be added back to the soil or by spraying. But you're on the right track - lots of moisture can flush the calcium from the soil resulting in blossom end rot.

Bob