Wood Chip Mulch

DontPanic

DontPanic

Are there any types of wood chips that are especially good or especially bad for growing peppers.
 
The local water utility is doing a lot of work in the green space next to my house.
 
They're cutting down dozens of trees to prepare for their project, and, as luck would have it, they're grinding up the stumps.
 
So, I currently have access to ground up Pine stumps, Cypress stumps, Live Oak stumps, Water Oak stumps, Popcorn tree, and a several other miscellaneous varieties.
 
So I intend to forage for some wood chips to amend my soil.  But I'm not sure if there's a tree I need to concentrate on, or if there are other trees I need to stay away from completely.
 
I'm not really answering your question, but some things to consider:
 
The small parts and branches tend to hold the best nutrients; the big wood the least.
 
Incorporating uncomposted woods chips into soil will lock up the nitrogen as the composting bacteria multiply to break down the chips (the bacteria lock-up the nitrogen as they grow and give it off when they die).  It will be released again after much of the composting work has been done and the bacteria begin to die off faster than they multiply, but this would be expected to take more than a season.  I've seen nitrogen lock-up decimate soil productivity.
 
Disease can also be an issue, if the trees they cut down were sick.
 
Just some thoughts.  I know pine, ash, and fir are desirable for composted bark fines.
 
Ive heard you can even use walnut, and its planting around the root zone of a walnit tree that kills the plant. I laid weed mat down 2 years ago and covered with mulch, last year it was completely covered in weeds like I didnt put anything down. I'm gonna take it all back and put new wood chips down. My chips have been sitting for about a year now though
 
CaneDog said:
I'm not really answering your question, but some things to consider:
 
The small parts and branches tend to hold the best nutrients; the big wood the least.
 
Incorporating uncomposted woods chips into soil will lock up the nitrogen as the composting bacteria multiply to break down the chips (the bacteria lock-up the nitrogen as they grow and give it off when they die).  It will be released again after much of the composting work has been done and the bacteria begin to die off faster than they multiply, but this would be expected to take more than a season.  I've seen nitrogen lock-up decimate soil productivity.
 
Disease can also be an issue, if the trees they cut down were sick.
 
Just some thoughts.  I know pine, ash, and fir are desirable for composted bark fines.
Click to expand...
 
I started digging around the internet, and I'm seeing a lot of the same advice.
 
I thought I'd lucked into an abundant treasure of natural fertilizer.  But the ground up stumps probably don't have much nutrient in them.  It's nearly all stump.  They're hauling away most everything else.  Several other sources mentioned that freshly ground up wood mulch will deplete the nitrogen in the soil.  This was counter-intuitive at first, but the fungus and bacteria all go to work breaking down the fresh wood, and actually suck the nitrogen out of the soil at first.
 
Like you said, I would probably need to let this stuff compost for at least a year before it would be of benefit.  Since I already have a good mulch pile made up of higher nutrient leaves, I'll be breaking even at best with the ground up stumps.
 
I'm disappointed that I'm not getting any fantastic free fertilizer, but I'm glad I dove into this question.  I would never think twice about mixing in fresh, non-aged mulch into my soil.  I just assumed it would work just as well for the mulching to happen in my garden soil as to happen in a mulching pile.  Now, I understand the problem when I mix in too much fresh mulch into my soil.
 
It got me curious.  How do people do straw-bale gardens if nitrogen lock-out is a thing?
 
I Googled a couple of how-to guides for straw-bale gardening, and the sites I looked at all recommended preparing the bales by using a high-nitrogen fertilizer (like 20-0-0 or something) heavily on your straw-bales about 10-14 days before you intend to plant in them.
 
I got the idea that you're trying to jump-start the composting process in you straw-bales, and avoiding nitrogen lock-out by preparing them with a heavy dose of nitrogen first.
 
And I bet that straw had a lot more nutrients in it than ground-up stump wood chips.
 
I'm revisiting this, because I accidentally found it, and honestly, I just really love the topic.
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What goes on with using wood as a media, isn't really so much about "how much/many nutrients" it has - but more about what it encourages the rest of your ecosystem to do.  Cellulose, as was previously mentioned, will horribly lock up nitrogen, before it has broken down.  But once it has... Whole other ballgame.  But wood is something you compost, and set aside for later.
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You'd ideally be looking to use bark.  Composted is always better, but uncomposted is no deal breaker, because there is only one thing that's ever going to happen.  Case in point: 7 years ago, I planted a blueberry bush in pure, uncomposted pine bark mulch.  It grew just fine.  Fast forward to today.  That container is growing a lovely pineapple, and the media has never been disturbed, amended, etc.  I've literally never fertilized it. (except for maybe dumping out some fish juice, so as not to waste it)
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I have gone to locally sourced mixes, exclusively, and open bottom raised beds.  So far, I've never had better plants.  I've used the composted pine bark mix for years in containers.  But it's just next level, when it's used like soil.
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Rotting wood and bark attracts all sorts of desirable things.  Earthworms, being chief amongst them.  Mycelial fungi are tied for first.  Both of these things have dramatic effects on the health of soil.  Both of these things, when abundant, can reduce your feedings/fertilizing to near zero.
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I may throw some pics in here, later. (since apparently, you're just lying and/or "because you know, the internet", if you don't glog)  But I really hope you did decide to pick up that wood.  If you've ever walked through a forest, and come across a down tree that's well rotted, you may have observed that it's typically a highly fertile area...  And do I even need to mention that's where the mushroom hunters tend to lock in on?
 
As long as its not cedar or any other wood with antiseptic properties should be fine.
What I do and has been great success is plant mushroom spores in the ground and wood, easiest and best so far are the King Oyster Mushrooms, get them at the store with the base on, cut of the base and plant that, it will then metabolize and feed the plants.
 
dragonsfire said:
What I do and has been great success is plant mushroom spores in the ground and wood, easiest and best so far are the King Oyster Mushrooms, get them at the store with the base on, cut of the base and plant that, it will then metabolize and feed the plants.
Click to expand...
 
That doesn't work too well in our climate, but it would be a great kick on project, if one wanted to grow the mushrooms, and then recycle the wood after harvest.
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Otherwise, I'd have chicken of the woods all over the place... :)
 
Pics, as promised. 
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Unfed, completely neglected pineapple - with my size 12 shown, for scale:
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What pine bark mulch looks like after 7 years sitting in the same container:
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What my tomatoes look like today, in pure composted pine bark, with NO fertilizer (about a month after planting out):
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By all means, I hope that more people start using the good gifts that nature gives us...
 
solid7 said:
I may throw some pics in here, later. (since apparently, you're just lying and/or "because you know, the internet", if you don't glog)  But I really hope you did decide to pick up that wood.
Click to expand...
Why, thank you for your kind and supportive words.
 
I grabbed a couple of bags of the ground stump chips, but never ended up using them for much.  I have access to sufficient other sources of organic compost to suit my needs, and I decided that the ground stump wasn't going to give me much benefit over and above the stream of compost I already work into my garden.
 
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