Does anyone wanna talk about cover crops?

[Growdo Baggins]

I've read some stuff that makes a lot of sense about them not really having a place indoors. Mostly due to increased pest pressure, labor savings of not running them, if you're you're getting a soil test and amending based on that then it's another variable to consider. Also it would be considered more companion planting rather than a traditional cover crop that you would sow when your cash crop wasn't in the soil.

I wasn't planning on running a cover crop in my first living soil bed. But lately I've been thinking all those extra roots and rhizosphere is going to add to the biology of my new living soil. I want to get the life in the soil going as quickly as I can. Most of the reasons behind not doing it were with a commercial facility in mind. I think in my situation, for me, the benefit is there.

I thought I'd run dichondra, bc I read and heard clover can be worse for pests. And the extra N fixing it does can just be added with amendments. I would like to hear anyone else's opinion. I didn't find any threads about this when I searched.

 

[midwestkid]

sounds like you are wanting someone to talk you into it?

do it.

 

[Growdo Baggins]

sounds like you are wanting someone to talk you into it?

do it.

You have any recommendations on what to grow?

 

[chilliwilli]

White clover should share mycorhiza with cannabis.

All n fixers also need inoculation with the right bacteria to do the fixing indoors. Even outdoors f.e. when there was no clover in the soil for some years inoculation with rhizobium is needed to get the n fixing going.

 

[X15]

Yeah I’ll talk about the clover in the build a soil cover crop mix. That shit is way out of control lol. The last two years I’ve been removing it and it just comes back. So I don’t run clover in mine anymore. Vetch is cool. Lots of D radish going down…. Really breaks up the soil.
Legumes go down as well.

Ps… this season I’ve had some clover mites in the outdoor garden. They don’t seem to be bothering anything but the clover lol.

Much respect!

 

[Growdo Baggins]

Yeah I’ll talk about the clover in the build a soil cover crop mix. That shit is way out of control lol. The last two years I’ve been removing it and it just comes back. So I don’t run clover in mine anymore. Vetch is cool. Lots of D radish going down…. Really breaks up the soil.
Legumes go down as well.

Ps… this season I’ve had some clover mites in the outdoor garden. They don’t seem to be bothering anything but the clover lol.

Much respect!

Thanks dude. I think I will start away from clover. I'm going to check out what vetch is

 

[Old Piney]

How about something useful like bush or pole green beans or snap peas, if you grow a legume like these be sure to get the proper inoculate for maximum nitrogen fixing

 

[Three Berries]

I used some Hairy Vetch one year. You got to be careful with it or it can take over in colder climates. Vine with purple flowers that can overwinter but doesn't seem to like dry and hot. Worked pretty good on my pond bank clay. This year I planted Buckwheat. Annual rye too is a good legume and root builder.

 

[Old Piney]

I used some Hairy Vetch one year. You got to be careful with it or it can take over in colder climates. Vine with purple flowers that can overwinter but doesn't seem to like dry and hot. Worked pretty good on my pond bank clay. This year I planted Buckwheat. Annual rye too is a good legume and root builder.

A good legume for outside in the hot weather is cowpea aka black-eyed pea cheep seed easy to get at the grocery store. It's a simi runner and smothers weed well but not perennial and easy to kill

 

[Three Berries]

Some farmers around here plant rye in the spring and then about end of May sow their soybeans directly into the rye crop. They get cover from the dying rye and it's a legume as is soybeans.

 

[St. Phatty]

It's whatever grows, man.

THAT is the cover crop.

 

[X15]

Something I like to use cover crop for in potted plants or beds…. To aid in soil maturation…
After I mix up some soil I’ll fill my containers and plant some cover crop… let that grow for a few weeks then I’ll plant the clones or from seed plants… that time of just having the cover crop in the containers helps mature things (root pathways for water ways is the main goal imo). Pull or pluck areas where the plants will go and plant your plants. Kinda primes the soil… as the plants grow the cover crop starts to die off and I’m ok with that. The priming aspect is my main use now when talking indoors.

 

[Growdo Baggins]

Something I like to use cover crop for in potted plants or beds…. To aid in soil maturation…
After I mix up some soil I’ll fill my containers and plant some cover crop… let that grow for a few weeks then I’ll plant the clones or from seed plants… that time of just having the cover crop in the containers helps mature things (root pathways for water ways is the main goal imo). Pull or pluck areas where the plants will go and plant your plants. Kinda primes the soil… as the plants grow the cover crop starts to die off and I’m ok with that. The priming aspect is my main use now when talking indoors.

That's really all explained dude. And it's really exactly the reason I thought a cover crop would benefit my soil. I'll prob have some time before the plants get to the bed that I could grow a cover crop in there. Then either let it die or maybe even just turn it all in when I plant to cannabis.

 

[Chunkypigs]

I've read some stuff that makes a lot of sense about them not really having a place indoors. Mostly due to increased pest pressure, labor savings of not running them, if you're you're getting a soil test and amending based on that then it's another variable to consider. Also it would be considered more companion planting rather than a traditional cover crop that you would sow when your cash crop wasn't in the soil.

I wasn't planning on running a cover crop in my first living soil bed. But lately I've been thinking all those extra roots and rhizosphere is going to add to the biology of my new living soil. I want to get the life in the soil going as quickly as I can. Most of the reasons behind not doing it were with a commercial facility in mind. I think in my situation, for me, the benefit is there.

I thought I'd run dichondra, bc I read and heard clover can be worse for pests. And the extra N fixing it does can just be added with amendments. I would like to hear anyone else's opinion. I didn't find any threads about this when I searched.

sounds like you are taking everything one indoor soil bed "method" says as gold. the latest science studies on cover crops and forage feed suggests that having dozens of surface crops creates something called quorum sensing where a large diverse bunch of plants sharing root space are able to help all thrive in a way that doesn't happen when there are just a few. happens in the soil microbes also, good info on youtube. check out Johnson-Su compost from Dr. Johnson and their research.

the bulk of my cover crop is a variety of different covers but I put many salad crops and table herbs, vetch and other common ag covers but the clover dominates in my climate outside.

this is how one bed looked a few hours ago.



ehh IC mag failure of pictures still, prolly should be having this convo in the "basement".

I watched dozens do the indo beds in the Crescive private group and have all kinds of results with different cover crops. if you want to bring the outside inside you are going to have to get used to bugs IMO. my friends who sell their weed don't typically want any bugs inside. one of the main reasons I went fully outdoor for my meds was that I didn't want to spray anything and I don't outside anymore. the bugs can have their share of my garden, I have no need for IPM, mother nature is my IPM now. look into the cost of shipping for predatory insects and you will see it's impractical for most personal sized grow or small op.

cover crops don't inhibit my ability to soil test at all. if someone tries to sell you a bug resistant monocrop cover crop that costs 10x as much as clover you might want to ask around elsewhere and keep your eyes open on other sites where more growers are doing the indoor bed thing.

 

[Creeperpark]

A good ground cover is black-eyed peas or pinto beans to fixate nitrogen in the soil. Plant the seed 1/2 an inch or less deep and when they get knee-high cut them off at the ground leaving the roots buried. Replant and do it again leaving the old roots. Keep planting the ground cover, and let the last planting go to seed for next year. I can get 3 plantings in one Season counting the seed batch. It's amazing how well this improves the soil porosity in the soil as well as adds extra nitrogen to the soil. The plant's cuttings are super compost when shredded and composted.

 

[OntologicalTurn]

Well i grow tomatoes with my weed in my raised beds, i think they atract the white flys and they tend to prefer tomatoes leafs than weed leafs ,aswell they act as some kind of cammo. I let the clovers grow, and some of the wild weeds that don't have a deep root system, and some herbs like mint, coriander, parsley, purslane.

The flower that we call cempaxochitl and you guys call African merigold (actually is a mesoamerican plant) it's very good pest repelent

 

[OntologicalTurn]

A good ground cover is black-eyed peas or pinto beans to fixate nitrogen in the soil. Plant the seed 1/2 an inch or less deep and when they get knee-high cut them off at the ground leaving the roots buried. Replant and do it again leaving the old roots. Keep planting the ground cover, and let the last planting go to seed for next year. I can get 3 plantings in one Season counting the seed batch. It's amazing how well this improves the soil porosity in the soil as well as adds extra nitrogen to the soil. The plant's cuttings are super compost when shredded and composted.

Yeah, every kind of beans can fix the nitrogen, it's good to cut them before open the flowers, and let the roots alive in the soil

 

[Cactus Squatter]

How about something useful like bush or pole green beans or snap peas, if you grow a legume like these be sure to get the proper inoculate for maximum nitrogen fixing

I run snap peas around my outdoor plants so I have snacks when I’m inspecting them.

 

[midwestkid]

im cover cropping with rye and clover mainly

 

[TresPlantas]

Hey,


I‘m looking for input on covercrops myself at the moment.
I stumbled across this video and I think it‘s pretty helpfull.



He points out some of the pros and cons of certain covercrops.
Buckwheat for example ist a fast grower (flower after 30 days) and a good nitrogen fixer.
Whereas legumes are better for creating biomass which than can be cut and used as a mulch. That should be interesting in an outdoor environment.
The channel ist not targeting cannabisplants but has a lot of stuff about covercrops, no till and living soil.

My plan for the future ist to find a no till approach for outdoor growing with only topdressing (ideally using only materials from my own garden)

I just ordered his book (The living soil handbook) as a starting point.

Cheers