† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
|
| Member | Message |
|---|---|
 |
Posted: Feb/12/2007 10:49 PM PST
I tried these last year and they completly molded over after the first rain and when raked they spread mold spores over everything. i completly recomend staying away from these |
 |
Posted: Feb/12/2007 11:11 PM PST
The mold is totally harmless and will disappear after a couple of rains. I have used them for two years and will continue to do so. I love them. They retain moisture really well, are easy to spread and break down quickly to help improve the quality of poor soil very quickly. You do need to be careful around dogs as they apparently will eat them and they are not good for the dogs but if you don't have dogs, I would greatly recmond them myself. |
 |
Posted: Feb/13/2007 2:51 AM PST
I'm with Mamabear on this one. I have been using cocoa hulls for the last 2 or 3 years. Our yard was so completely neglected for YEARS before we moved here and it has been a slow go for me and the cocoa hulls have been my salvation. The mold is harmless and washes away as mentioned above, I have used it as mulch and ground cover under the small pine stand, to hide a completely hideous area that I covered totally the last 2 years and filled in with large pots instead of planting, and in the gardens themselves as mulch between the plants. The yard has improved greatly, the cost is a big bonus. Of course to each his own, just my humble opinion Sass |
 |
Posted: Feb/25/2007 6:29 PM PST
Excuse my ignorance, but is this the product that has the bad rep about killing dogs? Of course, I could think of a lovely use on that corner of my lot with the defacating dogs. Just kidding!!! lol 
|
 |
Posted: Feb/25/2007 7:49 PM PST
Yes, Markgh, it will kill dogs just like chocolate will. I stay away from it and use cedar mulch. |
 |
Posted: Apr/07/2007 4:49 PM PST
To make this very clear,, cocoa hull mulch is DEADLY TO DOGS!!! I did a project on this 2 yrs ago and now hersey has a disclaimer on their bagged cocoa hull mulch and Pennsylvania Vet school has it on their web site and all the vets in my NJ area,, have handouts on this. It seems there was a master gardener in my area(Burlington County) selling this and making false statements to it's safety. But as the vet school made it very clear,, 4oz of cocoa hull mulch will kill a 80 lb dog with no recourse!! Of the 5 news articles, magazine articles I wrote and the garden sites I polled. I would rather be on the safe side. Of all the good and bad(YES BAD) emails I got,, only ONE,,,,,seemed to be a safe situation to me. A lady in a highrise in NYC has no dog, cats or children. Uses the cocoa hull mulch to top dress her containers on her balcony. That I find very safe!!As long as she dosen't choose to munch on them eather!! 
|
 |
Posted: Aug/12/2007 7:37 AM PST
I didn't know about the hulls being poisonous to dogs, but I don't know that it would make me choose not to use it unless I actually owned a dog. I found the hulls easy to spread, nice smelling while putting it down, and a refreshingly different look than the ubiquitous bark mulch, and it looked better than hay/straw. I was a little disappointed at the way it molded and broke down so fast. But that was more because it meant putting down more so soon. On the upside, it doesn't seem to suffer from the artillery fungus that people complain about with the bark mulch either, at least I haven't heard that it does. I suspect that that's because the mold has already colonized it and started breaking it down. I'd like to hear if anyone has any different experiences wrt the artillery fungus and cocoa hulls. |
† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
