Mulch. Just do it.

[mad librettist]

lol chop and drop.


ok im game

 

[mad librettist]

ok it got chopped, dropped, and dressed with compost, azomite, and crab shell.

 

[mad librettist]

pics are fixed for the whole thread now.

 

[sunnydog]

That is very cool!

SD

 

[mad librettist]

thanks sunnydog.

Watch this space - chickweed, purslane, squash, are all on their way as seeds or have sprouted as volunteers. The squash is likely seed from a kabocha. if it vines I will try to keep it.

 

[supuradam]

This thread inspired me, so about a week ago I sprinkled some clover seed in my pots. It's about 1" tall now.

What I've noticed anyways, is that the top of the soil.... I don't think aerated is the right word. When I push on the soil with my fingers, it's like jumping on the ground beneath a really old tree. It just seems to push back, like a sponge. It also maintains much more moisture at the top. So thanks for that.

 

[3rdEye]

Looking stellar mad librettist I got some red clover seeds i was going to try this with. Thanks for keeping us updated. This is becoming more and more fun this hobby.

 

[mad librettist]

thanks supuradam and 3rdeye!

feel free to post some pix of your living mulches. Eventually the first post will be a collection of different ideas.

 

[jaykush]

What I've noticed anyways, is that the top of the soil.... I don't think aerated is the right word. When I push on the soil with my fingers, it's like jumping on the ground beneath a really old tree. It just seems to push back, like a sponge. It also maintains much more moisture at the top. So thanks for that.

thats the biology creating soil aggregates. THE BEST alternative to perlite or any soil drainage/aeration amendment.

 

[supuradam]

thanks supuradam and 3rdeye!

feel free to post some pix of your living mulches. Eventually the first post will be a collection of different ideas.

Ask, and ye shall receive. Here's the first go at it:

And thanks for a better explanation, jay. I oftentimes can't find the words to make what's in my head come out of my mouth mo' betta.

 

[mad librettist]

cool! living mulchers unite!

I'll try to keep the latest pic of your lawn in the first post.

 

[Vincent VanGrow]

How about cocoa mulch?

 

[Incognegro]

I've thought about using mulch before, but it definitely countweighs the wet/dry cycle...lol
I could especially use some in the new room with full coco again, some of the are almost bone dry overnight....but I fear the moisture retention caused the the layer of mulch MAY be counterproductive and actually cause problems.... dunno....

I may try it on 1 or 2 and see... now lets see if I can go buy 2 handfuls of mulch!

 

[Vincent VanGrow]

Yeah I was going to do a few test plants with clones...maybe a mix of different mulches? I guess its just doing what the forest does naturally.

 

[mad librettist]

Mulch. Just do it.

I've thought about using mulch before, but it definitely countweighs the wet/dry cycle...lol
I could especially use some in the new room with full coco again, some of the are almost bone dry overnight....but I fear the moisture retention caused the the layer of mulch MAY be counterproductive and actually cause problems.... dunno....

I may try it on 1 or 2 and see... now lets see if I can go buy 2 handfuls of mulch!

mulch will not change your wet/dry cycle. in any case, the surface of the soil is where the action is. dry or moist there should be protection from light

if doing a wet/dry cycle there is no reason to cycle every day or even every week.

 

[IandI]

yaw
I didnt make it 100% through the thread, but does anyone have any input on the side of root exudates? I talk to old school farmers in the Caribbean and they say 'plants does like to grow with plants', meaning that the soil rhizosphere is enriched by multi-species root exudates, alongside the well known microherd.

Maybe the PhD's in the advanced section would have some input on this, but I coulda swore that root exudate interactions was a major influence on which plants make good companions for others. Def read something to the effect that in a hydro experiment with added exudates into the rez water, the test plants grew 'taller' than the non exudate added plants... whether that translates into stretch against a percieved 'competitor' for light and nutes etc, or genuinely heavier growth, I do not know.

However, this makes sense to me - that in an organic grow that plants would benefit from certain other plants in a more intrinsic way than their using one another to shoo pests or capture moisture. Once the living mulch is not competing with the cannabis plant for nutes though!

Biology is lovely, the deeper down the rabbit hole you go, the deeper is gets! I hope someone has a ray of light to shine on this?

EDIT: Sweet, microbeman is here! Hope you have a little reality to give to the above Thanks.

 

[mad librettist]

Well I think there are some pics on this thread that answer the competition question - a cut placed with very little roots showing in a bed of clover that was allowed to grow without mowing. Growth rates on both clover and cannabis were outstanding, and it's really too early for rhizobium to be responsible. When I cut back the clover after some ribbing, it (cannabis) only got stronger.


The clover under my scrogs in flower is pretty pathetic, so I don't see it competing with anyone any time in the next 6 weeks.


Which plants go together is governed by, among other things, shared genetics. Two closely related plants are more likely to grow well together than two more distantly related plants. Some will send out roots to strangle plants from the wrong clan, while acting polite around relatives.

 

[mad librettist]

ok so I did some checking with a tape measure, and the plant pictured in the first post with the aggressive living mulch is 15" across tip to tip, and only 7" tall.

I can safely say that I am not getting any stretch from the clover.

 

[jaykush]

i plant chamomile, yarrow, nettle and other beneficial plants under my outdoor plants every year. cant even imagine growing now without doing so. over the season the plants get chopped and dropped as mulch. by the time flowering rolls through theres a nice thick layer of active decomposing mulch with a few living plants here and there.

 

[mad librettist]

I'm starting to wonder how I ever got by without clover in my containers. I read quite a few posts from people saying they don't always have enough material to mulch their indoor gardens with stuff that comes from the garden. Now I can just chop and drop, and the soil isn't so exposed to begin with.

I'm very excited to get the golden purslane going, since I love eating it.


Hang on, I gotta get a shot of the nice healthy squash i got going...