Pine needle mulch

[taradal]

Is there any reason not to use pine needles for a mulch for tomato plants? I just raked a huge pile of needles off my yard and it seems that they'd make a great mulch.

[imafan26]

I use pine needle mulch all of the time. It is acidic, but does not pack down and is pretty good weed control. It works around most plants. I have only had problems with it around garlic.

[ElizabethB]

Pine straw is my favorite mulch for both moisture retention and weed control. It breaks down much slower than wood mulch so it does not need replenishing as often. Because of the slow break down acid is not a problem. Great stuff and it looks nice as well.

[Smallgardener]

I had the kids pick up some pine needles form under the neighbors pine trees and put I around my small trees in the front yard. They had a ring of bricks around them to keep the mulch in place, and make a smooth line to mow around. I had to tamp it down and wet it t keep it from blowing away.

[taradal]

Thanks, everyone! I was concerned about making the soil too acid, but duh. . .since they do take so long to break down, I would just need to scrape them off at the end of the growing season. Putting tomato seedlings in this week. I think I'll do a layer of rabbit pellets, then a layer of yellow straw, then a thick layer of pine needles, for mulch. That way, I still have extra stuff to turn into the soil next winter. I appreciate the comments!
-Kathryn

[hendi_alex]

We used pine needle mulch one year, and the next day the plants had wilted and died. I assume that pine needles can sometimes be the home to wilt bacteria. I don't know whether this was an isolated event or suggests more of a widespread problem.

[lakngulf]

We used pine needle mulch one year, and the next day the plants had wilted and died. I assume that pine needles can sometimes be the home to wilt bacteria. I don't know whether this was an isolated event or suggests more of a widespread problem.

YIKES!! Say it ain't so. I just put pine mulch around my veggies.

[LGT]

I think wilt bacteria is usually carried by beetles. In five days you should be able to tell if your plants are affected. If you don't have many beetles I wouldn't worry too much about it.