Symbiotic Relationships (please contribute)

[5ecret 5quirrel]

Any known or rumored symbiotic relationships with cannabis are welcomed!:woot:

 

[Seamaiden]

I live symbiotically with cannabis... or maybe it's the other way around... J/K! No I'm not.


Ok, well, we would want to know how the folks who are using cover crops are doing, yes? Last year I played around a little bit with it, but not a whole lot with my cannabis, I focused on my tomatoes. I found that those tomatoes that had good, thick growth of the cover crops I planted did the best. I used several types of cover crops, including red clover, fenugreek, amaranth, and mustard. I think I had a fifth, but can't remember.

Cover crops are going to accomplish a few things for you. They'll help maintain microbial relationships, with the exception of mustard and mycorrhizae of course. They definitely help conserve water, at least in an outside environment I know this is true. Depending on what you plant, if you have the munchies then you can graze the cover crop, which is symbiotic for you, of course.

The microbial relationships are less studied, though I believe we have a user here named Morpheus who worked with R. Clark on another cannabis book. I haven't seen it yet, nor do I know what's covered, but I am extremely interested.

I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say and contribute to this body of knowledge, anecdotal and otherwise. Great idea for a thread, Squirrel!

 

[Theoneandonly Z]

I live symbiotically with cannabis... or maybe it's the other way around... J/K! No I'm not.


Ok, well, we would want to know how the folks who are using cover crops are doing, yes? Last year I played around a little bit with it, but not a whole lot with my cannabis, I focused on my tomatoes. I found that those tomatoes that had good, thick growth of the cover crops I planted did the best. I used several types of cover crops, including red clover, fenugreek, amaranth, and mustard. I think I had a fifth, but can't remember.

Cover crops are going to accomplish a few things for you. They'll help maintain microbial relationships, with the exception of mustard and mycorrhizae of course. They definitely help conserve water, at least in an outside environment I know this is true. Depending on what you plant, if you have the munchies then you can graze the cover crop, which is symbiotic for you, of course.

The microbial relationships are less studied, though I believe we have a user here named Morpheus who worked with R. Clark on another cannabis book. I haven't seen it yet, nor do I know what's covered, but I am extremely interested.

I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say and contribute to this body of knowledge, anecdotal and otherwise. Great idea for a thread, Squirrel!

Hey Sea, did you find that a cover crop was more beneficial for your plants rather than a top dress of wood chips and leaf matter? I grow veggies outside and the summer gets up in the 100s. Last year was the first time i covered my soil and i had great results, healthier plants, soil, and watered less.Z

 

[Theoneandonly Z]

Any known or rumored symbiotic relationships with cannabis are welcomed!:woot:

My relationship with my plants is a prime example of symbiosis. I feed and care for my plants and in return they supply me with good highZ!

 

[Seamaiden]

Hey Sea, did you find that a cover crop was more beneficial for your plants rather than a top dress of wood chips and leaf matter? I grow veggies outside and the summer gets up in the 100s. Last year was the first time i covered my soil and i had great results, healthier plants, soil, and watered less.Z

Almost no comparison, Z. I regularly mulch, it just does not do the same thing in the same way, at all.

 

[midwestdensies]

I have a worm farm which i feed my shredded bills (hahaha fuckyou bills), veggie and fruit waste, and other fibrous sources to them. In turn they eat it up providing me castings for ammending into my soils and act teas. Single most responsive thing ive ever done growing. Add ogbiowar packs and really see some shit happen.

 

[Seamaiden]

Midwest, one of my sisters does the same thing with ALL her mail. She's in the Bay area, so it's a very mild climate and what she did was build a worm 'bin' that's actually open to the ground. Her soil is very alive with worms, so she just dumps all the junk mail, EVERYTHING, into this covered thing, has her husband and son pee on it, and she harvests the castings from a sliding door at the bottom. They used to put the veggie scraps in it, but found that rats were raiding it so they stopped.

 

[Mogrow]

I have a worm farm which i feed my shredded bills (hahaha fuckyou bills), veggie and fruit waste, and other fibrous sources to them. In turn they eat it up providing me castings for ammending into my soils and act teas. Single most responsive thing ive ever done growing. Add ogbiowar packs and really see some shit happen.

i gotta look into this ogbiowar, if JMO uses it, it's gotta rock...
peace mogrow

 

[squiggly]

i gotta look into this ogbiowar, if JMO uses it, it's gotta rock...
peace mogrow

OGBiowar = Caps Bennies

If that wasn't clear.

And yes they are the motherfucking biznass.

 

[midwestdensies]

i gotta look into this ogbiowar, if JMO uses it, it's gotta rock...
peace mogrow

Yep JACK knows whats up. Been using this product when it was sold in baggies. Its legit. Sea green caps and worms make terpines happen.

 

[ttystikk]

Okay, so this is gonna seem like a tangent but I'm going somewhere- I think the properly designed growing system IS a symbiotic system, and that it can be no other way.

First, I run an RDWC system- ordinarily a notoriously finicky bit of kit. I've created a hybrid by running chow mix with the above mentioned bioactive naterials in net pots the plants grow in. Meanwhile, airstone bubbled water beneath creates an ideal climate for the roots to grow and draw up unlimited nutrients. I irrigate this net pot full of organics using the RDWC water, and running excess through the chow mix then conditions the water! I do chill my water to the mid 60s but I rarely see big swings in pH or EC. This, even after ignoring the system for up to a week at a time!

The point I'm making is that symbiosis is where you find it; I've stumbled upon a way to introduce a true rhizome to maintain living colonies of beneficial microbes etc, to stabilize a system known for its performance at the price of attention.

How is that not an inspired use of the concept of symbiosis in an engineered growing environment?

 

[symbiote420]

I am symbiote LOL

Me and the plant are our own separate entities but when we come together both of our lives are enhanced!

 

[stanknugzz77]

SM, I love the talk of cover crops. You are a very intelligent lady, to say the least. Positive vibes...

~nugzz

 

[stanknugzz77]

I love this thread! Thank you, for starting it, 5ecret 5quirrel!

Hey Sea, did you find that a cover crop was more beneficial for your plants rather than a top dress of wood chips and leaf matter? I grow veggies outside and the summer gets up in the 100s. Last year was the first time i covered my soil and i had great results, healthier plants, soil, and watered less.Z

Leaf matter, is really great! Wood chips, I have never personally used, but I do not know why they would not be alright. Also, on the subject of cover crops. Please do yourself an amazing favor and plant snow peas, as your cover crop. Before you are ready to plant, cut down the snow peas. Please please do not pull them out. Well, just for the sake of learning, pull one out lmfao. Take a look at the root structure. The roots will have little spherical formations all over them. These are said to be pure nitrogen! Good luck, brother.

Midwest, one of my sisters does the same thing with ALL her mail. She's in the Bay area, so it's a very mild climate and what she did was build a worm 'bin' that's actually open to the ground. Her soil is very alive with worms, so she just dumps all the junk mail, EVERYTHING, into this covered thing, has her husband and son pee on it, and she harvests the castings from a sliding door at the bottom. They used to put the veggie scraps in it, but found that rats were raiding it so they stopped.

SM, you constantly make me smile, with all of your posts. I have a worm bin that I built, in my back yard. I also use biochar. I do not urinate in my worm bin, but I definitely do in my biochar lmfao. Positive vibes...

~nugzz

 

[symbiote420]

Wood in the soil actually stores up a bit of nitrogen, after a while it releases the N back so the roots can feed off it! I know if too much N is taken in during the bloom stage it can cause the internodes to space out farther apart and not be as compact ...even with indicas! Might be perfect for your mix if you're growing a saty or saty dom plant(s) though!

 

[Seamaiden]

I wish I could stand there and pee on the biochar while it's charring, stanknugzz, just to hear it sizzle!

Wood tends to be very high in carbon in relation to its nitrogen content, and so is supposed to be more fungus food than bacteria food. I recall reading something along these lines in Teaming With Microbes.

 

[Theoneandonly Z]

I wish I could stand there and pee on the biochar while it's charring, stanknugzz, just to hear it sizzle!

Wood tends to be very high in carbon in relation to its nitrogen content, and so is supposed to be more fungus food than bacteria food. I recall reading something along these lines in Teaming With Microbes.

That damn book opened a can of worms for me! Biochar is a great product, i turned it down awhile back thinking it would serve little purpose in container gardens. Didnt realize its potential in my compost. Now i use it throughout my gardenZ.

 

[stanknugzz77]

I wish I could stand there and pee on the biochar while it's charring, stanknugzz, just to hear it sizzle!

I am sure that you can! Do not ever doubt yourself, SM! I know many females that do not conform to society's views on where or how they should urinate. I do not urinate on it during the actual charring part, though. I usually just use water, for that part. Positive vibes...

~nugzz

 

[Seamaiden]

Stank.... LMAO! You don't know just how far I'll go. My poor husband. LMAO!