Mulch. Just do it.

[mugenbao]

I'm very interested to see how that moss works out. Please keep us updated

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

Will do mugenbao,

From what I've read and what Mad said, moss doesn't do well with nutes. A couple of gardening books I have indicate the best way to control moss in your lawn is to fertilize, so we'll see. Since I dont top feed, it might work.

I've been lurking in your sweet tooth thread. Looking frosty, mate.

 

[jaykush]

moss can end up "crawling" up your stems. not such a good thing.

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

If it goes there, it'll get the yanky yanky.

Thanks

 

[mad librettist]

I did my own write-up here of what I'll be trying and it'll be done in vert.

Bolivian Jew, Turtle Vine = Callisia repens

Habit: Rosetting stems are creeping or pendant with age; upright in juvenile growth. This sprawling plant covers ground quickly and easily; probably invasive in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Naturally terrestrial, lithophytic and epiphytic though epiphytic growth is likely broken away from an originally terrestrial stem base.

Height: Since stems are sprawling height is limited to 4 - 5" tall; forming mounds or "pillows".

Width\Diameter: In a healthy plant it may become hard to distinguish where a particular plant starts or stops. Rooting occurs easily at each node resulting in a carpeting effect. Each point of contact and subsequent rooting may result in new individuals crowns.

Experience tells me that it makes a dense mat of roots in the top 2" of soil and thins as you go deeper. I also know that it grows year-round without attention to season or day length. I have only seen this plant flower once in my possession in almost 10 years. Cuttings can be made by mutilating a plant and throwing on ground or in pot and cover with an inch of soil. I wonder about possible compound in this plant as it roots far easier than anything I've ever rooted.

EDIT:
Apparently Callisia are known to have medicinal effects, used in curing of stomach ailments, eye and gyno-issues......odd combo, right?!?!

how is this coming along?

 

[mad librettist]

I am gonna try to compile what we know so far about living mulch candidates. corrections appreciated.

microclover: this variety of dutch white clover is very hard to come by, but perfect for any size container. sow it thick. see dutch white clover for details.

dutch white clover: suitable for all but the smallest containers. White clover is a nitrogen fixer under the right conditions. It does a good job shading the soil and does not interfere with cannabis growth, rooting, or germination. Spreads by above ground stolons, and forms a mat of shallow roots. Can be used alone for increased bio-activity at soil surface, water management, and as green manure. Can host some of the same mycorhizae as cannabis. Tolerates some mowing if well established.

crimson clover: suitable for 5 gallon containers and up. tap-rooted. Forms a thick carpet that creates a nanoclimate from the soil surface up about 6 inches. Same compatibility with cannabis as other clovers. does not do well with mowing. Crimson clover flowers when the day becomes longer than 12 hours.

chickweed - chickweed should be sown very sparingly in larger containers. great with crimson clover. perfect for chop and drop to feed your soil.

chamomile - definitely harmless.

yarrow: yarrow seems to be a good companion for cannabis but does not do especially well under lights.

purslane - harmless but does not do well under lights

squash: squash should be chopped and dropped as they shade too much soil. squash as a companion should be reserved for the very largest containers and outdoor cultivation in the ground

 

[descivii]

Hey Mad,
Funny you brought that up cause my wifi card went down again but my girl just got a laptop last night so I'm gonna be tryin to get some updated pics up. Kids nappin, this is perfect time so off I go. I'll post some pics of my living mulch as well as update my own thread.

 

[silver hawaiian]

you betcha! 15gal smartpots. will be transplanting into them in 1-2 weeks.

Mad L

Did you plant the clover from seed? What kind of clover? (I did an Amazon search -- probably not the best source for seeds -- and the response for "Micro clover seeds" turned up a Red Clover, ..?

 

[mad librettist]

yes I am doing everything from seed so far.

microclover is probably a no go until next year, unfortunately. It got snapped up by the turf market, because it is very good for ballfields.

what size containers are you running?



also, I just yanked a crimson clover specimen out of a no-till container that did not rest and is now hosting a seedling. The tap root is about 4 inches, and the branching roots show extensive nodulation. the nodules are light colored and numerous.

 

[silver hawaiian]

yes I am doing everything from seed so far.

microclover is probably a no go until next year, unfortunately. It got snapped up by the turf market, because it is very good for ballfields.

what size containers are you running?



also, I just yanked a crimson clover specimen out of a no-till container that did not rest and is now hosting a seedling. The tap root is about 4 inches, and the branching roots show extensive nodulation. the nodules are light colored and numerous.

Well, .. I'm about to shut down the organic situation for the time being, though I'm going to have a bunch of herbs (right-handed ones) inside this winter, ..

Doing this next run DWC because I've got a bunch of free nutes, but I expect to be going back to an organic deal after this run, ..

The micro clover seems like a fantastic idea, .. I've actually got a couple clover volunteers in the same 1 gal smartpot as my Headband, .. Nothing like yours, though.

 

[mad librettist]

we´ll be here for you when you are ready to come back

 

[rrog]

we´ll be here for you when you are ready to come back

That's funny

 

[descivii]

Hey All,
Again, bare with me on these ipod pics. Everything is looking good but they certainly don't dominate, I don't let them. I cut the "mulch" back when it reaches about 4" tall. I just leave it on the soil surface and usually crumble it up later when it has thoroughly dried.

 

[Microbeman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QqegC9L24E

 

[Spaceman_Spliff]

Thanks for the inspiration, I remember the first time I made sure to get worms and eggs in my soil. I didn't know what to expect, certainly I didn't expect to see worms living still in the soil and in the res. below, at the end of a 3.5 month run. Ihad to quit growing for a while so that soil got used for other projects by my daughter so i am starting over. I have some old base to recycle in and I have been replenishing my ammendment stockpile slowly but surely, picking up 2 worm bins fully running I found on craigslist for $10 each and a 30 pound bag of castings from a local worm farm. I will also use mushroom compost, coco, recycle mix and pearlite as my base. I bought a pound of crimsen clover at the nursery so I will get the soil mixed and in pots so I can get that clover established.

Peace, SSSSpaceman SSSpliff

 

[unthing]

well, i just had to try this for my little fall project. no-till, there used to be a tomato in there, now dug out and replaced with seedling of fem variety, maybe 5-6 days old. i'll put a update pic maybe within a week to show it manages. standard white clover as cover crop, container is 30 litres or roughly 8 gallons. looks a bit yellow because of flash.

 

[mad librettist]

awesome unthing!

you are going to have to watch that one at this stage. The clover will enter that circle you have around your seedling. It's not a bad thing, just check everyday and chop anything that is growing too far into the circle until the seedling is taller. I see you have seeds in the circle, which is also good. Your eventual goal is total coverage.

So far this seems to work -

with seeds, sow directly into the clover bed, and when it sprouts clear a little circle around it (use snippers, don't pull)

with rooted clones, as long as the clone is taller than the clover you don't need to clear away an opening.




I feel the most important place to have your secondary plants is the very outer edge of a pot, especially a smart pot.

 

[rrog]

It's fun to see so many people doing this technique.

 

[mad librettist]

I certainly did not foresee this level of interest when I started the thread, although the concept now seems really obvious. But the fact is, nobody I know of was doing this indoors before the thread started.

There is still no guide to living mulches that can work for everyone. That will come as more and more people experiment and report their results. The next plant I am trying will be a true companion plant, not just a mulch.

So far, as companions, I have tried purslane (upright cultivar), chamomile, and yarrow. Up next is Lupinus albus, an N fixer known for dumping lots of citric acid into the soil.

 

[mugenbao]

I feel the most important place to have your secondary plants is the very outer edge of a pot, especially a smart pot.

I agree with this intuitively, but was wondering if you'd expand on your reasoning here please.

I really love this thread! After trying clover as a living mulch, I'm pretty hooked, and quite satisfied with my results. Thanks for spreading the knowledge