Red Cedar Sawdust

[rkunsaw]

I have a lot of red cedar sawdust.I am wondering if it would be good to mulch around vegetable plants an inch or two deep.I have a 40 ft. asparagus bed I'm thinking of covering with it and also around tomatoes and peppers.
Any one have any thoughts or experience with this?
Larry

[rainbowgardener]

No experience. But I don't love sawdust of any kind as a mulch - too fine, and packs down, making a hard impermeable layer. It would be ok if mixed with something coarser like wood chips or leaves.

The cedar might be a mixed blessing - it is used for outdoor stuff because it is rot resistant. But you want your mulch to rot....

[dustyrivergardens]

I would compost it. woods saw dust that type of material needs to break down before you use it. It will tie up the mineralization process of breaking nitrogen down to a state that a plant can use.

[rkunsaw]

I have mixed quite a bit of it with my compost.I was thinking a coat of it on top of the soil might help retain moisture and repel insects.
I might try some around a few plants to see if it helps.

[garden5]

You could give it a try, but I'm thinking that too much might make the soil very acidic. You said you have asparagus beds. Maybe try it around them first. I'm not certain on asparagus, but I do know that as a rule, perennials in general prefer a more acidic soil.

Let us know how it works out.

[DoubleDogFarm]

It might be toxic to young plants. Be careful.

Eric

[GardenRN]

Remember also...you're repelling good insects as well.

And as far as moisture goes, saw "dust" tends to wick moisture up. We used it all the time to clean up spills on the job site when I worked construction (installed hardwood flooring as a matter of fact). My thought would be that it would wick the moisture out of the ground instead of holding it in. And after there's no more to wick away, it will form a crust that, a stated further up in the post, will make it hard for water to get back down to the ground. I'd advise against it....the thought was good. Mix some of it in with your compost if you wanna use it.