Nice supportive data on why mulch is good
It is somewhat a review of a article that came out in the CRFG FG magazine some time ago. And some may already subscribe to Daves Garden and already have this But felt it still might be good to post the link.
I find lots of tidbits of useful info and new plants that might I might like to grow.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/722/
I find that my plants are far healthier and grow far better with mulch on my soil. My avocado tree would not grow until I took out the low growing mint for ground cover and put mulch in its place. After I replaced with mulch, it grew 3 to 4 feet in one season, it only grew like 3 to 4 inches the preceding few seasons.
Have had similar results with my citrus. Could be that evergreens need mulch more, which makes since, when you think of the forest like environments they originally came from.
David
The following thread was started by David Johnson, Waterford CA, zone 14 on February 08, 2010 at 8:36 am PST
I agree with you, but not sure about mulching citrus
A few years ago I put a lot of mulch around my young dwarf citrus trees, thinking it would help them get through the hot summers. But I've had a strange problem with these four trees, leaves falling, fruit falling, branches blackening and dying...and then the trees would come back with nice flushes, nice blooms, setting very small fruit, and then start this dying cycle all over again. The most knowledgeable person at a local nursery (Green Arrow, North Hills...best nursery around for fruit trees) was suggesting to me that the mulch might be causing this problem by holding too much moisture in the soil (I'm not otherwise over watering these trees). He said that citrus do perfectly well in hot weather without any mulch, and I'm hoping he's right about this, it would be any easy fix.
The above followup was added by John 9b Topanga, Ca on February 09, 2010 at 0:49 am PST.
John, yes results would depend on soil and climate, Commercially they are grown without mulch, but then commercially most things are grown without mulch.
Research and you response caused a whole lot of thoughts to pop into my head.
Too much water ? I have a lemon tree, it gets dumped on by rain, the rain gutter leaks there, and often the dogs float valve water bowl, often over runs, keeping the soil very damp. It has only made it grow more like weed, and the ground has its own natural mass of leaves under it.
I have to wonder, did you check your plants for diseases, there are some that could fit the picture. It does sound like some kind of root problem, from the symptoms you gave.
My soil drains very well, sandy silt, but can tend to get heavy with water a foot or two below the surface, nearly like sponge. But I have only had a problem with my bananas, and that was fixed after using Open All by Oxy-wave, It opened up the soil more, and carried away salts.
Do you have a shallow water table? All I know, is that for everyone I know here, mulch helps greatly. Our problems is summer heat and keeping our soil damp enough.
It could be, it your soil is too damp, mulch could make, so you won't have to water much at all.
Do you analyze you soil a week and two weeks after you water, going down at least a few feet, it could tell you a lot.
Ok, I did the math, and learned more then I knew before. Ok, Citrus can have root rot problems, if they are kept too wet. I found data from the State of Florida, they do not recommend mulch on Citrus, they are often so humid and wet.
Found a similar notation from the State of Texas, as they retain a lot of water in the top 3 feet of soil, like 3 to 7 inches. They most are dealing with quite heavy soils.
I found this to be basic data on the use of mulch for most sites discussing it.
Organic mulches are not recommended for citrus trees because of the potential for inducing foot rot disease. If mulches are used, keep at least 12 inches of bare ground between the tree trunk and the mulch.
I know that some farming areas west of here, have water tables of like 1 to 2 feet of less, I guess definitely, would not want mulch here.
I guess no mulch in some conditions, except maybe its own natural leaves. Actually now that my first trees are big, I don't add mulch, their own thin layer of does what it needs to do.
I planted last spring, a super dwarf Valencia orange and another mandarin. I planted them in my Banana patch, which is being reduced. Talk about mulch, and talk about damp wet soil, this area stays the dampest in my yard.
I am gland I planted a super dwarf Valencia, if they grow like that, it has grown faster then any citrus I have planted in m yard. But then the banana patch area has become them most fertile of all, with all of the mulch I put on them, plus all of the mulch from their own leaves and trunks.
So ???? not sure what to think now, but then I did learn something new, citrus can be prone to root rot, never realized that before.
Most plants I know with shallow roots, love the mulch, at least here, it simulates a more natural forest like soil conditions.
I wonder how much can be tied to the rootstock, all of mine are on Dwarfish rootstock, which should be Trifoliate orange, they tend to be hardier.
David
The above followup was added by David Johnson, Waterford CA, zone 14 on February 09, 2010 at 8:51 am PST.