Mulch. Just do it.

[ookii]

I bought some rubber mulch from Lowes because the size of it looked like something I may be able to add into the soil along with DE to help with aeration. But I'm reading everywhere that it gives off toxic metals that will kill the plants. So I'm surprised to see claims that it could enhance yields.

Since I still have the bag around, I'd be interested to hear whether or not it's worth using at all or if it's just bad news.

 

[Lazyman]

rubber is not plastic

 

[mad librettist]

I bought some rubber mulch from Lowes because the size of it looked like something I may be able to add into the soil along with DE to help with aeration. But I'm reading everywhere that it gives off toxic metals that will kill the plants. So I'm surprised to see claims that it could enhance yields.

Since I still have the bag around, I'd be interested to hear whether or not it's worth using at all or if it's just bad news.

lol no rubber mulch does not belong anywhere near anything but a rubber grow.

kinda fun to say though.

rubber? I don't even know 'er!

 

[ookii]

Haha. Didn't even notice that, Lazy Man.

Oh well on the rubber mulch. I'll either throw it in the trash or take it back. Thanks for the answers. The brand name is RePlay which confused me thinking it would be similar to PlayBall.

 

[MrFista]

SS - sometimes things need a bit of drying but on a hot day, or ideally two hot days in a row, long grass is reduced to hay/straw easily just chop and drop. Watercress for mulch! Eat that shit it'll clean your lungs up. I eat it 3-4 times per week but mines not in a stream anywhere near any farms so I can eat it raw risk free.

I don't care about molds/trichoderma/fungi etc anymore. I have variety as much as possible, and plant specific things in several spots at once so if one spot gets hit the other should be ok etc. The no till mulch thing makes most problems quite simple just fuck off, and for seasonal extremities bringing PM and the like - it'd be far worse without the way I garden, so I grin and bear it. I've only lost the 1 zuchinni plant this year to mold. We got humidity up the wazoo all the aussie cyclones came visiting recently.

Artificial mulch is completely missing the point. Organic mulch is a constant supply of nutrients for a microherd, this is highly desirable.

 

[mad librettist]

Artificial mulch is completely missing the point. Organic mulch is a constant supply of nutrients for a microherd, this is highly desirable.

Amen!

you know, I've had some out of this world squash from plants covered in PM.


I think the ones that most often need drying before mulching are the broadleaf weeds. I like the way they crumble up almost into a meal, which is nice lightly raked into the surface for cole crops and such. That's how I like to prepare cannabis for self-mulching most of the time, along with a fresh layer. Seems to stimulate the worms.

 

[Corpsey]

does anyone have any experience with redwood mulch?

like this ground redwood bark?
http://www.lyngsogarden.com/index.c...ductgroup=MULCHES__SBP&groupname=Mulches#1226

 

[maxibiogreen]

nice thread

 

[maxibiogreen]

Mulch is a must in hot weather, also helps to slow evaporation when it is quite windy.
Don't make the same mistake as I did years back (on a huge outdoor bush), and learn the hard way that pine needles DO drop your soil pH after a few weeks of being used as mulch... one of my biggest losses to this day...
Michaeljordan, I guess you could use polished stones but you'd need quite a thick layer. The important part is to create several layers of air between your soil and the ambient air, which is what will help keep the moisture inside your soil and buffer temps.

Hi tropic and everyone else

Polished stone won t do much because they cannot retain water, they ll get excessivly hot when warm outside and won t hold water plus they will not attract usefull life around.
8-10 cm of Crushed branches (pieces of 1-3 inches) with a layer of hay on the top around 4 inches is what work best outdoor around here, you ll notify after few days the development of beneficial fungi on top of the soil.
If you use this directly from the start your plants will thrive for sure.
As for indoor since we generally do not have long growing time a simple layer of whatever material will do as long as it keeps your soil a little moist.
Do not forget to have something good enough to drain the container properly cos your plants will for sure not like to suffocate in this probably too wet environment.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

does anyone have any experience with redwood mulch?

like this ground redwood bark?
http://www.lyngsogarden.com/index.c...ductgroup=MULCHES__SBP&groupname=Mulches#1226

yourcorpse

In this part of the world the landscapers use either pine or fir 'bark dust' as it's called. Redwood would have to be imported from the People's Republic of California.

It's my understanding that redwood bark dust is used because it's effective at limiting 'weeds' from growing in flower gardens spread across surburbia.

I noticed that at the link you provided that they carry fir mulch/bark dust. At Dr. Elaine Ingham's Soil Food Web organization they sell a thermal compost product from the Klamath Falls Basin area which contains fir chips.

When I asked them why that particular wood by-product was used it was explained to me that fir, specifically, lacks some of the compounds found in other wood products which has been found to inhibit microbial activity.

That's their claim anyway.

HTH

CC

 

[Corpsey]

Interesting.
I was wondering which would be the better buy, fir or redwood.
I also have been trying to search online if redwood was allelopathic and have found mixed results. Some saying it is more concentrated in older trees (which are not logged) and in the outer bark, which the mulch i linked says ground redwood bark... so maybe not so good?


and this study from 30 years ago...
http://eap.mcgill.ca/PCMPC_6.htm

At the end of the monitoring period, plots with 4" of wood chip mulch contained an average of 7.496 weed cover; plots containing a 2" layer of wood chips showed an average of 11.936 weed cover; plots containing 2" of redwood bark mulch averaged 12.4% weed cover; and plots receiving no mulch averaged 30.296 weed cover

However, subsequent regular observations of the plots between August, 1982 and January, 1984 indicate that the plots containing 4 " of wood chips have remained virtually free of weed growth while plots containing 2" of redwood bark appear to have greater than 3096 weed cover. Plots with 2" of wood chip mulch have slightly more weed growth than the plots with 4" of mulch. The Ceda-chips mulch appears to have decomposed very little in the three years it has covered the plots while the redwood bark has decomposed markedly.

 

[jaykush]

you wont get as good of results mulching with a single product, specially a chipped wood/bark product. a single source of mulch will only contain a certain amount of minerals and nutrients, when you start adding different sources for mulch each contain different nutrients, which in turn provide everything your plants need rather than just one or two things. a diverse mulch stimulates microbial diversity and we all know thats what we want.

 

[wisco61]

I think I want to use a fungal based mulch for flower, and the only material that is coming off the top of my head for that is peat moss. What other things could I use to give my mulch a fungal lean for flowering? Or perhaps which materials are mostly bacteria leaning so I use those sparingly.

 

[Captain Ginyu]

I use grass clippings as mulch, & lay about one inch over the soil. Not only this works great for pots, but also prevents soil particles from being blown upward during wind, or watering, and sticking to the trichomes.

 

[jaykush]

I think I want to use a fungal based mulch for flower, and the only material that is coming off the top of my head for that is peat moss. What other things could I use to give my mulch a fungal lean for flowering? Or perhaps which materials are mostly bacteria leaning so I use those sparingly.

the best things for that are old leaf mold and old decomposed wood chips either aged years in a pile until you see fungal action beggining or a year in a fungal pit. think tree type stuff, not weedy/planty stuff.

grass would encourage bacterial decay.

but really you should just have a mulch with it all.

like the post i just said, the more things you add to the mulch = the more your covering your bases = the less thinking you have to do = the more enjoying your smoke you get to do.

 

[MrFista]

I must agree with Jay

1. Variety is key, and get the variety right you can forget about fertilisers as the mulch will replace them.

2. Leaf mold is awesome.

I also use small sticks, these go on the soil and other mulch on top, after a month or so lift the mulch and all the sticks are colonised with fungi. I mulch my weed stems in my weed plot, they break down over time, even the big ones. Mulch allows the soil interface to stay damp, this allows the soil food web to work on the mulch unhindered by drought, and the nutrient supply is constant.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

SS - sometimes things need a bit of drying but on a hot day, or ideally two hot days in a row, long grass is reduced to hay/straw easily just chop and drop. Watercress for mulch! Eat that shit it'll clean your lungs up. I eat it 3-4 times per week but mines not in a stream anywhere near any farms so I can eat it raw risk free.

I don't care about molds/trichoderma/fungi etc anymore. I have variety as much as possible, and plant specific things in several spots at once so if one spot gets hit the other should be ok etc. The no till mulch thing makes most problems quite simple just fuck off, and for seasonal extremities bringing PM and the like - it'd be far worse without the way I garden, so I grin and bear it. I've only lost the 1 zuchinni plant this year to mold. We got humidity up the wazoo all the aussie cyclones came visiting recently.

Artificial mulch is completely missing the point. Organic mulch is a constant supply of nutrients for a microherd, this is highly desirable.

Yeah i eat it alright. Tastes great. I know its packed with nutrients but its good for our lungs too... awesome

Theres loads of cress here so i can spare a bit. After couple days its nice and brown.

I dig what you guys are saying about the diversity. I have been taking whatever is at hand for my mulch now after using bales of hay. Much easier than carting heaps of stuff around.

 

[Scrappy4]

Would alfalfa meal make for a worthy mulch? I get it around here for $12 per 50lb from the farm supply store, so it would be cheap enough, but I'm concerned it might give my plants too much N in flower as a mulch. anyone? scrappy

 

[jaykush]

your right it will burn your plants. too fine of a product. now alfalfa hay is a different story. use as a veg mulch or only add a tiny bit along with as many other kinds of mulch you can acquire.

 

[smoketrichs]

So I had a couple of extra root pots after culling some males, and decided to cut em up into pot covers of sorts. 10 mins later, and they're looking pretty decent. Hoping the material will act as a "mulching" barrier of sorts.. time will tell.

sorry for the shitty phone quality