Got banned from a gardening forum for saying mulch should go on top, not mixed in

I posted a reply about how mixing fresh wood chips into soil steals nitrogen from plants, and three mods piled on saying I was spreading misinformation. Turns out they were citing a university study that said the exact opposite of what I'd been taught for 15 years running my own tree service. Do you stick with what experience taught you or switch when someone shows you a study?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse_cooper16d ago

...and honestly who even cares. Like yeah you probably shouldn't mix green wood chips into soil if you're planting tomatoes next week, but getting banned over it? That's wild. I've seen people argue way dumber things on forums and they get a warning at most. Seems like those mods were just looking for a reason to swing their power around. At the end of the day it's just mulch, not like you were telling people to set their gardens on fire.

the_tessa16d ago

oh man the green wood chips thing is such a debated topic. i literally just had this argument with a neighbor last week because he tossed fresh arborist chips right on his bean bed and the beans turned yellow. i told him yeah you gotta let em sit for a few months or they'll steal the nitrogen while they break down. but getting banned over that? that's crazy. i've seen mods let people absolutely rip into each other over compost ratios and nothing happens. sounds like those mods had a bad day and took it out on some well meaning gardener.