I'm doing my first indoor organic soil grow after years of high frequency fertigation using coco/perlite and the usual salty liquid nutes. My seedling is moving along nicely and I'm trying to prepare for moving into a 10 gal fabric pot. I'll be using the Nature's Living super soil mix for my first go round. I'd love to make my own, but don't currently have the space or resources to do so. Hoping for a water only (+black strap) experience, so want to mulch well and keep the top of the soil healthy. I have a bag of high quality worm castings as a first mulch layer, and I see alfalfa and barley straw recommended frequently as the top layer, but all I can find around here is wheat straw. Is there any significant difference? I'd also love to go with shredded bark, but the only thing I can find local is dyed red or black and I'm not spending a fortune to ship bark, lol. A bale of wheat straw is $4 locally, so if there's no significant difference, that's a win. Thanks
Wheat is sprayed with herbicides where in most cases barley and Alfalfa are not. Wheat is also sprayed with glyphosate during the harvesting process to help dry out the grain and minimize losses. If you have any Tractor Supply stores near you they sell chopped alfalfa for bedding.
Thank you. I figured there was some reason. The only thing I can find locally at Tractor Supply is this one. Says it's Wheat, Rye, Barley, Flax straw. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-2-string-compressed-straw-bale-ws01?cm_vc=-10005
I adjusted my marketplace search and was able to find barley straw for $6 per bale, about 20 minutes away. This shall work. Thanks again.
I've used this product with success for the past several years. It is mostly barley as they harvest in Idaho and wheat is not a common crop there. I have had a few seeds pop up. But, they do not present any problems. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...ge-certified-chopped-straw-25-lb?cm_vc=-10005
I had seen that one as well, but not available at my local store. I could have it shipped for free if I bought two of them. For $6 though, I'm gonna take a chance on the stuff offered up by a local farmer. I'm not working at the moment, so every dollar saved helps right now. I'll keep that one in mind for late winter needs though.
They sell a Timothy hay that is coated with molasses to cut down dust I'll see if I have a picture of it
Isn't hay stuffed with viable seeds? If I wanted to use hay, I could just go to petsmart and grab some timothy hay, but my understanding is I'd end up with a pot full of sprouts.
I've been using it for awhile and have had no problems if you read the package on the front it says...high temperature dried. Any viable seeds would be fried
Worm castings aren't a mulch. I used grass hay, i just went along my fence and ripped up the extra tall grass. It worked great. If you put the mulch thick enough you should have very little if any sprouts. I would be cautious of store bought hay because of the chemicals previously mentioned. Mulch can be a lot of things, it's purpose is to cover the ground to keep moisture in and block some seedlings. Leaves work, bark works, tall grass, I even chopped a bunch of shamrocks and used that for mulch in some of my pots. Shamrocks can be very invasive and hard to remove, so people will probably recommend against using them, but it was fine. Again just make the layer thick enough and sprouts won't be a problem.
Thanks! I was a bit wary of using things from the backyard. Thought I might introduce unknown pests and also not sure if the species of bark/leaves were important. I know walnut can be problematic. I have a bunch of pear leaves I could shred up and the backyard is filled with maple leaves. As I mentioned, I'm used to a more sterile growing environment, so I'm still feeling my way around all this. I have to ignore a lot of old knowledge in my head that is not applicable here.
N.M. allows me to grow 6 plants at a time. This passed summer I grew 6 in hard adobi with a mulch of chicken litter that was rich in manure but mostly wheat straw. I trimmed a litter over 10 lbs. of buds bigger than popcorn. I gave the popcorn to a neighbor.
I'm getting more and more excited for this to really get goin. Nearing transplant time! Read quite a few pages into the No Till sticky thread. I've decided that I'm going to use what I've already got for this grow, but I ordered the ingredients for the water/feed schedule laid out by MountainOrganics, which I intend to follow at a reduced frequency (due to starting with hotter soil). I also ordered some red wigglers. The plan is to get my ecosystem started up in this 10 gal pot. In my next cycle, I'll get someone to help me lift that 10 gal pot into a 25 gal (biggest that will fit my tent), cut her open, and fill in the rest of the space with the appropriate starter living soil material. Between the worms and that super soil concentrate I'm starting with, I'm assuming the additional material will become alive and active pretty quickly. From there on out, I hope to go no till. Sounds fun...like having a big whacky experiment in my kitchen, lol. It also is so much less expensive. I'm used to spending hundreds every cycle on liquid nutes for just a few plants. I just bought enough amendments for dozens of plants for like $120. All dry and will last indefinitely. Not having to even buy my growing medium anymore just feels wrong in a good way, haha.
I do have one question I haven't been able to find an answer to. I understand the old plant roots are not an issue when doing no till, but how do you get the old stump out? I've had main stems get to like 3 inches across. Doesn't seem like that would decompose very quickly. Do you just dig under it? I usually just toss my material and pot and start over since the pots are only a couple bucks and 5 gal grow bags don't cost much to fill.
If you are growing in a no till fashion. You can cut the root meristem out. But, leave as much of the finer feeder roots in place. This is where your rhizosphere microbiome is. It along with the uppermost 6" of soil is where most of your soil life lives. I use a root cutting tool and slide it right down along the stem as far as I can into the growing medium. Then I tilt it inwards until the main root stem comes out. I'd post a picture of it. But, it will not upload a picture at this time.If you are storing your soil between grows you can water your soil thoroughly with Lactobacillius serum. That will help break down the roots. As the Lactobacillius bacteria die off hit your soil with an ACT a few weeks prior to replanting to bring your microbes back up to a more desirable population.
I always wondered what that tool was designed for. The tip had always puzzled me. Thanks for the learning. Cheers Os
Radius is the brand name. The tool is called Root Slayer. It really helps minimize soil disturbance when replanting. They make a Root Slayer 40" shovel I'm going to purchase for dividing Hostas and Iris plants in my outdoor gardens.