Is it OK to use cardboard under veggies? Is ink toxic?

I’ve saved more than a few Amazon and Chewy boxes over the last year. I am thinking about using them under my veggie garden beds to smoother out weeds. Is this okay to do given that there’s lots of black ink on the box?

thanks.

My guess is that it’s OK with black ink. My outdated understanding is that many inks are soy based, and the pigment is probably carbon. Colors are lots of different things…

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I used cardboard boxes and paper shopping bags on top of freshly mowed grass, with a layer of horse manure compost and a small layer of wood chips on top. I just did this last year so time will tell if my plants enjoy the mix, but so far so good. The mulch layers seemed to do a good job suppressing weeds throughout the summer, ill probably add a bit more at least every other year.

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Don’t allow build up anywhere near a trunk. You’ll kill a tree. I like the layering you did, just keep it a few inches or 3" away from the trunk, always. Don’t let it get too tall, either. Hardwood mulch pretty much is 4" at very maximum and still (we) have to keep it away/off any trunk. 3" is recommended (or 2") but 4" may be done properly.

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I made sure to keep the mulch away from my tree trunks. The last think I want is for my baby pawpaws to start rotting away!

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I’ve used cardboard since the beginning. I just won’t use anything colored because the worms won’t eat it. Worms will chew thru even thick cardboard over a summer if its covered/moist. Sometimes i find long strips of the clear packing tape (the cardboard long ago turned into worm droppings).

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I read somewhere that all printed material in US colored or not are all lead free. It was a EPA standard if I recall. So I recycle all nature biodegradable products in my yard. Papers, magazines, junk mails, cardboard…earth worms love them. I usually put a thicker layers under large pots to prevent weeds from growing around the pots. It is harder to mow around the pots. It takes less than a growing season for the material under the pots to completely disappear. The material without weighted down or not in touch with constant moisture such as top layer takes longer to disappear. I also put them around the tree, or anywhere that I don’t want weeds grow. The system works well but you must tolerate of seeing paper products in the yard. I usually put a large cardboard over papers to weight it down and create a little unformed looking.
Another thing I have experimented with recycled paper was to grow mushrooms. In fact, the oyster mushroom grew very well in the paper.l

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I have been using cardboard for some years now. Works great, but does not last long. Maybe a year or so and it will completely break down into the soil.

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In my area, the cardboard will make for an earwig/slug party!

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@Monardella same here! Do you have any tips on getting rid of earwigs in the orchard. I have way too much of them!

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Do earwigs hurt fruit bearing plants? I’ve never heard of them being a pest, I always thought of them as a good marker for healthy soil, just like earthworms.

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I have found that earwigs do more good than harm to my fruit bearing plants. They defend their homes and young against insects that were hurting the plants so I let them stay. I didn’t have a reduced yield but did jump back a few times when I accidentally disturbed them. They wouldn’t have hurt me but there is something hard-wired into my brain to avoid contact.

I was worried about ink and cardboard chemicals when I first got a worm farm many years ago. A lot of the older warnings about the ink no longer apply in the US. Most sources I found at the time led me to believe that most of the cardboard I’d be using would be fine. I couldn’t find hard data about what chemicals I was supposed to be avoiding in the cardboard make up though.

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You’re not far from me. In the past few years our region has been floating on an earwig ocean. They are very hard to kill with their leathery bodies and cast-iron constitution. When their numbers aren’t too high, they aren’t much of an issue. When the ground is moving with them, they will eat anything and everything, including buds, leaves, flowers, seedlings, etc.

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One natural predator of earwigs: tachinid flies: Tachinid Fly Garden Benefits and How to Attract Them - Dre Campbell Farm

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It sounds to me like a read on the pollinator garden threads are in order. For a start - thin leaved mountain mint blooms for a long time and is a favorite of bees and flies alike at our place.

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I have so many container plants outside in the yard. If the slugs do not hide under the cardboard they will hide under my pots. Onw way or another, there are plenty of space for them find places to hide. For some reasons, I have never had big slug problem in the past. No sure if other insects or animals have controlled its population. For earwigs, I didn’t find some inside of my bagged pear and plum in later season in the past. But ever since I applied tango foot on each tree truck,I no longer have earwigs problem. I think this stopped the earwigs get onto the tree(this stopped ants too). Also I think the pesticide in the spring to control PC, OFM, etc also helped control the earwigs. Anyway, I recycle cardboard and paper products in my garden for many years. I didn’t see this practice brings me particular pests issue other than pests issue a normal gradener encounters. On the plus side, the earthworms population seem booming. I don’t think I need to pay $$ buying a bag of worm castings.

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@IL847 How do you use the cardboard and paper products? Do you sheet mulch?

Yes, most applications are sheet mulch, around the trees, under the (area of) pots. I recycled shredded papers too (the company I worked for shreds a lot of papers including mine) , I spreaded thick layer of paper around my peach tress and water it down. It formeded crust on top over the time and control the weeds for a season. Although my main purpose is not to control the weeds, I want to recycle and gradually improve the soil organic material content without doing a lot of digging and turning the soil. I will let earthworm do that for me.

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@IL847 Your garden sounds lovely. Thanks for the inspiration!

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