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Mulch. Just do it.

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
why thank you!

Here is a fresh container, newly seeded. Let's follow along as clover, purslane, and chickweed start to grow.

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mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
I think your indoor mulch is neat, but other than a Zen factor, I really don't see the benefit inside. What clover contributes, it contributes mostly after it is chopped and dropped. Outside it has many qualities and is an aid in creating micro environments.
I am trying the DE with cuttings. I really haven't attempted clones before.
I did add clover to the box as well as a bare rooted bell pepper.
The idea was to give me a visual way to judge water quality and quantity. and to provide roots to support fungal activity.
I appreciate the ideas.
What clover contributes, it contributes mostly after it is chopped and dropped.
you mean like when I chop and drop it repeatedly during veg and early flower, leaving root material to die back and a mulch when most people don't have enough plant material for full coverage?

You also forgot to consider what happens when the scrog canopy shades the clover and many individuals die off.

Outside it has many qualities and is an aid in creating micro environments.
and the roof over my head robs it of this power? No it does not. This by the way, it contributes before being chopped and dropped. Under the clover, wigglers hang out in broad daylight. Activity is increased tremendously. Moisture is taken from a few inches below to the very surface of the soil. Rooting and development of clones also seems to be enhanced by the clover bed. Aphids, thrips, mites, and other pests could be living in there with predators and never bother me. Clover supports the same species of mycorrhizae as cannabis.



You also did not take my advice in another thread to look after the clover and the cannabis will follow. It's like I tell you to watch the canary, and you tell me you have it under control by watching the other miners.

All this from a guy who criticizes people for scoffing at gravity without trying it. SO please try the living mulch before you complain. And if it doesn't satisfy you there are many more species to try.

watch the canary.


living mulch benefits:
1)life support for young clones
2)frequent chop and drop in veg
3)micro-climate
4)increased available root habitat (upper layers)
5)increased critter habitat
6)can be edible (purslane)
7)dies back in flower
8)early warning system for deficiencies
9)improved soil structure throughout the grow
 
C

CC_2U

Mad

On applying the regular 'White Dutch Clover' to your garden plots it's important to read the package directions.

"Apply 1 lb. to 2,000 square feet" turns out to be quite different when you drop one of the zeroes and apply 1 lb. to 200 square feet of soil.

Big difference - LMAO

CC
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
lmfao that might be a carpet CC! I have it that thick in my containers, but it only takes a minute to mow.

lmfao

I gave some seeds to a relative, and when I went out there it looked like he had mulched with clover seeds.
 
C

CC_2U

Mad

Did the Dichondra lawn deal hit your part of the world way back when?

That's what it looks like - dichondra.

CC

dichondra.jpg
 
C

CC_2U

Is it possible to have a ground cover that is too dense as far as the root structure? I may be approaching critical mass in a few weeks.

CC
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
when planting stuff into thick clover here, i just cut it to ground level. plant what i want and water. by the time what i planted is established the clover has recovered and they grow well together.

you can also do seedballs when dealing with larger areas outdoors.
 

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
you mean like when I chop and drop it repeatedly during veg and early flower, leaving root material to die back and a mulch when most people don't have enough plant material for full coverage?

You also forgot to consider what happens when the scrog canopy shades the clover and many individuals die off.


and the roof over my head robs it of this power? No it does not. This by the way, it contributes before being chopped and dropped. Under the clover, wigglers hang out in broad daylight. Activity is increased tremendously. Moisture is taken from a few inches below to the very surface of the soil. Rooting and development of clones also seems to be enhanced by the clover bed. Aphids, thrips, mites, and other pests could be living in there with predators and never bother me. Clover supports the same species of mycorrhizae as cannabis.



You also did not take my advice in another thread to look after the clover and the cannabis will follow. It's like I tell you to watch the canary, and you tell me you have it under control by watching the other miners.

All this from a guy who criticizes people for scoffing at gravity without trying it. SO please try the living mulch before you complain. And if it doesn't satisfy you there are many more species to try.

watch the canary.


living mulch benefits:
1)life support for young clones
2)frequent chop and drop in veg
3)micro-climate
4)increased available root habitat (upper layers)
5)increased critter habitat
6)can be edible (purslane)
7)dies back in flower
8)early warning system for deficiencies
9)improved soil structure throughout the grow
I am trying it. Not following in your footsteps. Doing it my own way..
The roof over you head gives you the ability to control climate. Clover becomes redundant and is simply a form of play.
It doesn't provide life support.
Can chop from a different area.
I don't need it for micro climate.
There is only decreased root habitat.
I get critters with any mulch.
I can eat it.I don't. If I did, it would be in my garden.
It does die.
Don't have a deficiency problem. Don't need an early warning.
Improved soil structure is dependent on original soil structure.
Zen. It is tranquil.
A canary in a coal mine? I'm not in a coal mine.
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
I am trying it. Not following in your footsteps. Doing it my own way..
The roof over you head gives you the ability to control climate. Clover becomes redundant and is simply a form of play.
It doesn't provide life support.
Can chop from a different area.
I don't need it for micro climate.
There is only decreased root habitat.
I get critters with any mulch.
I can eat it.I don't. If I did, it would be in my garden.
It does die.
Don't have a deficiency problem. Don't need an early warning.
Improved soil structure is dependent on original soil structure.
Zen. It is tranquil.
A canary in a coal mine? I'm not in a coal mine.


I say this with love, hh: stop talking out of your ass. All I see is lack of experience.

The roof over you head gives you the ability to control climate. Clover becomes redundant and is simply a form of play.

and the HPS under the roof combined with the wind to cool it has a tendency to dry out the upper layers of soil. The even moisture under a living mulch is unmatched by anything I have seen.

It doesn't provide life support.
It gives aid and succor to young cuttings, allowing me to spend less time rooting and therefore less time with extra plants in my home.


Can chop from a different area.

go for it then. I am going the easy way


I don't need it for micro climate.

I think just your head might be in its own dark, damp, and warm micro climate. Pull it out of there.

There is only decreased root habitat.

bullshit! I have never had such copious rooting in the upper layer, and where i have bare patches the soil is dry and the roots are way below. The clover mulch not only increases effective root habitat for the cannabis, it does it in the most biologically active region of the container. Clover does not suppress cannabis. It's also possible for multiple individuals to be infected by the same fungus, so I think of my clover as a "bank" for keeping mycorrhizae.


I get critters with any mulch.
really? you get critters that need live plants to live on dead plant material? Please show us how.

I can eat it.I don't. If I did, it would be in my garden.

so is that a rule? If you can eat it you should not grow it with your cannabis? that is a wasteful attitude. I have so much light and soil space going to waste during veg. why not get some food and diversity out of it?

Don't have a deficiency problem. Don't need an early warning.

you have a deficiency alright - insufficient curiosity and humility. You are managing to iritate even the new and improved MadLib.

Improved soil structure is dependent on original soil structure.

most container soils with "poor" structure are superior in terms of CEC and moisture retention. The problem is they have no air. If you colonize it well with roots though, you maintain your higher CEC and moisture retention, while establishing drainage and aeration. If you apply the same roots to a "well structured" container mix, you don't wind up with an aeration or drainage advantage, but you do have lower CEC and you need to water more.
 
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I went around the yard picking up old leaves, grass clippings, chunks of rotting stumps and the mushrooms that were growing on them. Chopped and mixed this into my first indoor mulch, bugs, worms and all. I top dressed with some castings from my bin chock full o' worms and covered that with the mulch. So far so good! I've seen a few bugs here and there, including a curious beetle who seemed uninterested in the clone he was climbing on, but nothing malicious. I love pulling back the mulch and finding all my worms hanging out on the moist soil surface. They're still very active and loving life. Quite psyched about making the leap to convert my grow into this micro-ecosystem.


edit: If anyone's wondering, these are C99 F2 clones from the GN collection...my first run with them. They're in 3 gallon smart pots under a 150w hps and 2 42w 6500k cfls in a mini fridge (hps turned off for pics). Recycled roots organic soil amended w/ EWC, perlite, rice hulls, some old leftover POM Fruit & Flower, kelp, greensand, dolo lime, azomite, and watered with your basic AACT. They're off the same mother, but the girl on the right got a bit of a head start.
 

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mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
Some day I wil find the perfect woman. For one, she will be really into certain fetishes of mine, but that's not the point here. When the perfect woman catches me napping on my chores, she won't nag me. She will gently say, "Madlib, did you mow the lawn?".

I will say "Yes dear, look! Now about that reward...":

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lol on the left: 8 miles high. improvised soil mimx based on composted mixed barks, topsoil, and compost.

on the right: unmomming a mandala 1 mom. she's in mostly worm bin EWC and rice hulls. I think.


I think if my plants could talk they would say "make whatever mix you want, just don't put me there alone".
 

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
I'll say this with love. All I see are ordinary looking plants surrounded by clover backed up with a lot of hype.Clover is fun to play with. It's a waste of potting soil otherwise.
 
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