Mulch. Just do it.

[descivii]

Bolivian Jew, it looks like wandering jew but miniature and it makes an extremely dense canopy about 4-6" naturally but can be "mowed" with no problems....grows well in bright and shade. I have been considering using it instead because I have inadvertently used it very successfully before with dwarf banana in a living mulch way. Awesome plant!

J

 

[mugenbao]

I've decided to try using a living mulch, so I just got done prepping some pots with clover. I took some Smart Pots, filled them with my soil mix, and placed a beer cup in the center as a placeholder. I planted clover seeds everywhere around, but not in, the beer cups. They are under a 150 HPS for now while the clover germinates and gets started. When my seedlings are ready, which are currently in beer cups as well, I'll transplant them into the Smart Pots by just removing the placeholder cups and putting them into the hole. Each pot will have two regular Blumat auto-waterers, and by the time I'm ready to transplant the main tent will be freed up and they'll go in there.

Other than the small pot size, which I can't really do anything about at this point (but probably will for the next cycle), I'd love to see if anyone has any feedback for me. Thoughts?


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[CC_2U]

Nice concept and execution!!!

Well thought out, IMHO

CC

 

[mad librettist]

nice! can wait to see it grow.

 

[heady blunts]

good idea. are those #3's?

 

[mad librettist]

ok, I am going to try crimson clover in the mix. It's shade tolerant, and should give me more mulch material than the micro clover.

All you peeps jealous of the micro clover - it's not necessarily going to wind up the best choice. We have a lot of options to sift through.

 

[jaykush]

are there seeds in those cups?

 

[mad librettist]

are there seeds in those cups?

good idea!

but the real benefit to those cups is that he can pull it out and transplant something out of a similar cup without disturbing the soil much.

 

[mugenbao]

Nice concept and execution!!!

Well thought out, IMHO

CC

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

good idea. are those #3's?

They are, but only because I currently have them on hand, and currently only have the space for #3's at the numbers I want (between 6 and 8 plants in flower). I hope to fix both of those issues for the next round.

are there seeds in those cups?

There aren't, they are just being used as placeholders to provide a ready-made transplant spot that doesn't require digging. When these SWT#4 seedlings are ready, they are going in those holes:

​

good idea!

but the real benefit to those cups is that he can pull it out and transplant something out of a similar cup without disturbing the soil much.

Good idea? Think I should put some in there? It sure would be easy to move them to another location once established, I guess.
Hmmm... The cups don't have any drainage, either, but I could add that in order to grow clover plugs, lol. That might cause a little more soil disturbance than I want when it comes time to remove them if the roots grow through the holes, but I bet it wouldn't be too bad.

I should be getting some chamomile seeds today (I also have nettle seeds handy), maybe I could use the cups to start those instead, and move them outdoors when it's time to transplant the cannabis seedlings... Hmm.......

[Edited to add] I was just reading a general gardening blog, and it had an awesome quote in it: "Nature hates a monoculture". It just resonated for me at that moment in time. I think I'm going to go ahead and plant some seeds (chamomile, chives, basil) in those cups as well, might as well take advantage of the light and space to get some stuff started that I can then transplant in turn.


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[CC_2U]

I was just reading a general gardening blog, and it had an awesome quote in it: "Nature hates a monoculture". It just resonated for me at that moment in time. I think I'm going to go ahead and plant some seeds (chamomile, chives, basil) in those cups as well, might as well take advantage of the light and space to get some stuff started that I can then transplant in turn.

Thank you for posting that quote and your thoughts. I concur completely.

I do things a bit different from other folks perhaps in the raised beds. For example I plant the inexpensive color spots that you pick-up everywhere for chump-change - petunias, marigolds, pansies, etc. I do that for a couple of reasons - getting a plant start in the beds helps as far as water retention and begins to develop things in the soil. When the 'real plants' take hold (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) they will eventually overshadow and pretty much wipe them out.

The other benefit is probably philosophical - having some instant 'color' reminds me what Camus wrote "In the winter of my life I learned that spring would come again" and flowers accomplish that for me.

End of Philosophy 101

CC

Oh yeah - one other comment "Wize Up!"

Heh...............

 

[GoneRooty]

Oh yeah - one other comment "Wize Up!"

Maybe that's why he refers to you as Professor CC, his personal hero and many growers guru.

 

[mugenbao]

Maybe that's why he refers to you as Professor CC, his personal hero and many growers guru.

I don't remember saying that

I do have tons of respect for CC and do consider him a guru. In fact, that's what I like most about icmag in general, and these types of threads in particular: They seem to attract the gurus, several in this very thread let alone many others I'm subscribed to, and I'm learning so much!

Nowhere else have I found such a concentrated yet diverse collection of knowledgeable and helpful folks, and it really makes me feel grateful to be able to draw from the experience and information shared by others!






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[GoneRooty]

Oh sorry, mugenbao, wasn't talking about you calling him Professor CC. It was in reference to his comment about Wize UP! Talking about a mutual "friend" of ours. And yes, I agree, CC is an amazing wealth of knowledge, as are many others here. And it looks like you've not only learned a lot here, but are ready to start passing on what you've learned to others. Kudos!

 

[h.h.]

Don't follow leaders, pay the parking meters.

 

[Krshna]

Ive decided to take the plunge and collect, a no doubt bug and fungi, laden mulch into my bedroom (dont tell my wife). So far so good, I collected dirty leaves from the forest, some rotting birch that i could easily break with my hands (was well on its way to compost already), some shreads of a tree stump that looked like it was solid, but flaked off like pulled pork, and a few other things that seemed good on my walk through the forest...

Its only been a week, but I dont have any outbreaks of bugs, just some gnats which have always been there, and the plants seem to like it a lot.

Before mulching it always bothered me that my soil ontop would get so dry it was hard to water properly, and later on in the plants life I would see big giant roots surface (like a tree) and that never seemed good.

I was watering today and it was literally snap crackling and poping like a bowl of rice crispies... not sure what was up with that, but it got me to thinking, should I be keeping the surface of the mulch wet daily, like with a spray bottle? Seems maybe it got too dry and thats why it was popping like crazy?

 

[mostnonymouse]

I do. I try to mist the mulch each morning, otherwise it would act as a wick and pull moisture from below when it dries out. I just try to keep my worms alive and happy, and I think the soil and plant benefit as a result. Pretty sure wigglers don't burrow too deep to escape the dryness, but I could be wrong. Nowhere near as deep as "nightcrawlers", that I am sure of.. Either way, moisture is where it's at when thinking in terms of the biology in the mulch and soil.

 

[Scrappy4]

Krshna, I don't know how birch rots but some wood could draw N from your soil to aid it in decomposing. Hopefully someone smarter than me could tell you about birch.

On wetting the top, i do the same. Lately i water heavy, then in two days or so, i lightly water the soil top or spray it, then water light for one or two times then heavy again. My thought is to try my best to keep the moisture relatively even throughout the soil. I actually cheat and have a moisture meter that tells me, what the moisture is at what depth. I'm not sure how important that is but have read that most of our microbe activity is in the top several inches........scrappy

 

[Krshna]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll keep it sprayed from now on, makes sense to me. As far as the wood drawing N out, I remember reading something about burying it in a pit for a year or so if you were going to use wood chips, I from the feel of it this stuff was definately rotting for more then a year. It was a pile I found in the woods with white fungi streaks running through it, and i could crumble any piece with my hands.

 

[jaykush]

birch is a soft wood and it decompsoses readily. though i would not say is the best of mulch materials. you need more of a nutrient diversity in your mulch. the easiest way to achieve this is with weeds. most weeds are dynamic accumulators. meaning each plant likes to collect certain nutrients/minerals. for example comfrey gathers lots of potash which = potassium upon decomposition.

basically go outside, find some weeds that have not gone to seed. clip some leaves, dry them. then use as mulch. choose from all kinds of weeds, shallow rooted, tap rooted, low and shrubby, tall and fast growing. just keep in mind the more you turn it to a powder the "stronger" it will feed the soil, so too much powdered material can burn your plants. go for a diversity of particle size.

the more diverse your mulch, the less work and problems you will have.

as for the wood you sound good to go, i collect rotting wood all the time for mulch material. just go easy on it and try not to use it as the bulk of your mulch. if it had fungal strands you have no worries and are doing more good. but still go easy on it.

pretty much refer to my sig quote, follow it and you will be doing great.

 

[Krshna]

birch is a soft wood and it decompsoses readily. though i would not say is the best of mulch materials. you need more of a nutrient diversity in your mulch. the easiest way to achieve this is with weeds. most weeds are dynamic accumulators. meaning each plant likes to collect certain nutrients/minerals. for example comfrey gathers lots of potash which = potassium upon decomposition.

basically go outside, find some weeds that have not gone to seed. clip some leaves, dry them. then use as mulch. choose from all kinds of weeds, shallow rooted, tap rooted, low and shrubby, tall and fast growing. just keep in mind the more you turn it to a powder the "stronger" it will feed the soil, so too much powdered material can burn your plants. go for a diversity of particle size.

the more diverse your mulch, the less work and problems you will have.

as for the wood you sound good to go, i collect rotting wood all the time for mulch material. just go easy on it and try not to use it as the bulk of your mulch. if it had fungal strands you have no worries and are doing more good. but still go easy on it.

pretty much refer to my sig quote, follow it and you will be doing great.

thanks for the advice jay, next time i transplant i'll have to go get more mulch anyway, so i'll try a bunch of different weeds like you said. so far im very pleased with the results, more people need to try covering their soil up and stop being afraid of bugs!