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  • From: Andrew Millison <amillison@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] mulch and arthropod herbivore habitat
  • Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:35:53 -0700

Neil,
When I lived in the high desert of Arizona at 5300', I had heavily mulched
zone 1 and 2 gardens, but my chickens were integral in the gardens, where
they would be in the garden area cleaning insects from the mulch up until
planting time, and then their summer area in the understory of zone 2 was
directly adjacent to the annual summer gardens, so they continued to keep
the general insect population down in the vicinity. Rarely did the sowbugs
and earwigs eat faster than the plants were growing.

Now that I live in the cool temperate zone, I employ the same strategy for
slugs, who also love the mulch. Many gardeners here avoid mulching until the
summer dry sets in, but I mulched anyway. This wet spring we've had, slug
pressure has been intense, and my heavily mulched gardens that were far from
the chickens were decimated. However, my annual gardens that are part of a 4
paddock chicken rotation have had barely any bug damage, and it's confined
to the edge plantings that act as a catch crop. Here are some pictures of my
current system from earlier in the season:
http://www.beaverstatepermaculture.com/photo/albums/chicken-garden-rotation-coop

Good luck!

Andrew

On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 9:00 AM, Alan Post <alanpost@sunflowerriver.org>wrote:

> You comment about toads reminded me:
>
> For two years we actively created toad habitat as well. This
> consistent of small bowls of water, rocks, and soft, protected
> *shaded* earth for them to dig in.
>
> For each of the last two years we traveled closer to the river
> to catch toads, which are there in abundance. We'd release them
> in/near our garden. This year they seem to be established--we
> didn't add new toads and they are still around. They make the
> trip into our garden every evening.
>
> I think importing the initial population was important, and we
> have really struggled to keep water around. We eventually decided
> to create habitat near our hose outlets, so the bowls and the soil
> around them could be filled and watered while someone was doing
> another chore. Bucketing water around to each habitat area was hard
> to reliably do.
>
> -Alan
>
> On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 08:52:23AM -0700, Neil Bertrando wrote:
> > Thanks all for your comments and suggestions,
> >
> > I'll pass the info along.
> >
> > mostly the problem occurs when dealing with annuals, although young
> > perennials get it bad too. Any thoughts on what the other problems might
> be
> > Loren?
> >
> > One of my concerns is working with developing Zone II food forest
> plantings
> > because they take a few years to produce yields. One strategy we've used
> is
> > interplanting annuals such as squash, beans, and tomatoes as ground
> covers
> > to time stack. However, the insect issue has frustrated our attempts in
> > many locations, which has led us to look at non-mulching or living mulch
> > strategies as preferable. I will also try the mid-season mulch timing.
> I
> > agree with you Loren that using finer, more 'composted OM' as a strategy
> for
> > mitigating habitat creation. We've been working with this as well,
> building
> > both hot composts and large woody mulch piles in separate locations from
> > gardens and watering them for 12-18 months to facilitate breakdown prior
> to
> > applying to growing areas.
> >
> > I think one aspect of the issue here is the urban/sub-urban corridor
> effect
> > where the earwig pest issue is most pronounced. After years of people
> > living with cats, dogs, sprays, traffic, etc, I see very few small
> critters
> > which might be predators of these bugs. Even when habitat is built (rock
> > piles, wood piles, etc) I've been hard pressed to find insectivores such
> as
> > lizards or toads at all, not to mention in abundance. So it may not be
> as
> > much of a climate context as a human habitat context that is creating
> this
> > phenomenon.
> >
> > Any other thoughts,
> > Neil
> >
> > On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 8:18 AM, Bob Waldrop <bwaldrop@cox.net> wrote:
> >
> > > This is interesting, what does your Bug Town look like? (Plants, etc.)
> > >
> > > Bob Waldrop
> > > Oklahoma City
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Alan Post
> > > Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 9:28 AM
> > > To: permaculture
> > > Subject: Re: [permaculture] mulch and arthropod herbivore habitat
> > >
> > >
> > > I live in the Rio Grande Bosque in New Mexico, and use the same
> > > strategy as Michael. Mulch partway through the first year after
> > > seedlings are established, and maintain a mulch layer after that.
> > >
> > > I also haven't observed sowbugs, pill bugs, or earwigs to be a
> > > problem. I actually maintain separate habitat for them (we call it
> > > "Bug Town", because that habitat attracts skinks and mice, which
> > > attracts road runners, &c.
> > >
> > > -Alan
> > >
> > > On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 11:14:03PM -0700, Michael Pilarski wrote:
> > > > Hello Neil,
> > > >
> > > > Here are a few observations from someone who lives in a semi-arid
> climate
> > > > a lot like Reno.
> > > >
> > > > I have sowbugs and earwigs as part of my garden fauna but they do me
> no
> > > > harm that I can tell.
> > > >
> > > > My practice with new plantings (1st year) is to weed meticulously and
> do
> > > > not apply mulch. Everything works fine.
> > > >
> > > > After the first year, I do mulch perennials, berries, trees,
> biennials
> > > and
> > > > everything works fine.
> > > >
> > > > I think, in your case, it is a matter of timing the mulch. Just
> don't
> > > use
> > > > it the first year when your new plants are at the tender seedling
> stage..
> > > > Actually I think you can mulch partway through the first year in most
> > > > cases.
> > > >
> > > > Good luck,
> > > >
> > > > Michael Pilarski, 40 years of gardening
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > So perhaps your solution is to not mulch in year one
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --- On Mon, 7/18/11, Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > From: Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com>
> > > > Subject: [permaculture] mulch and arthropod herbivore habitat
> > > > To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > > > Date: Monday, July 18, 2011, 1:56 PM
> > > >
> > > > HI all,
> > > >
> > > > Have people dealt with the situation where mulching areas in Zone I
> and
> > > II
> > > > leads to excessive pest problems which eat all seedling starts?
> > > >
> > > > We consistently have this problem here in Reno, NV in the high
> desert,
> > > and
> > > > have stopped mulching our gardens for the most part for this reason.
> > > > Sometimes we do light straw mulches, but we are straying away from
> deep
> > > > mulch beds and no-till regimes.
> > > >
> > > > Here's my assessment of the problem, and perhaps other people have
> dealt
> > > > successfully with this issue.
> > > >
> > > > pest populations increased by deep mulching
> > > >
> > > > - european earwigs
> > > > http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/european_earwig.htm
> > > > - sowbugs/rollypolly isopods
> > > >
> > > http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/flowers/note11/note11.html
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > most info I have read does not include these as major crop pests
> however
> > > > through direct observation we have seen them here to be the culprits.
> > > >
> > > > they prevent seedling establishment eating them at the cotyledon
> stage,
> > > > and
> > > > even eat small trees when planted in an area with dense populations.
> > > >
> > > > Strategies tried:
> > > >
> > > > - traps:soap and sugar, soy sauce and oil, beer, etc. work for
> > > > established plants but don't drastically diminish populations and
> are
> > > > time
> > > > consuming
> > > > - diatomaceous earth: also works for established plants when
> applied
> > > at
> > > > night to feeding insects, time consuming, needs reapplication
> > > > consistently
> > > > - chicken food: grazing with chickens in late fall and early
> spring.
> > > > chickens eat them happily and we tried to get them in when small
> > > > veggies
> > > > are not growing and at key stages in the insect life cycle to
> minimize
> > > > reproduction. still not effective at diminishing populations to a
> > > > level
> > > > where we can get seedlings established.
> > > > - transplanting in established seedlings: still get heavily eaten
> > > > - get plants established before the populations boom as weather
> warms:
> > > > works fairly well, but not a strategy for warm season crops and
> makes
> > > > fall
> > > > cropping difficult.
> > > > - raised beds: works for a while until populations get established
> > > (1-2
> > > > years) in the beds and structural material
> > > >
> > > > so now we've stopped mulching heavily in Zone I and use mostly
> on-site
> > > > generated mulch in Zone II, using only a scattered straw mulch to
> > > decrease
> > > > wind and sun evaporation and a focus on row covers instead of mulch
> to
> > > > achieve this function. any off-site woody mulch needs to be
> composted
> > > > through hot compost piles before being applied to the Zone I and II
> > > > gardens.
> > > > and this seems to work well since there is no habitat for them in
> the
> > > > garden.
> > > >
> > > > My conclusion is that sheet mulching (and deep mulching) is not an
> > > > effective
> > > > strategy in our climate context for Zones I and II. Has anyone else
> > > found
> > > > this to be the case? or are we just applying the technique
> incorrectly?
> > > >
> > > > some thoughts are
> > > >
> > > > - that N is being tied up in the mulch, and the insects are
> relying
> > > > upon
> > > > seedlings to fulfill this need, although this occurs in mulches
> with
> > > > relatively high manure content as well.
> > > > - natural foods and predators of these organisms are not in
> balance
> > > and
> > > > take years to come into balance (or are not present at all in our
> > > > climate?)
> > > > - mulch increases the humidity in summer and decreases the cold in
> > > > winter
> > > > which allows populations to grow rapidly out of balance with
> plants.
> > > > - there is some other factor that is causing plants to lack
> hardiness
> > > > and
> > > > become attractive to these organisms
> > > >
> > > > This situation has been very disheartening to many beginning
> Permaculture
> > > > gardeners who read about the wonderful benefits of mulch and have
> their
> > > > veggie gardens decimated. Any thought and suggestions would be very
> > > > helpful
> > > > for gardeners in our region.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Neil
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > Garden Hand Tool Sourcelist and Biointensive Gardening Guide
> > > >
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/gardening-hand-tools.faq
> > > > permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> > > > Texas Plant and Soil Lab
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> chrys@thefutureisorganic.net
> > > > and paul@richsoil.com
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> > > > Garden Hand Tool Sourcelist and Biointensive Gardening Guide
> > > >
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/gardening-hand-tools.faq
> > > > permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> > > > Texas Plant and Soil Lab
> > > > http://www.texasplantandsoillab.com/
> > > > List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com,
> chrys@thefutureisorganic.net
> > > > and paul@richsoil.com
> > >
> > > --
> > > ..i ma'a lo bradi cu penmi gi'e du
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/gardening-hand-tools.faq
> > > permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> > > Texas Plant and Soil Lab
> > > http://www.texasplantandsoillab.com/
> > > List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com,
> chrys@thefutureisorganic.netand
> > > paul@richsoil.com
> > >
> > >
> > > -----
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> > > permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
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> > > List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com,
> chrys@thefutureisorganic.netand
> > > paul@richsoil.com
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > permaculture mailing list
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> > Subscribe, unsubscribe, change your user configuration or find out more
> about this list here:
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> > Garden Hand Tool Sourcelist and Biointensive Gardening Guide
> > http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/gardening-hand-tools.faq
> > permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> > Texas Plant and Soil Lab
> > http://www.texasplantandsoillab.com/
> > List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com,
> > chrys@thefutureisorganic.netand
> paul@richsoil.com
>
> --
> .i ma'a lo bradi cu penmi gi'e du
> _______________________________________________
> permaculture mailing list
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> Garden Hand Tool Sourcelist and Biointensive Gardening Guide
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/gardening-hand-tools.faq
> permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> Texas Plant and Soil Lab
> http://www.texasplantandsoillab.com/
> List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com, chrys@thefutureisorganic.netand
> paul@richsoil.com
>




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