Mulch. Just do it.

[jenery]

Hemp plus nicotiana rustica

Hemp plus nicotiana rustica

Hello, i am not sure if somebody already tried this, but i just transplanted one hemp seedling to a little pot with nicotianas...



if i could keep the mapachos small the leaves can easily cover the soil and any dying plant material is full of N... Let's see

 

[FatherEarth]

So two years since the thread started, whats the overall consensus on the best mulch to use? My only concern is changing the PH or adding unknown things to the soil below. Im about to do some large indoor beds and am considering mulching to help the overall room humidity stay in check...

 

[h.h.]

Consensus? I think the only consensus is what the title says, "just do it."
I think the deciding factor in what is discussed here already would be, how much nature you want to bring indoors. On a large scale, going with something like the O.P. suggested might be simplest at least in the beginning. While I prefer a more layered lasagna, if not done right, it can become a haven for pests. Not a problem really though perhaps one needs to play around with it on a small scale before using it on a large scale.
It's all just different methods of doing the same thing.

 

[jenery]

living mulch with my plants

living mulch with my plants

hello everyone, here are some photos of the mulch i have, mix of mapacho, chamomile and clover, some grass as well... it seems to me like i do not have to water almost at all, could be that the living mulch retains the moisture really well, plus i have led lights and lower temperatures... anyway i really just spray the green carpet once a day and i water maybe 250ml every 5 days...

 

[DuckDuckGoose]

i have some white dutch clover seeds that i'm gonna plant. shit looks too cool not too. i don't care if it "works" or not, as long as it doesn't eff up my plants. i can't believe i was growing in coco using hydro nutes and all this awesome gardening was just a thread away...

 

[OrganicLearner]

If there is little bits of plastic, foam, paper, and other garbage mixed in with leaves would it cause harm to the leaf mold process?

 

[Scrappy4]

So two years since the thread started, whats the overall consensus on the best mulch to use? My only concern is changing the PH or adding unknown things to the soil below. Im about to do some large indoor beds and am considering mulching to help the overall room humidity stay in check...

I'm not sure about a consensus, other than you should have a healthy compost in your soil mix from the start, and or jump start and reinforce that microbe population with compost teas.

That good compost will also be the answer to any PH concerns.

I'm not sure how a mulch layer would affect humidity. I just use pots myself. And I water from the top so the mulch is always going through a wet/dry cycle.

One thing I do notice is a increase in bugs in and around the mulch layer. I see shredders and soil mites and spiders and some worms" and for that I'm gratefull and believe it wiuld be even better in a large soil bed.

Let us know how your soil bed does.....scrappy

 

[Scrappy4]

If there is little bits of plastic, foam, paper, and other garbage mixed in with leaves would it cause harm to the leaf mold process?

If the debris was somehow toxic to microbes it would. Maybe that foam could be toxic. I have old perlite in a lot of my compost and worm bins from old soil mixes from years past and that does not seem to hurt, but it does not help either, well other than for drainage.....scrappy

 

[OrganicLearner]

Yeah I try my best to sift through the leaves when bagging them but it makes the process much slower, I'm pretty sure some debris get past me not noticing them so I'm planning on sifting through them again before they get shredded and by then if there's still some trash mixed in with it I'm hoping it won't be enough to worry about...

 

[OrganicLearner]

Was also wondering if it's okay to use leaves picked up from the road/gutter and sidewalks?

 

[unthing]

jenery,

interesting blend there. you didn't have any trouble sprouting chamomile under led or whatever combo of light you're using? the op had troubles with it. idk if it's just hippie folklore but chamomile as companion plants supposedly brings more essential oils or something from plants that grow with it. might be total bs.

i can understand that some of us would see cover crop indoors sort of gimmicky and unpractical beyond hobbyist scale, but it's fun if nothing else i'm having white clover atm but i'd like to expand to couple other plants (chamomile high on the list) and beyond that fruiting mushrooms too. not sure if mushrooms would lure unwanted larvae with them.

 

[jenery]

Hi unthing, i believe that the chamomile sprouted with the others without any problems, i was trying to prepare the soil and mulch in advance for the transplant and the grow bags were in the corner not directly under the led light. hope you are right about the oils, i was thinking to harvest them then later for teas...

 

[NancyBotwin412]

Can living mulch be combined with a blumat system?

 

[rrog]

Yes. I do this now with clover

 

[mugenbao]

Can living mulch be combined with a blumat system?

Of course

I did exactly that for a couple of cycles, and was extremely pleased with the results.

Example (from the very first post in this thread, btw):

 

[rrog]

That's what I'm talking about!!!

 

[h.h.]

A little plastic won't hurt. I try to pick it out if I see it, I just don't worry about it.
Depending on where the road/gutter, sidewalk is. Watch for contaminants. Watch for areas that have been sprayed, Roundup, whatnot.

.

 

[NancyBotwin412]

I am in love! This takes companion planting indoors, I already employ these techniques in my vegetable garden. The blumat system is AMAZING and is what I have been waiting forever for. So cool.

 

[NancyBotwin412]

I have another question. When companion planting with a green mulch would CO2 consumption rise? In the sealed environment do you supplement CO2 at all?

 

[Neo 420]

I suppose I should of planted the clovers earlier in my pots. My plants are reaching four and five feet. So that kills most of the light spread..



As soon as I chop, the clovers get replanted.. No till ROLS style!!!