Vegetables Loves Eucalyptus | FOOD FOREST | ALLEY CROPING | AGROFORESTRY PRACTICES
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
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I have cut down and chipped a number of big old Eucalyptus trees on my farm. The wood breaks down very very slowly compared to other trees. Typically a year old pile of wood chips would have turned into pure compost but the Eucalyptus chips have barely broken down. I believe there are some resins in the trees that have anti-fungal properties. This is not the same as allelopathy, of course. The soil that was left under the trees we took down was very rich and Jackfruit trees we planted there are thriving. Whole chunks of the wood can be used as mulch that will not need to be replaced for a long time.
Depending on the species, old eucalyptus will have almost indestructible heartwood, so it might indeed take a long time to decompose. If you do the same with young eucalyptus, it will decompose a lot faster
What if it was eucalyptus sawdust? How long do you think it would take to become compost?
I grew up seeing the damaging effects of using eucalyptus with monoculture systems.So unhealthy and dangerous for the land exactly what you spoke about sir.Seeing it applied this way renders me speechless!Totally blown away buy your techniques!Thank you so much for sharing your amazing knowledge sir,
a True Hero to aspiring farmers like myself and so many other youth here in South Africa.Sending gratitude and wishing you nothing but success in your endeavours
going forward!
Nicholas we are so grateful for your recognition and support, that's what keeps up working hard to produce more content and to share with others the little we have so far learned in our journey. I wish you well in with your crops and do share with us what you are up to in our facebook group!
This is incredible. On many levels.
Here in Vista California it has been my experience that I can't plant anything close to row of eucalyptus trees running along our fence line between our house and our neighbors. Trees and plants were dying before I realized it was the eucalyptus trees and roots!!
absolutely amazing. Thany you. So many Eucaliytus here and most people still hate them.
Eucalyptus is safe to use after a year has passed, at that point the alleopathic effects have dissipated.
It’s also relatively safe to use at six months or so with the inclusion of a healthy dose of compost to mitigate any remaining effects.
And that holds for all manner of issues, the more compost the more protection from any and all problems.
The real problems with Eucalyptus are numerous though depending on regional climate conditions.
They grow too tall to be pruned without great expense, eventually shading areas you’d rather be sunny.
They’re an extremely thirsty tree, capable of sucking an aquifer dry in hot dry climates. Why India is removing them from their permaculture food forests.
Their root ball is shallow and compact, they topple easily in very wet and windy areas.
Eucalyptus wood is an extremely dense hardwood; takes years to break down even when already shredded, not easily ignited unless extremely dry however in this case poses an explosive wildfire threat as Eucalyptus oil is a hot fuel. Once that wood is ignited the tree goes up like a Roman candle. I’ve seen this myself, watched the Eucalyptus trees burn through entire neighborhoods home after home in under one minute each.
Personally, I’ve moved and I’m glad to be done with wildfires and Eucalyptus trees.
Eres muy necio. Aunque tenga sus retos hay modos de aprovecharlo.
So glad I found this video I have a lot of eucalyptus and was told it would kill any plants but this gives me hope thank you for sharing this.
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Thanks for the extra video links xx
This is one of the few sources I've managed to find that speak positively about Eucalyptus as a mulch / soil improver. It's gotten a bad rep as being allelopathic, but the more I read up, the less I'm convinced it's allelopathy and the more I'm inclined to believe that it's a lot more to do with the trees' supportive environment (or lack thereof). I have a great (free) resource available to me here in South Africa to build my soil in the form of untreated bloekomboom (Blue gum tree) wood chips, shavings, and off-cuts, and have been wondering if it's safe to use in "growing" my soil.
You bet it’s safe. Honestly, there’s no such a thing as bad organic matter. Of course care needs to be taken as to the amount to be put on the soil depending on how fresh it is. But we’ve put to the proof many pf the so called allelopathic plants, such as pine trees, casuarina, mango and eucalyptus, Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia and the more we use them, the more we realise that it’s a matter of wrong management, overshading and lack of pruning.
The most damaging effect on crops, especially when they’re young, is what we call “old shade”, i.e. shade from old trees.
So go ahead, use the material you have available and let the rest of the world know =)
@@AgroforestryAcademy Thanks again for dispelling a lot of the misinformation I've encountered online regarding the use of eucalyptus. Can you please elaborate on what you mean by "depending how fresh it is"? I just had a load of eucalyptus mulch (mostly woodchips, only about 1-2% leaves) dropped off by an arborist and would like to start using it, but its not clear to me if I need to let it sit for a while or if I can just spread it around right away. I think the tree was cut today, so it is very fresh indeed.
@@Chillpillspill Go ahead and use it.. No need wait!
@@AgroforestryAcademy Thank you for the quick reply!! I'm on it :)
you are spot on. It is only alliopathic in the wrong position - ie crowded & in mono culture
What's Ripening and I are friends in real life. It is performing well on his farm. Today we were discussing Eucalyptus and how to propagate it. We have some seed sources and they are also available from forestry suppliers but cost and transport is a factor. I'm wondering if you grow your own or if the seedlings are easily available to you?
thechief762 seedlings are easily available to us, at a very low cost in most parts of brazil (aprox 0,12 - 0,15 dollars). In Brasilia, we can get it easily, but over here in Lencois, where I am, its a bit harder. So I really dont use eucalyptus. I use a lot of moringa and pterogyne nitens, and a species of tree senna. There are many alternatives, if eucalyptus is not easily available. Melia azedarach should work wonders for you. You can grow it by seed directly on the field, and it will grow as fast as an eucalyptus seedling. Also, look into tree senna species that you have locally. Inga is great as well, although it takes a bit longer to become a mature tree... but once it is 4-5 years old, it will produce a lot of material.
Cheers!
@@AgroforestryAcademy I do use the Senna alata , Leucaena, Moringa and Inga. guandu, feijão-de-porco, mucuna and amendoim. Eucalptus are 1.50 USD$ so I am looking to propagate. Thank you for the suggestion about Melia, I remember knowing it when I was a child in Texas we threw the berries at each other. Please visit my youtube channel to see the project.
Inga and Mexican sunflower have been my favorites because of ease to chop, flemingia is good but not so easy to cut unless with pruners. Leucana is alright too but here we are in the humid tropics of Ecuador.
@@Jahmastasunherbalist Hey there, thanks for the comment! Yeah, these two are great! Mexican sunflower will weaken as the system gets more shaded (it it's the case). Inga is really a great one. I don't know flemingia, but will research it. One really awesome plant in my opinion is Schizolobium parahyba. I don't know if you have it over there. It grows unbelievably fast and, although it doesn't respond so vigorously to pruning, you can plant just cut it down when 4 to 5 years old, and it will produce a lot of wood for your soil!
thechief762
I wonder if Melia could harm benefical insects as its effects are related to Neem's.
Grasses much quicker growing than eucalyptus. Eucalyptus very weedy and dangerous for fire. Its shocking how much grows in California considering their high fire problem.
You star! Your methods are The Future.
So do you remove all the branches when you prune eucalyptus? Or leave a few?
What's Ripening? We always leave a few on the top. That guarantees it will produce shoots on the top only, instead of all throughout its trunk. And also gives a little more strength to its growth.
@@AgroforestryAcademy great thanks. That's what I was thinking too
And another question: What do you plan on doing with your fruits and veggies once the Eucalypts grow bigger and create a lot of shade, spread their roots etc.?
we bring them down so that the wood will feed the fruits, might have a larger one occupying am emergent layer maybe every 15 metres but that will depend on many variables, there is no recepy that would work for every design. On the species we choose out of the ones available. Sometimes I go for the harder wood and sometimes for lighter. One could decide to plant the less potent on oils just to ensure we are not repeling life in the soil. but with a bio diverse system I would not worry about that
Great to see you experimenting but sad to say, eucalyptus really does not grow well with veg, for a number of reasons. They are acidic, full of poisonous eucalyptus oil, suck out your water (that's why they grow so fast!), and create soil which water does not soak into. I live in Australia, and everyone told me don't have a garden near a tree as the roots will suck all the water out - turns out they are right as my garden beds are dry and full of roots which are not from my veg. I made the garden beds out of mounded eucalypt leaves layered with other organic matter and they are really awful and plants do not want to grow in them (even the ones that aren't near trees). The trees naturally cover the ground underneath them with a thick layer of eucalypt leaves which deters any other plants from growing there, by a combination of density, high acidity and poisonous oils. Even years later I still can't get this garden beds to grow food despite adding a large amount of vegetable compost etc. When I rake the eucalyptus leaves into a pile they will sit there for years without degrading.
I noticed in your video when you lifted the leaf litter that the insects were very happily munching on the banana but there was nothing on the actual eucalyptus - it's too poisonous! I would love an update here on how you guys went with this gardening adventure :)
We are living in the dry south of Spain with less than 400 mm per year usually in few heavy rain events. So even the 'rainy season' is quite dry. Eucalyptus here is known/viewed as smothering everything below it with a thick layer of very slowly decomposing leaves. My impression is that you have a much more humid climate. How much rain do you get? We want to try Moringa now instead of Eucalyptus. The existing very large Eucalyptus I just cut back and want to run the branches through the wood chipper now, keeping it on a pile really wet over the winter to see if I can get a kind of compost from it.
We get 1300mm of rain in the are of this video. Sure the leaves will take longer to decompose, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. What usually smothers other plants growth is excessive old trees shade. When trees are planted and pruned regularly they will enhance other plants growth. Also, when you prune, you're bringing wood to the soil and not only leaves, and wood is a MAJOR water container. Do cut back the eucalyptus, but they will resprout and you will have a chance to conduct it to a nice architechture in a way you an keep it pruned and feed the soil with lots of organic material. Moringa is great, but it doesn't produce nearly as much organic matter as eucalyptus. You should be planting dense stands of prickly pear for atmosphere water absorption and then you can prune them and feed back to the soil. For these dry climates, prickly pear is one of the most prolific organic matter producers.
@@AgroforestryAcademy thanks for the reply. Just had to google what prickly pear is -- oh we had lots of them until a few years ago. Then the cochinilla bug appeared here in southern spain and killed almost all of them within about 5 years. Just sucking the life out of them. Actually I have a big pile of Eucalyptus wood chips (a few m³) at 57°C inside trying to make some compost ... we'll see. And yes the Eucalyptus trees I pruned heavily have regrown about 3 Meters in one year.
some people says eucalyptus is toxic and acidic ,
what kind of Eucalyptus are you using ???
are you using special variety ???
Are planting with the moon phases ???
does it grow faster than Lucina and Moringa ???
Many thanks or sharing this @agroforestryacademy. Which variety/ies of eucalyptus do you use? I’ve grown up seeing white barked eucalyptus variety being used in South Asia where the silvery leaves just don’t biodegrade, and are said to be bad for plants/crops (allelopathic). I’d really appreciate knowing which eucalyptus trees you use in agroforestry. Many thanks in advance for your answer!
Hey Taimur.. Sorry I´ve not come across a leafe that doesent biodegrade. As there are over 600 species you would use one that is adapted to you region or that you have acces too. When I purchase eucalyptus seedling there are usually 2 or 3 types in the green house to choose from. Usally one grows faster than the other and has lighter wood, so it would be a personal choice.. I like to mix it up a little so we plant dense slower growing types aswell for future timber use. If you manage them properly and regularly you don't have to worry about them being labeled as allelopathic.
good answer. Too many arid places plant them "in rows" ! Silly.
I wonder how did your Eucalypt garden turn out? Also, a thing to bear in mind is that there are dozens of Eucalypt sub-species, with different qualities.. Which one have you planted?
What species of eucalyptus are you growing there? Which ones would be adapted to that climate ?
beautiful much misunderstood species.
Do you know if Eucalyptus camaldulensis decomposes as quickly as your chosen Euc. species?
what height do you cut the eucalyptus ?
El eucalipto es el árbol menos indicado, hay muchos otros más beneficiosos, Inga sp, y otras leguminosas, Moringa, Neem, frutales, bambú... El eucalipto NO forma humus, las hojas no se descomponen, justamente por las sustancias antibacteriales que contienen y que tienen propiedades medicinales, es sabido que el aceite esencial de eucalipto puede ser ingerido, pero no más de una o dos gotas, con miel o azúcar, más puede ser tóxico
Um i see eucalyptus leaves, dead grass and no vegetables or growing plants.
Yeah that's what I thought they don't look healthy at all.
Wow. So many websites online are just parroting each other, saying that eucalyptus mulch is toxic, without backing up that claim with any source or evidence. This video is very helpful in cutting through the garbage. Thank you!
Will you top them next Pruning round or how tall do u want them to get?
Yeah, we will top them next pruning. We want them at 4,5 - 5,5m. That will give our fruit trees and coffee plants enough space to grow.
Whereas if you want them for timber, you need them at the commercial height of your markets. Usually 6m.
One caveat thu, pruning needs to be a little more on the safe side ;)
Monoculture of definitely NOT causing bushfires in Australia! Eucalyptus trees are a native here and are fire accelerants on their own, no need for any farming or monoculture to help accelerate the bushfires.
Great video, thanks for sharing
Isn't eucalyptus allelopathic?
I just covered my garden is eucalyptus leaves now let’s seen what happens
What happened?? Lol I’m considering planting one but it would be close to fruit trees
@@nima16042 ok so my capsicum plant is still growing capsicums and I didn’t water for an entire month and still has tomatoes, zucchini, melons and chillies.
@@smeargut1809 thats great to hear! I just planted my own eucalyptus tree