Pine Needles as Mulch Pine straw - Straight to the point 

Should I put them on my tomatoes?

Thank you for watching I do not know about using it on your wicking beds just a honest answer

@@WisVeggieGardeners I appreciate your honesty answer & immediate reply! I've used pine straw for all kinds of things, including in my hens nesting boxes. I've been dealing w extreme weather issues. Yr May hit w 100° days. June- mid Sept 100-112 days, nights never got below 84. No rain from mid June- mid Sept, between tornado & tropical storms it always rains. When the beans, corn & sunflowers don't grow because of the heat u now pretty much everything else will. I was able to keep some plants alive they just didn't produce because flowers burnt up. Oct I through my high tunnel up & hot boxes. I was picking watermelon & cantaloupe in Nov. Then just b4 Christmas I rushed to pick tomatoes, peppers, egg plant & potatoes b4 the artic blast deep freeze hit. Which killed everything except 2 turnips & the carrots So this yr all but 1 raised beds is being switched over to wicking beds & aquaponics. If there's another drought hopefully my 1500 gal rainwater collection will last part June 30th & the plants will b happier w constant fresh water supply vs being water 2-3x day drying our between. Also hoping plants in high tunnel will do better. Fish tank minimum temp for tilapia 65°F (how do u think they survive in Colorado River below Hoover Dam?) Having the warm water on the roots & the heated tank raising the ambient air temp. Of course another artic blast flash freeze like this yr I'll have giant ice cube full of fish ;) I think we r going to have to learn what to grow, how to grow & when to grow in this new rapidly changing environment. We r not prepared

Thank you for watching. Pine needles can not be a substitute for coconut husk/core as pin needle do not have any absorbent factors. Coco core helps hold water and release it when the soil needs it.

Thank you so much for valuable information.

Thank you for watching. They will work about the same the only down side to chopping them is they will break down faster then left unchopped.

you could try neem oil and insecticidal soap. reetha nuts are a great emulsifier and insecticidal soap. mix it with the neem oil. and make sure its cold pressed neem oil. some of the box store stuff removes the added ingredient that disrupts the reproduction cycle of pests. can be used as a foliar too but apply at night preferably. crab/ crustacean meal may also help if they are hard bodied. its sratchy to the shell of hard body insects and detours them away.

Perhaps bagging the pine needles airtight and letting them heat up in the sun would kill off any unwanted pests. Just a thought.

Yes you can

In our experience we have not noticed mold developing on the pine straw pine straw does not pack as densely as wheat straw and it allows aeration and water penetration very well

@@WisVeggieGardeners we have a huge pile of pine needles and a neighbor started raking them up and the smelled like AWFUL mold ! Can I use baking soda to kill the mold because there are camel crickets coming now after disturbing them . Camel crickets like dark moist moldy places. Please

@@raynemoon8656 Baking soda would not do much as it seem the needles are quit broke down. stick traps seem to be the only control for the crickets manly used indoors but I would think outdoors would work too. Are you using the pine needle in the vegetable garden

Yes you can and most likely yearly with a new layer

@@WisVeggieGardeners thank you. Is there a brand or type to look out for to buy. I was looking on Amazon. I’m not familiar with pine needles

@@ac7384 I am not familiar where or what is best. We have pine trees near us sorry can't help anymore than that

You do not have to wait for it to break down or be composted before you use it as mulch. When used as mulch it will take several years to break down fully and it will not make your soil acidic as the needle break down they naturalize to a ph of 7 we have used pine needles as much in other videos. Thank you for watching

The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener thank you for the great reply!

@@WisVeggieGardenersSo you can immediately use pine needles as mulch, your point about time is that the acidity of the pine needles won't seep into the soil in at a damaging rate?

@@mstepski correct you can use them right away it will not seep into the soil