Pine Cones in the pot?

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Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Saw this little blurb, almost just an aside, from a food blogger, that mentioned she did a bottom layer of pine cones in her container plants. Aided drainage, reduced weight, the plants loved it, blah, blah, blah. Said she filled about the bottom 25% or so of the container.

Have never heard of this, even though I've used bark fines for decades. Also have 2-100'+ pine trees in the front yard alone and a bunch of partially broken down cones from last year(s), to play with. She also mentioned using old rotted limbs that had fallen from her pines, which I have heard of and use in the garden.

Think I'll do a couple of 5gal buckets with some annual herbs like Basil so I can check the mix out next fall when they die off and I can dump the buckets.

Will update as things go along.

Wet
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
my buckets of basil never die indoors. I've got baby basil chuting up in many mj pots often from stray seeds
I wouldnt bring outdoor stuff to my medical crops/room, never know whats lurking.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
WeedFreak78 said:
Might be fine on the bottom. They raise PH when mixed in the soil. Good for blueberry bushes. Idk how it would do with MJ.
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IDK either with the mj and likely won't find out this year. Just going to do a few buckets with annual stuff and then see what the mix looks like next fall.

Totally learned my lesson 6 years or so ago, about going whole hog with untested (by me), opinions, with Coot's recc of 4-6 cups/cf of rock dust and making 12cf or so. Not quite a total disaster, but close and most of it ended up on the raised bed gardens that winter.

Still use RD, but keep it to less than 2cups/cf. Likewise, with the pine cones, I'll try some and see if it works or not, in my particular mix, environment, growing style, whatever.

I think you meant that the pine cones would lower the pH, not raise it. I know the pine bark fines I use are acidic, but my mixes are well limed. Wish Blueberrys would flourish here, but they don't seem to. They can be grown, but don't really occur in the wild, like in places where they flourish. I love them.

Wet
 
prostheticninja

prostheticninja

Well-Known Member
ShLUbY said:
if they blueberries love them, then they lower ph. blueberries love low ph. something that is good for blueberries is peat moss because of it's ability to lower ph.
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Makes sense. My mom puts balsam bark and cones around her blueberry bushes as a mulch. She swears by it, and the huge, marble sized berries she gets every year are pretty good proof!
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Wetdog said:
IDK either with the mj and likely won't find out this year. Just going to do a few buckets with annual stuff and then see what the mix looks like next fall.

Totally learned my lesson 6 years or so ago, about going whole hog with untested (by me), opinions, with Coot's recc of 4-6 cups/cf of rock dust and making 12cf or so. Not quite a total disaster, but close and most of it ended up on the raised bed gardens that winter.

Still use RD, but keep it to less than 2cups/cf. Likewise, with the pine cones, I'll try some and see if it works or not, in my particular mix, environment, growing style, whatever.

I think you meant that the pine cones would lower the pH, not raise it. I know the pine bark fines I use are acidic, but my mixes are well limed. Wish Blueberrys would flourish here, but they don't seem to. They can be grown, but don't really occur in the wild, like in places where they flourish. I love them.

Wet
Click to expand...
ahhh blueberries!
I grow the bejesus out of them, and they do damn well where I am at.
They damn near taste like candy too
full sun, regular spent MJ soil (contrary to popular belief my BBs do much better in the basic old spent MJ soil, rather than a specifically acidic one)
you want at least three types of blueberries to cross pollinate each other, and you need bees too.
they LOVE drainage, and they love moist soils (I know, weird)
they do really well in compost based soils.
FULL sun!
some varieties do better on lower temps, some don't, and you MUST have multiple varieties to get the best results.
and ya gotta have bees or butterflies or some insect poillination
 
thumper60

thumper60

Well-Known Member
greasemonkeymann said:
ahhh blueberries!
I grow the bejesus out of them, and they do damn well where I am at.
They damn near taste like candy too
full sun, regular spent MJ soil (contrary to popular belief my BBs do much better in the basic old spent MJ soil, rather than a specifically acidic one)
you want at least three types of blueberries to cross pollinate each other, and you need bees too.
they LOVE drainage, and they love moist soils (I know, weird)
they do really well in compost based soils.
FULL sun!
some varieties do better on lower temps, some don't, and you MUST have multiple varieties to get the best results.
and ya gotta have bees or butterflies or some insect poillination
Click to expand...
theres nothing like a wild low bush,best u ever get I hate backyard bb SOUR
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
greasemonkeymann said:
ahhh blueberries!
I grow the bejesus out of them, and they do damn well where I am at.
They damn near taste like candy too
full sun, regular spent MJ soil (contrary to popular belief my BBs do much better in the basic old spent MJ soil, rather than a specifically acidic one)
you want at least three types of blueberries to cross pollinate each other, and you need bees too.
they LOVE drainage, and they love moist soils (I know, weird)
they do really well in compost based soils.
FULL sun!
some varieties do better on lower temps, some don't, and you MUST have multiple varieties to get the best results.
and ya gotta have bees or butterflies or some insect poillination
Click to expand...
Did some google and found out I'm just too far south for low bush BB.

There IS a southern variety, known down here as a Huckleberry. Huh! Learn something new every day.

Still, have never seen or tasted one. I'll ask my neighbor, who's a native and collects wild blackberries every year. He would know if their in the area.

Wet
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Wetdog said:
Did some google and found out I'm just too far south for low bush BB.

There IS a southern variety, known down here as a Huckleberry. Huh! Learn something new every day.

Still, have never seen or tasted one. I'll ask my neighbor, who's a native and collects wild blackberries every year. He would know if their in the area.

Wet
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man, I forget where you are approximately.
I thought you were from the Michigan area?

I'm in santa cruz and that's pretty "tropical" for blueberries
you more south than we are?
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
greasemonkeymann said:
man, I forget where you are approximately.
I thought you were from the Michigan area?

I'm in santa cruz and that's pretty "tropical" for blueberries
you more south than we are?
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A bit more south I spect. I'm in the up-country region of S.C., the piedmont region just east of the Smokey mtns. About 900' elevation. The Low country is like Charleston SC and pretty much sea level.

Nice, but way different than SoFl where I spent my first 58 years. Michigan? No thanks, it's plenty cold enough here for a Fl boy. LOL

Wet
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Wetdog said:
A bit more south I spect. I'm in the up-country region of S.C., the piedmont region just east of the Smokey mtns. About 900' elevation. The Low country is like Charleston SC and pretty much sea level.

Nice, but way different than SoFl where I spent my first 58 years. Michigan? No thanks, it's plenty cold enough here for a Fl boy. LOL

Wet
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ahhh I seeeee
hmmm, yea that's juuust a speck different climate there...
 
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