I had a couple volunteers pop up. Decided to keep 'em around and see what they turn into.
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Mulch. Just do it.
- Thread starter Dignan
- Start date
A lot of my living mulch comes from the leftovers of my sprout/enzyme teas. In the beginning of the grow I'll remove the seeds from the tea throw them on top of the soil and water them in. Right now I have a mix of some Barley/Rye/Wheat/Sunflower/Amaranth growing under my lady. The amaranth is the first to go as it's the smallest and easily overgrown by the Barley/Rye/Wheat. The sunflowers are the second to go when they get cut down during the first maintenance trimming. Ultimately I end up with the Barley/Rye/Wheat growing along with the plant. They grow pretty fast and snake their way up through the MJ to get to the light. I'll cut them down to about a 1/2 inch once they start growing up and into the MJ. Don't think I can kill them unless I til them into the soil. I'll post a pic tomorrow when the lights come on.
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BlueJayWay
The top one - lemon balm maybe? has the looks i think...
bottom one could be lambsquarters? kinda hard to tell actually....
I'd love to see picture of it - I'll let my barley grow up also and tend to clip it back to the topsoil...there's just one or two or three here or there, I enjoy watching and monitoring how other plants will perform under the canopy in the no-tills...
B
BlueJayWay
ah man velcro, good idea, lol why haven't i tried that - does it hold down thick sturdy branches well?
that's a thick undercanopy mulch! nice!
that's a thick undercanopy mulch! nice!
BlueJayWay,
The velcro will hold down the sturdy branches but will also pull the fabric towards/away from the plant (depending of course on how past the edge of the pot the plant grows). My attempt at countering this was to line the soils edge with a broccoli plants stem and branches, and building up layers of mulch/compost to try and reinforce it. It worked OK for the first week or so until the broccoli started to decompose and lost most of it's rigidity.
I'm happy with the results and learned what to do better next time. That plant is a cutting I chose because it naturally topped itself. I've been experimenting with her for a while now. We had a little case of the spider mites and my way of ultimately dealing with it was to chop the plant down to about 1/3 of it's size, cover the soil with a plastic bag, and run it under the tubs faucet to give her a good cleaning. She probably had 10 fan leaves on her at that point. From there I began a IPM routine consisting of Neem meal, Cilantro, and Mint foliars, I wrote everything I did/fed to the plant/soil on a spreadsheet, and started training her. She is now a spider mite free bush who will be put under 12/12 soon.
The velcro will hold down the sturdy branches but will also pull the fabric towards/away from the plant (depending of course on how past the edge of the pot the plant grows). My attempt at countering this was to line the soils edge with a broccoli plants stem and branches, and building up layers of mulch/compost to try and reinforce it. It worked OK for the first week or so until the broccoli started to decompose and lost most of it's rigidity.
I'm happy with the results and learned what to do better next time. That plant is a cutting I chose because it naturally topped itself. I've been experimenting with her for a while now. We had a little case of the spider mites and my way of ultimately dealing with it was to chop the plant down to about 1/3 of it's size, cover the soil with a plastic bag, and run it under the tubs faucet to give her a good cleaning. She probably had 10 fan leaves on her at that point. From there I began a IPM routine consisting of Neem meal, Cilantro, and Mint foliars, I wrote everything I did/fed to the plant/soil on a spreadsheet, and started training her. She is now a spider mite free bush who will be put under 12/12 soon.
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BlueJayWay
Awesome - I like using cilantro also - every couple weeks when I'm the grocery store I pick up a bundle of organic cilantro and make a tea....
D
Durdy
Anybody ever use Mediterranean clover as a living mulch?
Trifolium Spumosum
I local farmer I know uses this as a cover crop on his orchards.
In comparison to the white / red clover it's not supposed to use as much water.
Trifolium Spumosum
I local farmer I know uses this as a cover crop on his orchards.
In comparison to the white / red clover it's not supposed to use as much water.
B
BlueJayWay
Interesting Durdy - oddly enough it grows wild in Florida, but not listed for any other states....
I'm switching to Crimson Clover from Red Clover in the no-tills....
I'm switching to Crimson Clover from Red Clover in the no-tills....
D
Durdy
What's the reason for the switch?
I've been using dutch white micro clover
I've been using dutch white micro clover
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bajangreen
It would be interesting if every one had "spreed sheets" to compare what they do.
Thanks for the Velcro tip.
bless
Thanks for the Velcro tip.
bless
D
dogfishheadie
up you go.
for watching and 
B
BlueJayWay
I read crimson clover fixes the highest amount of nitrogen, plus it has beautiful blooms!
I had tried sourcing micro clover since its the lowest growing but had trouble finding it solo, not in a grass mix....haven't had any issues with the red clover getting too large, its actually perfect once little clusters become established - going on several months in some of the no-tills, even transplanting it is a breeze....
RanchoDeluxe
Member
Wow. A potato plant as a living mulch? I try to be open-minded but....
i can dig it
one time i had mice in my grow space who took up residency in the potting soil/made fucking tunnels in it and; when i would go in to water; either they'd sit in there and squeek around all terrified or; they'd blaze out of the hole and rip out of the growspace through their little mousehole
soft-hearted me just finished out the grow then sealed 'em off but the 2 pots they moved in to {and there would be all kinds of fresh soil kicked up out of the pots on to the floor} did just fine in spite of the mice burrows
talk about living soil
one time i had mice in my grow space who took up residency in the potting soil/made fucking tunnels in it and; when i would go in to water; either they'd sit in there and squeek around all terrified or; they'd blaze out of the hole and rip out of the growspace through their little mousehole
soft-hearted me just finished out the grow then sealed 'em off but the 2 pots they moved in to {and there would be all kinds of fresh soil kicked up out of the pots on to the floor} did just fine in spite of the mice burrows
talk about living soil
M
MrSterling
This thread may need some tidying as I've tried something new for my experiences and merged the living and regular mulch threads together and then stickied it. The result may be jarring. I've stickied it for a general mulch discussion thread.
