Refreshing No-till beds - Organic Soil - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

Alt_organix · 01-09-2018, 05:42 AM

I was curious what the no-till growers do to refresh their beds for next harvest. Chop cover crops, turn mulch layer, bokashi's, soil tests, top dress's, ect?

growinthehills · 01-09-2018, 04:06 PM

I used to just top dress with a few amendments mixed with worm castings. I always wanted to get a soil test before I top dressed in order to have more knowledge before I "blindly" amended the soil but, over the years I never tested and never had an issue. I would recommend a soil test though.

growingcrazy · 01-09-2018, 06:34 PM

Test, add amendments according to test results. For $40, you will gain more than $40 worth of extra end product as a result.

FunkBomb · 01-22-2018, 03:42 AM

Compost and mycos, topdress with different dry meals.

-Funk

paradoxlost · 01-22-2018, 05:16 AM

Worms, long rooted cover crops, etc

Bongi · 01-22-2018, 06:39 AM

Yesterday I did topdress with different amendments using spoon and just throwing number of spoonfulls out of my head. What had higher NPK I used less and those which had lower I used more. I topped that with wormcastings. I have not used this technique before. I hope I did not fuck up. I gave few pots with plants in them to a friend which I handled in same way some time ago. He has not complained so I think they will do fine.

Next time I will get tests done.

Alt_organix · 01-23-2018, 01:38 AM

What do y'all do with your mulch layer? I have straw with cover crop growing out of it. When top dressing with amendments and worm castings would you move the straw first or do it right over everything.

growinthehills · 01-23-2018, 02:36 AM

I prefer to remove the mulch before I top dress and then place it back down on top of the top dress. That way I preserve the mulch. After I would top dress the worms would usually process everything within a week or so. I would also place all my prunings under the mulch and the worms would go crazy after that and process very quickly.

When you have a cover crop actively growing it is hard to remove the mulch. I would usually cut my cover crop sometime within the first month of flower since my canopy would shade it out so much that it would start die/ stretch any way. After I was done re-amending/top dressing I could plant a cover crop if I felt like it.

Alt_organix · 01-26-2018, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by growinthehills

I prefer to remove the mulch before I top dress and then place it back down on top of the top dress. That way I preserve the mulch. After I would top dress the worms would usually process everything within a week or so. I would also place all my prunings under the mulch and the worms would go crazy after that and process very quickly.

When you have a cover crop actively growing it is hard to remove the mulch. I would usually cut my cover crop sometime within the first month of flower since my canopy would shade it out so much that it would start die/ stretch any way. After I was done re-amending/top dressing I could plant a cover crop if I felt like it.

Thanks for the input about mulch layers. I've been curious what other people do.

01-09-2018, 05:42 AM	#1
Alt_organix Newbie Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 5	Refreshing No-till beds I was curious what the no-till growers do to refresh their beds for next harvest. Chop cover crops, turn mulch layer, bokashi's, soil tests, top dress's, ect?
	Quote

01-09-2018, 06:34 PM	#3
growingcrazy Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Michigans sunset coast Posts: 771	Test, add amendments according to test results. For $40, you will gain more than $40 worth of extra end product as a result.
	Quote 1 members found this post helpful.

01-22-2018, 03:42 AM	#4
FunkBomb Power Armor rules Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,595	Compost and mycos, topdress with different dry meals. -Funk __________________ Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so. Bertrand Russell
	Quote

01-09-2018, 04:06 PM	#2
growinthehills Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 141	I used to just top dress with a few amendments mixed with worm castings. I always wanted to get a soil test before I top dressed in order to have more knowledge before I "blindly" amended the soil but, over the years I never tested and never had an issue. I would recommend a soil test though.
	Quote

01-22-2018, 05:16 AM	#5
paradoxlost Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 244	Worms, long rooted cover crops, etc
	Quote

01-22-2018, 06:39 AM	#6
Bongi Member Join Date: Jul 2017 Posts: 85	Yesterday I did topdress with different amendments using spoon and just throwing number of spoonfulls out of my head. What had higher NPK I used less and those which had lower I used more. I topped that with wormcastings. I have not used this technique before. I hope I did not fuck up. I gave few pots with plants in them to a friend which I handled in same way some time ago. He has not complained so I think they will do fine. Next time I will get tests done.
	Quote

01-23-2018, 01:38 AM	#7
Alt_organix Newbie Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 5	What do y'all do with your mulch layer? I have straw with cover crop growing out of it. When top dressing with amendments and worm castings would you move the straw first or do it right over everything.
	Quote

01-23-2018, 02:36 AM	#8
growinthehills Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 141	I prefer to remove the mulch before I top dress and then place it back down on top of the top dress. That way I preserve the mulch. After I would top dress the worms would usually process everything within a week or so. I would also place all my prunings under the mulch and the worms would go crazy after that and process very quickly. When you have a cover crop actively growing it is hard to remove the mulch. I would usually cut my cover crop sometime within the first month of flower since my canopy would shade it out so much that it would start die/ stretch any way. After I was done re-amending/top dressing I could plant a cover crop if I felt like it.
	Quote