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Mulching Pepper Plants

OROZCONLECHE

OROZCONLECHE

I know its good to add Mulch at the base if Plants but what about Pepper Plants? Shouldnt pepper plants love Dry Hot Soil, will adding Mulch create moist and cool soil? I recently transplanted most of my Superhots into bigger pots and Have space to add mulch, Should I?
 
i have plants in ground with and without a mulch at the base. the ones with mulch seemed to do better thru the recent heat wave we had, 100+ temps for several days. the plants without mulch would droop within a few hours of sunshine at this heat, and the ones with mulch i barely noticed any droop. even if you don't experience temps in that range i think it help maintain a consistent moisture level rather than swinging from bone dry to soaking wet during the summer. irregular waterings/inconsistent is the number one cause of BER on vegetables not calcium deficiency.

don't think it could hurt if you have it. like mill said watch out for the colored stuff, even some black is dyed that way(lasts longer)
 
I always try and do something to keep the water in and the weeds down. I've never had a problem, I think you're ok in Cal.... if you were somewhere that never really heats up it might be best not to but I say go for it. :)
 
Mulch can help but do it in moderation and observe the soil surface. While it can help to have the soil dry out slower it is best to not have the soil surface always remaining damp as that promotes fungal growth and invites harmful insects.
 
Alright Helps knowing this stuff, the Temps for this week is at 100+ and I hate coming from work and seen the plants dry maybe this way i can come from work and take a break from watering so much, I use wood chips for mulch its looks better than those plastic wana be mulches well Thanks again, and I shall add mulch to the Rest of the Herd
 
Back when I used to grow peppers without mulch, I'd have to water them every other day. They would droop that fast.

With mulch, well, we just had a heat wave here and it didn't rain much for about a month. I still only had to water once a week.

And they're a life-saver for weeds. I wouldn't grow without mulch.
 
I always use mulch around my pepper plants. It helps to keep from disturbing the soil to much when watering in my containers. An seems to make water absorbtion more even in them. Just yea DON'T use anything dyed.
 
One lesson I learned the hard way though is not to mulch with those big chunks of tree bark. When I did that I created a vast hotel resort for slugs. They rested under that bark all day picking their teeth then came out at night to work my plants over. I'm not sure what the best mulch is but that tree bark has to be the worst!

Slice38
 
I Seen what Happens but the Mulch I got is Pretty Small its still Organic and Nice looking one, Its not Synthetic and I was thinking of Getting the Big Chunks one Just Because I Noticed the City of Ontario Gives it out For Free But I Wont Take My Chances Now
 
Three years ago the neighbor got a 60 foot ash tree cut down, they put it through the shredder into a vacant corner of her yard. I've been using that ever since. Over time the smaller pieces have been composting, so when you mulch the smaller compost pieces dribble into the garden and the nice larger pieces stay on top. I use about a three inch layer. It seems to work better for me.
 
I think those clay balls they use in hydroponic growing would be great on the top in containers.
But if they keep it too moist you have the problems mentioned above and fungus gnat invitations. ;)
 
CarvinGuitarist said:
I think those clay balls they use in hydroponic growing would be great on the top in containers.
But if they keep it too moist you have the problems mentioned above and fungus gnat invitations. ;)
Click to expand...

Expanded Clay like Hydroton?

That would be some very expensive mulch. :surprised:
 
CarvinGuitarist said:
I think those clay balls they use in hydroponic growing would be great on the top in containers.
But if they keep it too moist you have the problems mentioned above and fungus gnat invitations. ;)
Click to expand...

Hey bro. I tested hydroton that I had left over from some DWC stuff from the "old" days. you are right, fungus gnat heaven. Because the space between the balls the gnats have tunnels to go deep in to it all the way to the soil. :tear: i'm still pulling that stuff out of my compost... I may try some straw.
 
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