OK now what

backtracker

Well-Known Member
Last fall I planted a mix of grass and peas into my grow bags now they look like giant black gods with long green hair. If it's turned under there's not enough time for it to break down before it's time to plant plus the root mass from last year is still there, it was a cold wet winter so they just sat there.
 

Indacouch

Well-Known Member
Lol......so in other words you created a home made troll style chia pet .....don't feel bad I have rootballs il be busting up from last years green house as well .....I was just to lazy to prep for this year ....oh well...I figure one more year of buying my mix and il start getting my huge pile of soil ready for next year .......literally years worth of soil in a massive pile .....shits not cheap and I'm guna start reusing it ((finally)) ...but I'm in the same boat as you ....smart pots with massive root balls and main stem in em .......GL
 

Amshif87

Well-Known Member
Drench your pots with a lacto culture. It should speed up the breakdown process of the roots a lot. Some red worms would help as well. The grass and peas can be cut and left in the pot as mulch. If it were me I'd cut a plug around the main stem from last year the same diameter and depth as the pots you'll be transplanting from and then just drop the new one in. A lot of that depends on your pot size where in the northern hemisphere you're located and when you plan on putting your plants out. I'm assuming you'll be reammending or top dressing the pots?
 

backtracker

Well-Known Member
Drench your pots with a lacto culture. It should speed up the breakdown process of the roots a lot. Some red worms would help as well. The grass and peas can be cut and left in the pot as mulch. If it were me I'd cut a plug around the main stem from last year the same diameter and depth as the pots you'll be transplanting from and then just drop the new one in. A lot of that depends on your pot size where in the northern hemisphere you're located and when you plan on putting your plants out. I'm assuming you'll be reammending or top dressing the pots?
I want to deal with this growth before the amendments if possible to give it time to mellow a little, there's another series of storms this week but after that I have to do something. These are 18"x6' pots, norcal, about June for transplanting. I have EM, looking at small cultivators.
 

rikdabrick

Well-Known Member
It might sound crazy, but I had the same scenario last year and I just chopped it up good and tilled it in, on the advise of a wiser grower than myself, and it worked great. I just did the same thing again today on my new greenhouse. I weed whacked it first and then mowed it and tilled it and I'll be planting in it in a couple days.

Here's what it looked like when I was done today with the tilling. You can see all the grass mixed in with the dirt.
20170402_172524.jpg
 

rikdabrick

Well-Known Member
@backtracker I was thinking about your situation today and if you have a lot of tall grasses and peas then you could also just cut it down to the dirt and remove it momentarily then till in whatever is left and then mulch with the grasses and peas you cut down. I wouldn't worry about a little green manure breaking down in your pots. If you tilled in a lot of plant matter I don't think it would be a problem, but this idea would be the safer route. And mulching has its benefits too.
 
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