Mulch for smaller containers

[vitamin_green_inc]

Hello all. I will be using 3 gallons for flowering and was wondering about mulch. I understand that I can do a layer-1 inch of compost, then a top layer of mulch-1 inch.

I don't understand what happens to the mulch though if I use let's say, pine or straw. When I get done with flower, can I just leave the mulch there if I will be reamendkng my soil? Do I need to remove it all, or as much as possibke before recycling my soil?

I would LOVE to use clover, or another "green" mulch, but I am thinking 3 gallon is too small? I think a "living mulch" would be more for no till, can anyone confirm this?
Thanks RIU, y'all are da BEST

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Hello all. I will be using 3 gallons for flowering and was wondering about mulch. I understand that I can do a layer-1 inch of compost, then a top layer of mulch-1 inch.

I don't understand what happens to the mulch though if I use let's say, pine or straw. When I get done with flower, can I just leave the mulch there if I will be reamendkng my soil? Do I need to remove it all, or as much as possibke before recycling my soil?

I would LOVE to use clover, or another "green" mulch, but I am thinking 3 gallon is too small? I think a "living mulch" would be more for no till, can anyone confirm this?
Thanks RIU, y'all are da BEST

there are a couple reasons behind using mulch, one being the slowing of the transpiration of water, another is to keep the soil an even moisture, and yet even another is to help buffer any topdressings.
I like it for all of those reasons, but specifically for one reason alone, it gets a TON of roots to grow all the way to the surface of the soil, a nice fuzzy white root mass, and we all know more roots is better.
drawbacks are some may have issues with gnats, especially if you aren't using neem meal.
For a 3-gallon I wouldn't add pine needles unless they are black already, if they aren't they may be a little too acidic, after about 6-10 months after being "dropped" the pine needles will lose their acidity, I use a TON of redwood needles in my compost and it works well. but they take a bit to break down, at least 6 months.
straw could work I guess, but its nearly empty of nutes ( I could be wrong, I remember reading that someplace)
it's autumn, i'd get a good garbage bag, and go look for a good mix of "soft" leaves that have fallen and are decomposing already. Simple and free, and if you are a weirdo like me, it's kinda fun too.

 

[mudballs]

he's right about pine needles and acidity.as for living mulch i wouldn't use a clover because they would suck nutes away from soil and from plant and may wind roots into plant roots.but what you could use is moss. where i live a can go into the woods by the stream and grab huge patches of moss. if you peel it just right it's about an inch thick, cut to size and place around plant.you could lift it to water the plant with no damage to the moss.it grows real slow but stays alive for a long time so you could use it grow after grow.just needs to stay moist.

 

[vitamin_green_inc]

he's right about pine needles and acidity.as for living mulch i wouldn't use a clover because they would suck nutes away from soil and from plant and may wind roots into plant roots.but what you could use is moss. where i live a can go into the woods by the stream and grab huge patches of moss. if you peel it just right it's about an inch thick, cut to size and place around plant.you could lift it to water the plant with no damage to the moss.it grows real slow but stays alive for a long time so you could use it grow after grow.just needs to stay moist.

there are a couple reasons behind using mulch, one being the slowing of the transpiration of water, another is to keep the soil an even moisture, and yet even another is to help buffer any topdressings.
I like it for all of those reasons, but specifically for one reason alone, it gets a TON of roots to grow all the way to the surface of the soil, a nice fuzzy white root mass, and we all know more roots is better.
drawbacks are some may have issues with gnats, especially if you aren't using neem meal.
For a 3-gallon I wouldn't add pine needles unless they are black already, if they aren't they may be a little too acidic, after about 6-10 months after being "dropped" the pine needles will lose their acidity, I use a TON of redwood needles in my compost and it works well. but they take a bit to break down, at least 6 months.
straw could work I guess, but its nearly empty of nutes ( I could be wrong, I remember reading that someplace)
it's autumn, i'd get a good garbage bag, and go look for a good mix of "soft" leaves that have fallen and are decomposing already. Simple and free, and if you are a weirdo like me, it's kinda fun too.

Thanks y'all. Now I have a BUNCH of thermal compost in my backyards veggies,coffee grinds, all the waste ya know. Its beautiful, smells pretty good and I want to use it as a mulch....I put down an inch of this, after screening or just like the thick mud it is now? Then i can cover it with an inch of leaves? Do I need to wet them, or can I just place them dry on top? That would be so easy if this is all I have to do.

Another question whilst I have y'alls attention. That same compost, can I use it instead of EWC in a tea? Or in a combo? Along with LiquidnKarma, molasses and a bit of kelp? Sound legit? Thanks for your patience!

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Thanks y'all. Now I have a BUNCH of thermal compost in my backyards veggies,coffee grinds, all the waste ya know. Its beautiful, smells pretty good and I want to use it as a mulch....I put down an inch of this, after screening or just like the thick mud it is now? Then i can cover it with an inch of leaves? Do I need to wet them, or can I just place them dry on top? That would be so easy if this is all I have to do.

Another question whilst I have y'alls attention. That same compost, can I use it instead of EWC in a tea? Or in a combo? Along with LiquidnKarma, molasses and a bit of kelp? Sound legit? Thanks for your patience!

yeah, you can use compost instead of EWC, it may have a lil lass microbial activity, but I don't know that to be certain, i'd presume it would, but you could always brew for an extra day to get those numbers up, I don't know what is in liquidkarma so I couldn't say if its good to use in an AACT, I do know that kelp can mess up the microbial numbers, tim the microbe man says to use only quality ewc (or in your case compost) and molasses and nothing else, normally I wouldn't wuote someone else as the truth, but hes got a nice fancy microscope to back up what he says.
kelp is DAMN good for a nutrient tea though, kelp, alfalfa, speck of black strap and some rabbit manure and you have a very good nute tea

 

[HayStax]

Super common misconception about pine needles being too acid for mulching.....sort of. Pines, furs, larches, and spruce loose the vast majority of their acidity Within 2 to 5 weeks of falling, so if they're brown and brittle your groovin. I've definitely got in composted pine needles (white pine) in my top layer for sure lol. As for the green compost, if you mean like what we call green manure, I've never heard of adding a live cover to a container. What we call green manure is when we plant a cover crop after a harvest, this year we did rye and fodder radishes. The fodder radishes are pretty sweet, serious taproot that helps bring nutes from deeper soil, but these crops are always turned under before planting. I personally use partially composted wood chips (6 months) for top dressing. All the benefits you'd expect with mulch, but absolutely teaming microbial life.

 

[greasemonkeymann]

he's right about pine needles and acidity.as for living mulch i wouldn't use a clover because they would suck nutes away from soil and from plant and may wind roots into plant roots.but what you could use is moss. where i live a can go into the woods by the stream and grab huge patches of moss. if you peel it just right it's about an inch thick, cut to size and place around plant.you could lift it to water the plant with no damage to the moss.it grows real slow but stays alive for a long time so you could use it grow after grow.just needs to stay moist.

exactly what I've been doing for a while now, been telling people about it, sprinkle mychorizae on the surface of the soil and plop the moss on top, and it grows though the moss like a green toupee

 

[st0wandgrow]

Super common misconception about pine needles being too acid for mulching.....sort of. Pines, furs, larches, and spruce loose the vast majority of their acidity Within 2 to 5 weeks of falling, so if they're brown and brittle your groovin. I've definitely got in composted pine needles (white pine) in my top layer for sure lol. As for the green compost, if you mean like what we call green manure, I've never heard of adding a live cover to a container. What we call green manure is when we plant a cover crop after a harvest, this year we did rye and fodder radishes. The fodder radishes are pretty sweet, serious taproot that helps bring nutes from deeper soil, but these crops are always turned under before planting. I personally use partially composted wood chips (6 months) for top dressing. All the benefits you'd expect with mulch, but absolutely teaming microbial life.

After I harvest I top dress some dry amendments and scratch them in a bit. Then I lay down a 50/50 mix of castings and soil over that, then broadcast a couple teaspoons of seed over that. Right now Im using clover, wheat grass, and hairy vetch. These containers sit fallow for 3 weeks, then a clone gets plugged in. The cover crop will eventually get shaded out at which point I will chop and drop leaving it right in place as a green mulch.

That will degrade to the point that 9-10 weeks later I can amend/top dress right over top of it. Rinse repeat

 

[HayStax]

After I harvest I top dress some dry amendments and scratch them in a bit. Then I lay down a 50/50 mix of castings and soil over that, then broadcast a couple teaspoons of seed over that. Right now Im using clover, wheat grass, and hairy vetch. These containers sit fallow for 3 weeks, then a clone gets plugged in. The cover crop will eventually get shaded out at which point I will chop and drop leaving it right in place as a green mulch.

That will degrade to the point that 9-10 weeks later I can amend/top dress right over top of it. Rinse repeat

View attachment 3305632

Very cool! We have always used it in the field, but I never thought about running a setup like yours, I've got a few ready to transplant, and will definitely give this a fair shot, shit, I've got lbs of clover and rye seed. I wonder if if you could use mache (corn salad) and then at 30-40 days you'd be pulling tasty edible greens. I plant it between everything in the garden since it requires so little and finishes so fast.

 

[st0wandgrow]

I wonder if if you could use mache (corn salad) and then at 30-40 days you'd be pulling tasty edible greens. I plant it between everything in the garden since it requires so little and finishes so fast.

I don't see why not. I think the key would be how long you leave it in veg for. Ive had a couple stray tomato plants pop up in my containers growing right along side a marijuana plant. I feed my worms lots of fruits and veggies (including tomatoes), and the odd seed ends up in the unscreened castings. They do really well and look super healthy until I flip the lights to 12/12 and then they just kinda stall out and never fruit due to the 12 hours of darkness.

I like your thinking though. IMO you want something that can serve purposes beyond just a cover crop/mulch. I try to use crops that can fix atmospheric nitrogen (ie clover, legumes, alfalfa)...... or another good option, like you said, something that can be harvested and munched on. Great idea!