Mulching: Green Wood Chips Vs Soil Nitrogen

[treesandsurf]

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For years I've heard that green wood chips caused a nitrogen soil deficiency that would be a problem for trees, landscape vegetation, etc.


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This has to do with the Carbon to Nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the soil. Soil microbes (numbering in the millions) consume both carbon and nitrogen and because they are very small and number in the millions, they can out compete plants for both.

So when adding mulch or organic matter you are adding C to the soil. When the soil microbes increase their C intake due to the organic matter being added, they need to balance with an increase in N so they outcompete the plants for the available N in the soil. Hope that makes sense?

jp

 

[KTSmith]

Sure, the C:N ratio was at the start of this thread, but the talk had shifted specifically to concerns about apple trees, or so I thought. There the far, far greater concern is with scab.

 

[treesandsurf]

And you answered that question. I was still unclear with a lot of the answers given to the original question (except nuthin_special hit it pretty much on the head).

jp

 

[nuthin_special]

I am smrt.

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

Re: Mulching: Green Wood Chips Vs Soil Nitrogen *DELETED*

Post deleted by Jamin_Mayer

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

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So, what about vertical mulching a tree that was just pruned; with it's own (non-diseased) wood chips?

Would this be a bad thing?

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Volume-wise, limbs, chips or cuttings decrease in size greatly. So if fresh chips decompose in an open-topped hole, wouldn't they decompose and shrink to just a fraction of the hole's volume?

Whereas pre-composted material wouldn't decrease in size and leave so much open hole later on?

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True Mario. But the convenience would be great. It would be one trip.