What is Mulching?
Mulch is an organic (or inorganic) material used to cover the surface of the growing medium or soil.
Examples of Organic Mulch: Straw, coco coir chips, peat, wood chips, etc.
Mulching is the process of spreading this mulch across the entire surface of the soil.
❓ So why is it necessary if many growers achieve great results without it?
The benefits are numerous, significantly improving both plant health and grower efficiency.
💧 Ultimate Water Retention & Reduced Watering Frequency
Mulching primarily excels at retaining water in the substrate, reducing watering frequency by 30% or more. This means you simply won’t have to water your plants as often, freeing up your time for other tasks.
🚫 Effective Weed Suppression (Especially Outdoors)
Especially in outdoor growing (outdoor gardening), mulch prevents sunlight from freely reaching the soil surface, which in turn drastically reduces the emergence of weeds. Less weeding means healthier plants and less manual labor.
🛡️ Protection Against Substrate Hydrophobicity
Mulch keeps the surface layer of the earth consistently moist, which protects the substrate from Hydrophobicity.
🪸 Substrate Hydrophobicity (Water Repellency) occurs when the soil becomes excessively dry, causing water to penetrate poorly, or often, to simply repel water droplets without properly wetting the substrate. This problem is more commonly encountered in indoor growing (indoor gardening).
When mulching is applied, the surface layer always remains loose and porous!
🌡️ Temperature Regulation and Root Health
Mulch creates a specific microclimate for the plant’s roots, which greatly benefits the formation of adventitious roots (secondary roots).
Another advantage of mulching, particularly valued in outdoor cultivation, is its ability to protect the soil from overheating during the day and preserve it from frost at night. A mulched plant will be able to sustain flowering longer and will generally be healthier.
🏠 Mulching in Indoor Growing
In indoor growing, mulching is also frequently used, but often inorganic mulch is preferred, such as expanded clay (LECA), perlite, pumice, etc.
To enhance the performance of mulched soil indoors, a cooling fan directed at the pots can also be very helpful to prevent the soil from overheating.
💡 Interesting Fact: The Power of Stones in Outdoor Mulching
🪨 Large stones also qualify as mulch and offer a uniquely beneficial function in outdoor growing. Large stones cool down overnight, and when the sun rises in the morning, one side of the stone heats up while the other remains cool. This temperature difference causes condensation to accumulate, which precipitates as dew, providing additional moisture to the soil.
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