When should you use cardboard and paper in the garden?
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hot compost pile by: SB Johnny https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Flipping_hot_compost_pile_811.JPG/2560px-Flipping_hot_compost_pile_811.JPG
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12 Comments
Robert,
Thanks for the great information. I’m curious if you have any thoughts on Charles Dowding and or any thoughts on his methods.
I've always seen the benefits of using a cardboard mulch purely the block light getting to the grass/weeds underneath so I can easily make new beds without disturbing the earth. I certainly wouldn't use it for it's nutritional content. A few inches of compost will do the same job but that can get quite expensive. I really love the no-dig cardboard approach and try to use it whenever I can!
I was never attracted to the idea of using cardboard in the garden. Cardboard belongs in the recycling bin; leaves belong in the garden!
Thanks for always bringing us the science behind common practices!
Cardboard cannot contribute nutrients to the soil for the reasons you cite, but cardboard can make it hard for weeds to reach sunlight. Nutrients can be added by covering the cardboard with compost. Anything that reduces weeding without using objectionable chemicals seems a good idea. I live in a Southern state and the idea of deliberately attracting termites provokes an anxiety attack. Termites can eat your house. They do have a place in a forest ecosystem where they break down fallen trees, but I don't want them anywhere near the wooden beams of my house.
"Inks are plant based"…maybe don't just regurgitate what you've heard online without knowing what ACTUALLY in the ink. Just a thought from a 20 yr box maker. I'll be making a video soon, if anyone would like to know what's ACTUALLY in those inks.
Card board is pure carbohydrates. Germs love it as it also holds water. The earth worms will come and eat the germs living in the cardboard. The worms and other insects aerate soil underneath and also had nutrients under the cardboard. I use cardboard with no mulch to convert dry clay into humas nutrient soil in 4 months.
Hi, I appreciate your research and findings. I live in the mid-Atlantic- Maryland and the climate is quite humid, moist with abundant rainfall. I regularly use cardboard for sheet mulching and it works fabulous! As you have claimed, in my sunnier areas, it decomposes slower than the less sunny areas; more moisture speeds up the decomposition process.
Cardboard is totally non-nutritious, so I add plenty compost and bark mulch with each application. I've added hundreds of square footage in garden beds over the past 2 years, with minimal effort. It has truly saved my back.😄
No one says cardboard and paper provide nitrogen. That's silly. It's there to use as a foundation to put kitchen scraps on. Then you cover that with leaves and woodchips.
This was pretty good but I think we can now say that plastic in soil you grow food in is not good and should be avoided
pee on that cardboard
As long as you're mythbusting, composting worms don't eat cardboard or newspaper…because they don't have teeth. They slurp/suck bacteria & fungi, proucts of decay. As the carboard/paper decays, they will eat through those microorganisms produces by that decay as well. The may slurp up the occasional damaged cell wall.