Let random weeds growing in my unused pots on my roof be? pull them out by the roots? clip the top to leave the roots in?

[HedgedAndLevered]

See title, just wondering if theres any benefit or problem with letting weeds or certain types of weeds (USA midwest) grow in my pots when I'm not using them. I have more pots with good past-season soil that I'm no longer using as I'm growing fewer plants than I used to.

Not sure what considerations there are. I'd imagine they're good via keeping soil ecosystem happy, but maybe theres something I don't know about weeds being competitive and making soil unfriendly to other plants?

Alternatively, are there any plants I should actively seek out to plant in them in offseasons?

I have a few pots that are unused, maybe I could just plant some flowers, herbs, or something else in them, but primary goal of any action is preparing the soil for cannabis growing later.
Mostly looking for something that doesn't require that much more water than rain brings, its kind of annoying to carry water upstairs, hence my only growing one cannabis plant this season.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Maybe growing a nitrogen fixer like clover would do what you want unless you prefer something ornamental.

 

[Zill]

Ha, crop rotation in containers. LG got it!

fill the pots with N2 fixing plants, legumes. You may need however to seed the soil with those N2 fixing microbes like Rhizobium to get the machine started. Why not. As long as you can switch the plants to flowering. I doubt the legumes would add that much N2 to the soil.

Zill.

 

[Zill]

Forgot this paste…

“Legumes that could play a part in a garden crop rotation include common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), peas (Pisum sativum), lentils (Lens culinaris), soybeans (Glycine max), fava beans (Vicia faba), peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), chickpeas (Cicer arietinum), cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), clover (Trifolium), and vetch (Vicia)”.

 

[HedgedAndLevered]

may do this, looks like theres some cheap seed mixes for this purpose on amazon.
Just wondering though, considering I have fertilizer containing nitrogen... is all of the off season nitrogen fixing going to help in some way that fertilizer wouldn't, after, say, a few waterings into next season? Or is it all the same nitrogen, basically no difference?

 

[Zill]

Hedge,

Nope. Bear in mind the legumes are really important in large scale commercial farms that are able to leave hundreds of acres fallow, not growing the cash crop, growing clover or some other N2 fixing plant instead. That saves farmers money who exist on razor thin profit margins totally dependent on weather that can’t be predicted.

From a plant perspective it’s all the same. Fallow the pots. Be at peace. Grow peas, you can eat them.

Zill.