Stone Mulching Inputs Needed

Farm Questions
1

Hi - I need inputs on stone mulching. I plan to use stones that are naturally available on my farm, break it small size and cover the region around the saplings. The intent is to retain moisture for longer time

I am worried that this might attract insects and become a breeding ground, leading to increased damage to the plant. Can anyone advise? Thanks

Regards
Murali

2

stones tend to get heated in the sun, whereas any organic matter would loose water in the heat & will not get heated. putting stones all over might prove costly then putting organic matter.

3

Thanks Ujwal. That is a good point. How about organic matter + stones? I am not going to spend any money on stones. There are so many stones lying all around that I thought could be put to good use for covering the area.

Regards
Murali

4

I would go with Ujwal on the heat…
You could do the combo that you talked about…maybe use ‘stone boundaries’ around the saplings or groups of saplings and then cover the stones with mulch. This way -

  1. Stones will not absorb heat
  2. You have a way of containing water etc within the sapling area, if you would want that
  3. You have space around the saplings where you can plant shallow rooted plants like greens etc.

All the best,
Ramji