SpicySativa's Organic Garden

DonPetro said:

I use the small bark nuggets from HD with no problems.

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Good to know. I was checking out HD mulch the other day and after seeing plastic mulch, weed kill mulch, and color guard mulch with a 2 year no fade guarantee, I got spooked by what might be in the unlabeled bags of bark nuggets. Maybe it was just bark!

Yea it doesnt seem like anything other than bark. I would prefer shredded bark but it was all i could find at the time. I seen coco chunk mulch i wanted to try out but can't remember where.

I had a bunch of leftover cubed coir that I used as a mulch last year and it seemed to turn into a breeding ground for fungus gnats, especially after putting teas down. So I'm up for trying something different this year. I was thinking of going with a bark and a layer of cut organic grass underneath. Hyroot's comments got me rethinking that a little!

Ahh...good to know. I will maybe just stick with the bark.

Fresh cut organic grass sounds kinda like fungus gnat food to me.

Compost it for 6 weeks first? Skip it?

Well I just ordered Lowenfels Teaming with Nutrients so maybe that will give me ideas for how to set up my mulch! I'm going to try and do another quick read of Teaming with Microbes and see if more of it will stick.

I don't recall any insights on mulch in that book, but it's a good read.

It's pretty simple, really. Just put down a layer of softwood bark chunks. Or get creative if you want, but the idea of the mulch is just to keep your soil evenly moist and prevent it from being disturbed when you pour water on it.

I personally would avoid putting fresh cut grass on top of my pots. The best use for that grass is gonna be an outdoor compost pile. While the pile is going, you can feed handfuls of the "almost-compost" to your worm bins. They dig it.

Yeah, I may be overthinking it but after reading Teaming with Microbes and learning about bacterial vs fungal mulches I wanted to try and balance out my mulch so I can move into a cycle of not digging up bays anymore to amend. I'd like to let some of the mulch break down and work into my soil and keep the soil balanced.

I've got until mid-June to figure out what I'm going to do so I'll keep reading! Perhaps if I am doing AACTs it won't really matter.

Bugeye - With the short 3-4 month grow cycle indoors, there really isn't enough time for your carbon-rich mulch to break down. Yes, some of the bottom bark nuggets get broken down a little and remain in the soil when you remix it, but the bulk of them I just rake off the surface and reuse for the next round.

In an outdoor (native soil) environment, mulch usually gets added about once a year, so it has about 12 months to break down compared to 3-4 months indoors.

As for adding a layer of something under the mulch, my go-to method is to lay down about 0.5-1" of fresh worm castings, then lay the mulch on top of that. Within days, that layer of worm castings will be a web of roots, and thanks to your layer of mulch, they will stay nice n' moist. I personally would avoid adding anything too nitrogen rich under the mulch (unless your plants need the N). Combining the carbon-rich mulch and the nitrogen rich amendment (like fresh cut grass, for example) in a moist environment will basically create a small zone of fast/active composting at the top of your pot. This isn't what you want. You want your soil slow and steady, not fast and active.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply Spicy, I really appreciate it!

I also do a layer of worm castings as well so maybe the fresh grass is just asking for problems with nitrogen and fungus gnats. I'll keep researching it but between what you and hyroot said, I'm thinking of just composting a good pile this summer and top dressing at end of season after harvest.

In an outdoor environment (say a veggie bed), you may want to spread a nitrogen rich amendment over the native soil in late fall (say alfalfa meal), then cover it with a carbon rich material like wood chips, brown leaves, straw, etc..

Over the next several months, the materials will break down. Earthworms will be attracted to this area, and will tunnel up into it, munch it, tunnel back down into the native soil, and crap it out as fresh, nutrient-rich worm castings.

By springtime, your native soil will be in MUCH better shape than it was before. Then you can plant your spring veggies and lay down another layer of mulch WITHOUT the nitrogen-rich additive, and the mulch should last through the growing season.

I used some wood mulch around my citrus trees last year and I was amazed at how much it broke down. It really made the soil absorb water better also. The only thing that sucked were the ants that were in the bag. I have been looking for a picture of the bag to post but I can't find one.

What's up, guys?

It's day 29, and things are looking good. There's a distinct tropical citrusy smell starting to waft....

The middle two (big ones) are getting a little hungry, so I'll give them a top dress or a tea soon.

Look at all of those colas! How does it smell?

Smells fantastic. Sweet, tangy fruitiness.

Is it the Vortex?

Looking great, Spicy!

Yup. That's the Vortex.

Im loving the vortex its beautiful, you seem to have tried alot of jack herer crosses, have you tried green house's jacks they seem to look or smell nothing like any jacks ive grown before if they smell 80% skunk 20% haze they look very indica which is strange as my previous jacks looked almost pure sativa but as they was cuttings i havent a clue what seed bank they was from, the yield was amazing they took 14 weeks to fully finish.
they smelt a lot like you described your xj 13. The taste was equally balanced between the spicey/peppery, skunk funk and the citrus/fruit tastes. At week 12 it fox tailed like mad and i averaged 8 ounces in 20l pots. Using the full canna non bio line lol. I have been searching for this strain ever since my plants where taken do you have any ideas what jacks it could have been.

- Current GH Jacks verry indica looking short bushy plant.
-Mystery jacks ??


Peace,
Ben