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6c_6f_76_65 wrote

How many weeks would you let the kill mulch sit before using the soil?

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videl wrote (edited )

i think you can begin planting right away. just move the mulch aside and cut through any newspaper or cardboard.

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ziq wrote

The mulch won't change any in just a few weeks. Takes a lot longer than that to start breaking down. Just plant during the rainy season. Don't do it during prolonged dry periods.

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6c_6f_76_65 wrote

Is there anything I can do to accelerate the breakdown of the mulch? Maybe innoculate with wood happy mushrooms, mixing with vermicompost, spraying with compost tea? I am assuming if I changed the C/N ratio it may heat up and destroy the microbial activity under the mulch.

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videl wrote

if you use a lot of mulch and have the C/N ratio at a good level it will probably speed up. Maybe a swale would speed things up too since it would keep it more moist.

This is from the book Gaia's Garden:
"If your sheet mulch hasn’t broken down to soil by the time you want to plant, start seeds by making tiny pockets or trenches about three inches deep, filling them with soil or compost, and seeding these. Seedlings and vegetable starts should also go into small soil pockets about three times the size of the plant’s root mass. If the plant is deep-rooted, pull the mulch aside, slit the paper or cardboard in an X-pattern, and replace the mulch. Then plant above the slit, and roots will find the opening with no trouble. For shrubs or trees, either install them before sheet mulching and carefully work around them, or, after mulching, remove the mulch, slit the paper layer, peel the paper back, and dig a hole. Then place the plant in the hole with the root crown about an inch above the old soil level and carefully replace the paper to minimize the chance of weed emergence. Either push soil up to cover the root crown and tamp it in place or cover the crown with two or three inches of mulch, which in time will rot down to crown level. Don’t bury the whole trunk in mulch or rodents will tunnel in and feast on the bark."

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