Best cover crop for indoor living soil?

C

chico1st

Active Member
Hello i was wondering if there is some consensus on what the best cover crop is for indoor living soil?

There are grasses and legumes and even marigolds. Maybe a mix is best?

My setup: I have 20gal pots, will add red wrigglers and grow as long as I can in the same soil if it matters

Rye: I already have rye grass seeds because i use it outdoors for winter but it's pretty hard to kill and the roots are pretty intense so i would think it wouldn't work as a companion plant. Plus grass breaks down slowly. :(
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
myke said:
My local garden center sells like 7 different kinds of clover,how do you choose? Of course they dont sell a mixed bag arg.
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Red white Dutch crimson. I think a diversity is the important part not dissecting each peace.
Also dear plot food shelves at even Dunham’s will usually have a nice clover seed selection and it’s usually cheaper than garden stores.
 
Radicle420

Radicle420

Well-Known Member
I would stick with the dutch white, just because of the red crimson can grow taller. The dutch white's growth is short and you can cut it multiple times unlike the red crimson. Also dutch white has a way more cold tolerance, if that matters? The number one thing with clover is that you have to inoculate them before you plant them to make sure they are actually fixing nitrogen.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Radicle420 said:
I would stick with the dutch white, just because of the red crimson can grow taller. The dutch white's growth is short and you can cut it multiple times unlike the red crimson. Also dutch white has a way more cold tolerance, if that matters? The number one thing with clover is that you have to inoculate them before you plant them to make sure they are actually fixing nitrogen.
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Did a quick search,had no idea what inoculate was.This is something thats commercially available ?
 
Radicle420

Radicle420

Well-Known Member
Yeah, usually you can just buy it at the same place. Some seeds can come pre-coated and thus inoculated. I'm pretty sure its just a specific myco.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
So the cover crop is meant to grow between cycles not along side cannabis.
I store my soil between runs,usually in a dark spot.If I ran a small light I could grow some.
But will dumping out my totes after chopping the cover have a negative effect ?
 
Radicle420

Radicle420

Well-Known Member
myke said:
So the cover crop is meant to grow between cycles not along side cannabis.
I store my soil between runs,usually in a dark spot.If I ran a small light I could grow some.
But will dumping out my totes after chopping the cover have a negative effect ?
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This is how it is traditional done in agriculture. It is used as an in between crop to satisfy crop rotation, add nutrients, suppress weeds, and condition the soil. You can add clover to your pots while you grow your cannabis, but understand that it will add competition for root space. Dumping out the totes will just incorporate more clover ie. nitrogen into the soil. Think of it as just tilling the soil.
 
Radicle420

Radicle420

Well-Known Member
To clarify some more, if you are seeding cover crops into a pot along with cannabis it is essentially a "living mulch" situation. Might aid in the research:bigjoint:
 
Radicle420

Radicle420

Well-Known Member
chico1st said:
Rye: I already have rye grass seeds because i use it outdoors for winter but it's pretty hard to kill and the roots are pretty intense so i would think it wouldn't work as a companion plant. Plus grass breaks down slowly. :(
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Sounds like you have winter rye. Rye grass is used specifically to suppress weeds especially when you can plant it very late fall and it will grow all winter and suppress as the weeds pop up in spring. It also excretes a chemical that prohibits the germination of seeds. I would stay away from rye in a potted plant situation as it really doesn't apply unless outside in the ground.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Radicle420 said:
This is how it is traditional done in agriculture. It is used as an in between crop to satisfy crop rotation, add nutrients, suppress weeds, and condition the soil. You can add clover to your pots while you grow your cannabis, but understand that it will add competition for root space. Dumping out the totes will just incorporate more clover ie. nitrogen into the soil. Think of it as just tilling the soil.
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Excellent thanks,so what about time frame.Soil sits about 3 months.When to plant?.I have 3 27g totes,maybe hang 50 watts led strip above.
 
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