Pine Needles: Not Yard Waste, But Tomato Mulch

by Glenn Galloway
(Charleston, WV)

I use white pine needles to keep the worms and bugs out of my tomato patch. It seems to repel things, just like turpentine does, but of course is healthier.

This mulch keeps all the moisture in. It is free. I wait to apply pine needle mulch until I have tomatoes on the vine because I like to hoe my ground and hoe around the plants.

After that I water every evening and apply liquid fertilize every 10 days. When tomatoes have set fruit, I use lime to stop blossom end rot.

I've got pine trees so this mulch is free. This mulch has worked good for me for the past 15 years.