MotherLode Gardens 2016

[Shcrews]

plants are looking good for the most part. putting up trellis today. might be time for more soil tests soon to see what i'm dealing with going into flower next month. I ordered the recommended micronutrients , also a Horiba K meter . maybe will actually start using all this stuff soon.

been doing weekly AEA foliar and root drench, plants seem to like it, everything is perky.

edit: if the gophers are stunting the plants i havent noticed, although i'm not sure what to look for

 

[theJointedOne]

Did you rake up the cover crop you cut down, or do you leave it to break down on the mound?

Glad things are.going good for ya.

 

[plantingplants]

Fyi, regarding whether or not to leave the chopped cover crop, leadsled told me for my soil it would be good to remove the cover crop after cutting and not let it redeposit its nutrients, to help remove the excess. Just something to consider.

 

[DAT]

plants are looking good for the most part. putting up trellis today. might be time for more soil tests soon to see what i'm dealing with going into flower next month. I ordered the recommended micronutrients , also a Horiba K meter . maybe will actually start using all this stuff soon.

been doing weekly AEA foliar and root drench, plants seem to like it, everything is perky.

edit: if the gophers are stunting the plants i havent noticed, although i'm not sure what to look for

OH NO! Dont say that Screws! NOOOO!
what are you going to do to stop those little bastards? I had a huge mole problem at my house in Washington State. Those things drove me NUTS!!!! they are so super destructive. The neighborhood cat was ace at hunting them down and killing them, which helped a little. I tried traps, didnt work. I some killer food, it might have worked, not sure. Then next step was I was going to fume them out by attatching a long vacumme like hose to my car exhaust and then try to kill them with carbon monoxide. good luck pal. Got my fingers crosssed things are going as planned.

 

[Shcrews]

Did you rake up the cover crop you cut down, or do you leave it to break down on the mound?

Glad things are.going good for ya.

i left it on the mounds

Fyi, regarding whether or not to leave the chopped cover crop, leadsled told me for my soil it would be good to remove the cover crop after cutting and not let it redeposit its nutrients, to help remove the excess. Just something to consider.

idk i think i want to just leave it. it seems to help the mounds.

 

[Stone House]

Couple other way to go after gophers.
When I was a kid we would stick a gardenhose into the gopher hole and flood him out,
if there aren't too many tunnels this should work.
You just turn on the water, grab a chair,light one up and wait until that wet little bastard crawls out of a nearby hole. This method wastes alot of water. When he crawls out sic your dog on him or flatten him with a shovel.
My old landlord had about a three foot long hollow tool that you could push into the ground near the gopher hole, when you felt the tool slide into the ground with little resistance you know you located a tunnel. You then pull a trigger on the tool and it injects poison pellets into the tunnel.
This way was used in his vineyard, not sure where to buy one, farm supply maybe.

 

[Noonin NorCal]

heres a 6-ft tall Ancient OG, more room to breathe after cutting the cover crop:

View Image

I wonder once that shit you chopped finally dries will it act like straw?

 

[Noonin NorCal]

deer come on the hill but they've never messed with my plants. theres lots of vegetation around for them to eat. I'll be surprised if they are attracted to the mounds. I'm more worried about gophers. they are tearing up the hillside.

look into blood meal or bone meal i forget which one. they say hang it and the deer will stay clear. but that might attract a couple bears lol

 

[redlaser]

I'd suggest to be proactive on the gophers regardless if you put down gopher wire. There's a lot more underground than you think. I manage a 7 acre vineyard and never stop trapping or gassing them. We've got 60+in one month before.
Here's the easiest product to kill em. http://cinchtraps.com

That cinch trap looks effective, a lot better than the spike type traps used for moles. You have to stay on top of moles or gophers or voles or they will take over.

When you say gassing them are you talking about blasting them with propane or using another gas?

 

[Hillside Growin]

There's a machine called a cheetah that is a small gas engine that you stick the exhaust hose into the hole and run it for 90 seconds. The cinch traps are pretty simple as well, just find an active hole and stick it in. It trips the spring when comes to the surface, it suffocates instantly.
I also stomp holes and tunnels to make it not as easy for them to return. They like water and tilled soft dirt, but I've see them go threw asphalt.

 

[Biosynthesis]

The gophers seem to be in my garden to eat the bugs in the rich soil, not the roots or plants themselves. The machine you are talking about can be made free of charge by exhausting any motor into the hole. For example your lawn mower or rototiller. Just thought I would add my thoughts fellas. Don't mean to step on any toes.

 

[Sluicebox]

Couple other way to go after gophers.
When I was a kid we would stick a gardenhose into the gopher hole and flood him out,
if there aren't too many tunnels this should work.
You just turn on the water, grab a chair,light one up and wait until that wet little bastard crawls out of a nearby hole. This method wastes alot of water. When he crawls out sic your dog on him or flatten him with a shovel.
My old landlord had about a three foot long hollow tool that you could push into the ground near the gopher hole, when you felt the tool slide into the ground with little resistance you know you located a tunnel. You then pull a trigger on the tool and it injects poison pellets into the tunnel.
This way was used in his vineyard, not sure where to buy one, farm supply maybe.

Yep on the above^^^ Flood em and blast em with a 12 ga. Ruined a good hose doing that once lol.

 

[orechron]

Gophers eat plants, moles are the ones eating the bugs. The first year I lost plants, they chewed through 7-8 stems in one night. Wire baskets from then on and I never lost a plant in later years.

 

[Stone House]

I wonder once that shit you chopped finally dries will it act like straw?

I chopped my "nitrogen fixing groundcover" a couple weeks ago because it got too tall (peas, oats and other stuff). After a week of the groundcover laying on the ground it turned yellow just like straw.
I then covered the mulched groundcover with about 2" of worm castings.
I have no idea what will happen but I hope it makes a feast for the microbes.
I would think it would be just like a straw mulch without the soil on top.

 

[Hemphrey Bogart]

I chopped my "nitrogen fixing groundcover" a couple weeks ago because it got too tall (peas, oats and other stuff). After a week of the groundcover laying on the ground it turned yellow just like straw.
I then covered the mulched groundcover with about 2" of worm castings.
I have no idea what will happen but I hope it makes a feast for the microbes.
I would think it would be just like a straw mulch without the soil on top.

I did something similar, but I covered everything with rice straw. Once you expose worm castings to sunlight and heat, they start breaking down pretty quickly.

I also tuck chopped up comfrey leaves under the rice straw and water with a light pepzyme mix to help break down everything. Seems to be working so far.

HB.

 

[inside out]

I have no idea what will happen but I hope it makes a feast for the microbes.
I would think it would be just like a straw mulch without the soil on top.

Sup.

what you said after you have no idea counts as an idea.

feast implies theres a scale when there isn't one. feeds the microbes would be a more helpful way to word that.

its sorta like if you said you cant think about it then said you had an idea it would be like straw mulch. takes longer for a reader to process that type of information then if its worded in correct sequence.

straw has more fluff then cover crop.

 

[Stone House]

yea, out of sequence is correct.
I should have said, the dried peas,vetch and oats should be like a straw mulch.
On top of this mulch I put 2" of worm castings as a test.
I don't understand why microbes couldn't "feast" on such a wonderful bounty, I think your being too technical.
The cover crop (oats) was almost 4'feet high and the peas/vetch was up to the tops of my cages, after cutting and laying the cover crop down it was 3" thick covering a 20 foot x 45 foot bed (no till). Pretty much just like straw (oats remember).

 

[inside out]

yea, out of sequence is correct.
I should have said, the dried peas,vetch and oats should be like a straw mulch.
On top of this mulch I put 2" of worm castings as a test.
I don't understand why microbes couldn't "feast" on such a wonderful bounty, I think your being too technical.
The cover crop (oats) was almost 4'feet high and the peas/vetch was up to the tops of my cages, after cutting and laying the cover crop down it was 3" thick covering a 20 foot x 45 foot bed (no till). Pretty much just like straw (oats remember).

its not available to all people in the same way as straw. most people choose different mixes of cover crops. makes it hard to discuss the topic when you add magic words. when you use those type of words in a place that revolves around numbers it makes passing on the information difficult for people who don't want to deal with the tony robbins wording. words like feast and wonderful bounty are better used in singular places not places where you are talking about more then 1 thing at a time. a lot of people tend to just listen to the most positive worded versions which creates a slower learning curve then is necessary and creates miscommunication a lot of time imo. if you show up during a time that person is only doing that stuff and applying that wording you might accidentally think there good mood has to do with your life, when its just coming from that part of there life which has nothing to do with your social relationship with them. which is where those terms came from. not from in the garden. its two separate places and you get more true results from not mixing them in that way.

 

[Shcrews]

I chopped my "nitrogen fixing groundcover" a couple weeks ago because it got too tall (peas, oats and other stuff). After a week of the groundcover laying on the ground it turned yellow just like straw.
I then covered the mulched groundcover with about 2" of worm castings.
I have no idea what will happen but I hope it makes a feast for the microbes.
I would think it would be just like a straw mulch without the soil on top.

if i do that then i'll have to re-do my dripline otherwise it will be buried. i'm just goin to let the stuff i chopped decompose

Sup.

hey dude missed you around here! hope things are looking up

 

[Shcrews]

did a lot of pruning today, lots of inner bullshit. My face was in the plants so long that i got hives on my forehead, and i had to jump in the shower and wash with Dr Brommers peppermint soap (shameless plug) to make the reaction stop. Tomorrow going to finish pruning and then start putting up trellis.

Plants are mostly healthy, some are growing faster than others but that is to be expected since i'm growing a bunch of different seeds. Most are dark green and growing fast but a couple are a bit pale. still, everything is perky and tracking the sun. I'm going to send in soil for a saturated paste test soon which i have read is a good way to see what the soil/plants need at the moment. I am also awaiting my horiba K meter.

weekly AEA/Tainio foliar and root drench definitely doesnt seem to be hurting, although i cant say i notice much difference yet in growth now vs. previous years.

been watering a lot, 20-30 gallons 2x per day. I would do less but it's really hot and the soil seems to dry out quickly. havent seen any adverse effects on the plants.