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The growing large plants, outdoors, thread...

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ponobegone

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^that fucktard wont stop just learn to live with the queef. I wish I still had the messages he sent me, pm's and on my profile page its hilarious. the truth is hes just a punk kid who still lives at home, and a mediocre grower at best that just regurgitates info he reads on the net.
 
anyone mulching? if so, what is your preferred type?

i was thinking of mulching my smart pots with cocoa mulch. I've used straw with some success fwiw,

I'm a straw guy, like to keep it simple. With my water situation this year I don't think I could do it without some kind of mulch
 

theJointedOne

Well-known member
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I believe it was this thread, gorilla hair mulch was mentioned... I find most multches crust up a bit too well.. if you're too fancy aka poor/ truck water for automatic feed. .

Idk, everyone can disagree all they want but I know that anyone in my circle has tried a few things and they haven't been worth it.. mulch, foliar, drip lines, etc...
These people have been making this profitable for years..

Either way, sorry for the thread Jack, but the rest of my input will be on my own thread. Backyard farmer, you can continue being a dick here as you please. I've got a pregnant female to fill the quota for making me miserable. The rude rep messages are against the TOU you know..

Fuck you, Fuck you, you're cool, I'm out.

IMO foliar feeds, drip line, and mulch are all great additions to a successful farm.

This thread needs some cleaning up eh?

Anyway, back to the mulch. Mendo Local thanks for the tip, I have used straw with varying degrees of success some seasons. It has decent reflective properties as well imho, until midway through flower when it really gets wet and darkens up some, breaking down a bit on the top layer ect.

Crushed lava rock prob might make good mulch for small containers, or porch plants.

Oh and i wanted to share a tech with you guys that I learned a few days ago, it seems obvious now, but I have spent (and I know many of you out there have) a few days at least filling smart pots and i never thought about it lol; So sometimes when filling empty smarties, it can be kinda frustrating bc when you shovel soil into the empty pot, part of the challenge is keeping the pot upright while you fill it. So many times i had to have a buddy hold them upright and open, or else move soil around the sides and that was not a exact tech for sure lol, anyway....a fix for this headache is to use a piece of the concrete remesh, cut it to the height and diameter of the smarites your using, and place it inside the smartie, it works great to keep it upright while your filling, when done just lift out the remesh and move on to the next pot...seems like a simple idea, but personally i never thought to do it. I also was told a 8 ft piece of rigid plastic, rolled into a circle and placed in the pot works good too.
 

ponobegone

Member
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I cant find this gorilla hair and nobody knows what im talking about. I thought I heard cocoa mulch could be harmful to pups is that right? I replace my straw around the end of july when I do a big top dressing and in late august I take it off completely.
 

Bulldog420

Active member
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Nice tip TheJointedOne. I have been using two shelves from a piece of crap Ikea cabinet I threw away. Put the two shelves in the smart pot and it holds up the sides, remove when done. However, I like your re-mesh idea better. Lighter and more durable.

Since we are still talking mulch, how much do you guys apply? I go for a full 4" after being wet down and compacted a little.
 

Backyard Farmer

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We are going to put down fabric mulch.

Straw isn't that good...I tried the microbe mulch last year and turned it in to more compost via biology...
 
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redlaser

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As far as using cocoa husks/ shells, it probably isn't very cost effective first of all since it probably can only be bought bagged and at about twice what hardwood mulch would cost. It is attractive to some dogs and it's the caffeine I believe that is a problem if consumed. Besides cost the biggest drawback is loss from wind. Unless the area is protected from wind, when the mulch dries at all it's easy to blow away. The only advantages to using cocoa to me where the dark color and the SLIGHT cocoa smell after you watered it. I put down 40 yds. of this stuff for a customer one year, and it was not requested the following year, mostly because of it blowing around when dry.
 

FatherEarth

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I like a 2 inch layer of perlite for mulch. Reflects sunlight, drains well, keeps your stalk dry and the soil surface moist. Keeps the surface porous for watering.Cheap enough I got it by the tote around my place. Works well.


FE
 
I've transitioned to using a living mulch on all the indoor and outdoor projects. Fill in the gaps with straw if the birds get at it too quick. I've used perlite with great success before too, but, the water retention and beneficial bugs the living mulch offers is unbeatable IMO.

I have four yards of extra lava rock that im gonna mess with as a mulch for a few veggie beds i do.
 

milkyjoe

Senior Member
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I like straw. If your microbes are working it lasts about a month and provides fungal food. If it lasts the whole grow something you need to fix is wrong.

Biotella is the best for yield though...ask any commercial veggie farmer. I am not looking for pure yield myself. I am growing soil for the long term and plant health
 

ponobegone

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last year after soil settling, top dressings and such many of my trunks would have water pooling up around them so this year I made sure when planting to elevate my root core above the projected soil line. basically I mounded up all my pots and then set the core a few inches above. now I have room for a 1/2 yard of top dressings I hope. every one of the chemsour diesels are showing their sexy legs
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Bulldog420

Active member
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Pono - Great post. Have you read BOG's book? He does the same on his outdoor plants, I think he calls it up potting where the top third of the 5 gal (or so) planter stands out of the final pot. Then mulch up to it.

BTW - I got the gorilla mulch at a local plumbing/garden supply store for $17 a yard. It's good stuff from what I can tell. Lots of fines which will be broken down into humus real fast.
 

Backyard Farmer

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@Milkyjoe

When you refer to biotella product are you referring to BioTELO , Bio360 or other Non GMO corn starch based biodegradable fabric mulches?

This is what we are looking at employing on the farm after reading numerous studies on the positive benefits
 

grow nerd

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Gorilla hair mulch, like... Actual bed of black gorilla hair? Where exactly do they collect it in such abundance to sell it for $17/yd? Are there gorilla hair farms out there?

Are some batches "enriched" with dandruff & dead ticks?
 
Gorilla hair mulch, like... Actual bed of black gorilla hair? Where exactly do they collect it in such abundance to sell it for $17/yd? Are there gorilla hair farms out there?

Are some batches "enriched" with dandruff & dead ticks?

On the quality farms the gorillas are treated with neem and peppermint oil to reduce debris such as dead ticks and dandruff. It can be found for as low as 14 a yard from what I've found and still be quality product. You would be surprised how many times you can shave a adult gorilla a year in this climate. I don't doubt that some farms produce well over 10,000 loose yards per season.
 

Madjag

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Gorilla mulch uses the wonderful enriching droppings, too, for long-term, slo-mo NPK release.
Top rated for sure....
 
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