The Great Cardoon / Sheet Mulching Experiment

[FrugalK]

After hearing my hubby wax lyrical about this sorely missed vegetable of his homeland, I finally tracked down the seeds to this mysterious plant and am having a go at growing it.

After reading that it can grow to 6 feet tall and is covered with nasty spikes, it seemed like a good opportunity to try sheet mulching - they will be spaced far apart, and who wants to weed around something like that? I only had 1 newspaper, but I had a couple of big cardboard boxes, so I just cultivated small patches where the plants would go, and cut matching holes in the cardboard, like this:

[img]https://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q639/FrugalK/The%20Great%20Cardoon%20Experiment/cardoon1.jpg[/img]

Then I anchored them down with rocks that I had left over from down-sizing a too big flower garden in the front yard, then covered the cardboard with a thin layer of soil (also from the front garden) and mulch, just to look nicer:

[img]https://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q639/FrugalK/The%20Great%20Cardoon%20Experiment/cardoon3.jpg[/img]

Then the plants (started indoors) went in:

[img]https://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q639/FrugalK/The%20Great%20Cardoon%20Experiment/cardoon2.jpg[/img]

And now we wait.

Any suggestions? This is the first time I've tried sheet mulching - it seems too good to be true - just cover over all the weeds and grass with cardboard (or newspaper) and that'll stop em. Well, we'll see.

[2cents]

Sheet mulching, after laying paper/cardboard layer, always wet this down well to hold the paper down. Place the mulch on top and wet it again.
If I have the energy, I then spread a thin layer of mulch to hold all that moisture in.
This helps the paper layer form fit to the ground, which you have solved with rocks.
Watch it grow.
If this requires fertilizer later in the year, stick with the liquids, easier to apply.
Don't hesitate to add mulch through out the year to keep the cardboard covered.

[gardeningwithe]

I'm curious- how did it go?