{"id":3798,"date":"2026-09-27T20:33:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T20:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/?p=3798"},"modified":"2026-09-27T20:46:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T20:46:50","slug":"early-mulching-in-cold-climates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/early-mulching-in-cold-climates\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Early Mulching in Cold Climates (Zone 3-4) Will Stunt Your Tomato Seedlings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-left kksr-valign-top\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;3798&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;top&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;Rate this&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;0\\\/5 - (0 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Why Early Mulching in Cold Climates (Zone 3-4) Will Stunt Your Tomato Seedlings&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 0px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            <span class=\"kksr-muted\">Rate this<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"tldr-box\" style=\"background: #f4f9f4; padding: 20px; border-left: 5px solid #4CAF50; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 4px;\">\n<h3>\ud83d\udccc Quick Summary (TL;DR): Mid-June Diary<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\ud83e\udd76 <strong>The Mulch Trap:<\/strong> Mulch acts as insulation. If you lay down dry mulch (like straw or dry hay) in early summer before the deep soil has warmed up, the soil underneath will remain freezing cold, even during a heatwave. This can cause severe chlorosis and stunt your peppers and cucumbers.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udd25 <strong>&#8220;Hot&#8221; Mulch vs. &#8220;Cold&#8221; Mulch:<\/strong> Dry mulch insulates. Wet, thick, fresh grass clippings (green mulch) decompose rapidly and generate their own bottom heat, keeping the roots warm.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83e\uddc4 <strong>The Soaking Hack for Garlic Storage:<\/strong> A Russian grower accidentally discovered that soaking freshly dug, un-cured garlic (with the stalks still attached) in water for a few hours drastically extended its shelf life. A year later, the soaked garlic was still firm and un-sprouted, while the traditionally dry-cured garlic had withered and sprouted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tp-bridge\" style=\"background: #fffaf0; border-left: 4px solid #ff9800; padding: 15px 20px; margin: 20px 0 30px 0; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.6; box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.05);\">\ud83c\udf0d <strong>You&#8217;re reading a translated thread<\/strong> from our Ru-language forum. These growers garden in climates very similar to <strong>Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, and Ontario<\/strong> (short summers, late frosts, and cold soil).<br \/>\nHave a different experience in your state or province? <a style=\"color: #ff9800; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#wpdcom\">Drop a comment below<\/a>! We&#8217;d love to compare notes.<\/div>\n<h3 id=\"cold-mulch\">The Problem with Mulching Too Early<\/h3>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">A<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Aleksan9ra (Ludmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (15,056 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Moscow Region | \ud83d\udcc5 June 13, 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Girls, today I was weeding the beds in the greenhouse where my peppers, eggplants, etc., are growing. I pulled back the mulch a bit to dig, and I noticed something alarming: the bed is in the center of the greenhouse, it&#8217;s sunny, it&#8217;s scorching hot outside, the mulch itself is warm to the touch&#8230; but the dirt underneath it is freezing cold!<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know if this is good or bad, but I suspect that in our cold northern region, this is actually very bad. \ud83e\udd76\ud83c\udf21\ufe0f<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">G<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">gala7496 (Galina) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (2,461 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Moscow Region | \ud83d\udcc5 June 13, 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>I completely gave up on mulching for exactly that reason, and I have no desire to go back to it.<\/p>\n<p>I took some pictures of my peppers yesterday. I&#8217;m really liking these seeds from Tumanov (a Russian seed vendor).<\/p>\n<p>Sweet peppers:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2021_06\/20210612_190158.jpg.a967ac75b9aa42911fa537a5ac37dde4.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 600px; width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2021_06\/20210612_190158.jpg.a967ac75b9aa42911fa537a5ac37dde4.jpg\" alt=\"First flush of sweet peppers fruiting on the plant\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hot peppers:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2021_06\/20210612_190304.jpg.591a48fb2b613fe749bcd0aa5800e02d.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 600px; width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2021_06\/20210612_190304.jpg.591a48fb2b613fe749bcd0aa5800e02d.jpg\" alt=\"Hot peppers growing well indoors\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">A<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Aleksan9ra (Ludmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (15,056 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Moscow Region | \ud83d\udcc5 June 13, 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>gala7496 (Galina) wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\nI completely gave up on mulching for exactly that reason&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Galya, I&#8217;m honestly having a strong urge to rip all the mulch out of the greenhouse right now.<\/p>\n<p>Your peppers look amazing! Is that your first flush of fruit? My peppers are acting very strange this year\u2014they are growing tall like palm trees but have no fruit yet! \ud83c\udf34<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">G<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">gala7496 (Galina) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (2,461 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Moscow Region | \ud83d\udcc5 June 13, 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Yes, that&#8217;s the first flush! I have never had fruit this early before; everything is usually delayed for me. But I have to point out, those are specifically Tumanov&#8217;s seeds. All my other peppers from different sources are only just blooming and setting tiny little fruit right now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">W<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Wera (Vera) <span class=\"author-stats\">\ud83c\udf31 Enthusiast (302 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Vladimir (USDA Zone 4) | \ud83d\udcc5 June 13, 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>Aleksan9ra (Ludmila) wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8230;the mulch itself is warm, but the dirt underneath it is freezing cold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Hello everyone. I mulched my cucumbers with a thick layer of decomposing grass clippings after mowing the lawn. A few days later, I pulled it all out\u2014the soil under the mulch was freezing. It doesn&#8217;t warm up under there during the day, and our nights have been very chilly.<\/p>\n<p>A friend of mine mulched her greenhouse tomatoes too early, and they immediately developed chlorosis (yellowing leaves) because the roots were freezing! The deep soil is still too cold. Mulching is really only good when the weather is consistently scorching hot. \ud83c\udf3e\ud83d\udeab<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">R<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Russi (Anna) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (1,275 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Ramensky District | \ud83d\udcc5 June 13, 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>Aleksan9ra (Ludmila) wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8230;the dirt underneath it is freezing cold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Luda, could it be that it just <em>feels<\/em> cold in contrast to how hot the air is inside the greenhouse?<\/p>\n<p>But honestly, not all mulch is created equal. Let me explain: On the beds where I grow cucumbers and peppers, I add fresh grass clippings once a week and soak them heavily with water. The layer is very thick, and it starts composting and breaking down within a week. The ants hate it there because it&#8217;s wet, but the decomposing grass generates its own heat.<\/p>\n<p>However, over on the tomato beds, the grass has completely dried out. I stopped adding fresh layers, so it turned into dry hay. The ants love it there.<\/p>\n<p>So, they are both &#8220;mulch&#8221;\u2014but they act completely differently! Dry mulch insulates, while wet green mulch heats up. \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"garlic-hack\" style=\"margin-top: 20px;\">The Garlic Soaking Hack<\/h4>\n<p>Girls, last year I read somewhere that immediately after digging up your garlic, you should soak it in water. They claimed it would store much better. I don&#8217;t remember where I read it&#8230; and at the time, all my garlic had already been dug up and was drying\/curing.<\/p>\n<p>But later, I found a few forgotten garlic bulbs hiding in the strawberry patch. I dug them up and soaked them in water (along with the green stalks) as an experiment. I can&#8217;t remember exactly how long I soaked them\u2014either overnight or just a few hours.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the result: It is exactly the same variety of garlic. The rest of my regular harvest has already shriveled, sprouted, and gone bad. BUT the garlic that I soaked and stored in the warm boiler room&#8230; well, I decided to check on it yesterday. It is still perfectly firm, rock solid, hasn&#8217;t sprouted at all, and only has tiny nubs where roots might form.<\/p>\n<p>So from now on, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/store-garlic-for-a-year-soak-storage\/\">I am going to soak all my garlic (read this storage hack)!<\/a> \ud83e\uddc4\ud83d\udca6<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2021_06\/IMG_20210613_113518.jpg.0be67743cd15e3b1d20c67d2db9a06e6.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 600px; width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2021_06\/IMG_20210613_113518.jpg.0be67743cd15e3b1d20c67d2db9a06e6.jpg\" alt=\"Firm garlic bulb after nearly a year of storage\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"editor-note\" style=\"background: #eef7ff; padding: 15px; border-left: 4px solid #2196F3; margin-top: 25px; font-size: 0.95em; border-radius: 4px;\"><strong>\ud83d\udc68\u200d\ud83d\udd2c Editor&#8217;s Agronomy Note: The Physics of Mulch<\/strong><br \/>\nThe growers in this thread hit upon a fundamental rule of thermodynamics in the garden. Mulch does not &#8220;warm&#8221; the soil; it <strong>insulates<\/strong> it.If you live in a cold climate and apply dry straw or hay over your soil in early June, you are trapping the winter\/spring cold deep underground. The hot summer sun will bounce right off the mulch, leaving your pepper and tomato roots freezing in the dark. Always leave the soil bare in spring until it is thoroughly warmed, or use &#8220;hot&#8221; decomposing compost\/grass layers that generate their own thermal energy!<\/div>\n<div class=\"add-review-cta\" style=\"margin: 20px 0; padding: 15px; background: #fffaf0; border-left: 4px solid #ff9800; border-radius: 4px;\"><strong>\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Hey North American Growers!<\/strong> <a href=\"#wpdcom\">Have you ever accidentally stunted your plants by mulching too early in the spring? Tell us in the comments!<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83d\udccc Quick Summary (TL;DR): Mid-June Diary \ud83e\udd76 The Mulch Trap: Mulch acts as insulation. If you lay down dry mulch (like straw or dry hay) in early summer before the deep soil has warmed up, the soil underneath will remain freezing cold, even during a heatwave. This can cause severe chlorosis and stunt your peppers &#8230; <a title=\"Why Early Mulching in Cold Climates (Zone 3-4) Will Stunt Your Tomato Seedlings\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/early-mulching-in-cold-climates\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Why Early Mulching in Cold Climates (Zone 3-4) Will Stunt Your Tomato Seedlings\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[529,8],"tags":[970,971],"class_list":["post-3798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-tomatoes","category-growing-tips-care","tag-cold-soil-mulching","tag-deep-mulch-mistakes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3798"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3806,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3798\/revisions\/3806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}