DonBrennons 'Unconventional' organic gardens

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Is Calendula my minature rose bushes name? LOL..........I think she prefers her new position to being in the shade, on the floor. She was a tangled mess so I cut her right back to 5-6 main branches and she's throwing out healthier buds & flowers now.

The grass is barley which I bought for making SST's, but don't use anymore, so thought I'd have a bit of living mulch. It's more trouble than it's worth TBH. I originally had the full surface of all the pots covered in it and trimming it was a PITA, the little that is still growing, is growing despite being flattened, buried in EWC and a new layer of mulch applied over it.

I'm definitely into living mulch and companion planting though. I'm considering going full 'No Till' in those big ass plastic pots(I'm getting too much evaporation from so many fabrics and it's giving me humidity issues) and I really want a small perennial plant that's known to make mycorrhizal connections with Glomus intraradices or whatever they've changed the name to now. I spent some time looking the other night, but could only find general list for endo or ecto, not specific species. There are 2 plants I've already decided I'm gonna use though, Indian mint and creeping thyme. I've got em growing in the same size pots in my front yard and they just cover any available space on the surface of the pot.
LMAO how embarassing! Yeah I'm on my crappy laptop screen at the mo, didn't look at her up close, and had actually left the house for a talk about terra preta :bigjoint:

I haven't gotten round to checking it out, but apparently Ingham is experimenting with plants that won't grow up like that, as most "traditional" covercrops need cutting, whilst the idea is to get a perennial ground coverthat won't interfere with the crops being grown there overgroundand complement them underground. So it's a plant hunt :D
The glomus mossae/intraradices isn't a problem. AFAIK it's the most common of mycorrhizal fungi, so we can just assume it will be shared by most other mycorrhizal plants anyway :) And yeah that specific of information isn't out there and largely probably hasn't even been gathered - I mean, they're stuck even trying to name em haha
My copy of Teaming with fungi is probably going to arrive on Valentine's Day, how fitting! :D

Why I mentioned the terra preta: I've been focusing on aeration a bit, and biochar does seem to fit the bill perfectly for container gardening.
The guy of course was speaking of the outdoor, but the way he ranted about increases in soil fertility - with pix haha - well, it's ideal isn't it? Increases the surface area in the soil exponentially, allowing more air, more water, more microbes, to be in that soil.
On an aside, I really loved the rule of thumb he told us of regarding amounts to add over time. Namely, to add only that amount of biochar to a soil that corresponds to the biomass that would've grown on the area being treated. That really does resonate with me!
And I never relized how fucking easy biochar is to make - all you need is a can and a fire lol - I mean, I knew the big barrel method and had watched in on it, but never thought that the same principle can be miniaturized. :dunce: of course!
So I may be getting myself one of those fire bowls, where you can make a safe fire on your balcony :blsmoke:
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Yeah aromatic herbs...! I really want to include them but have this stupid notion of the weed taking on the other aromas, though I should know better from my veggie garden :rolleyes:
Can you guys please confirm tht it's not a problem? That would be great! :bigjoint:
 

SSGrower

Well-Known Member
Yeah aromatic herbs...! I really want to include them but have this stupid notion of the weed taking on the other aromas, though I should know better from my veggie garden :rolleyes:
Can you guys please confirm tht it's not a problem? That would be great! :bigjoint:
No answer yet, I'm using chives that were frozen in a container outside but started re-sprouting anyway. Smells like onions now.:peace:
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Yeah aromatic herbs...! I really want to include them but have this stupid notion of the weed taking on the other aromas, though I should know better from my veggie garden :rolleyes:
Can you guys please confirm tht it's not a problem? That would be great! :bigjoint:
i think you're fine. you know the smells you get off of those herbs are from molecules that fit into receptors in your sniffer and send signals to your brain. each type of molecule has its own receptor, kind of like a key fitting into a lock. I don't think those would transfer to the plant so should be fine!
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
Yeah aromatic herbs...! I really want to include them but have this stupid notion of the weed taking on the other aromas, though I should know better from my veggie garden :rolleyes:
Can you guys please confirm tht it's not a problem? That would be great! :bigjoint:
No problems, they won't take that taste on....I threw a bunch of basil down too, no bugs mess with it and I can see my basil which had gone to seed in the back has sprouted all sorts of new basil plants, good stuff, never have enough basil :)
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
No problems, they won't take that taste on....I threw a bunch of basil down too, no bugs mess with it and I can see my basil which had gone to seed in the back has sprouted all sorts of new basil plants, good stuff, never have enough basil :)
lol true that
I've begun weaving my basil plant through my chili to help keep the aphids at bay too, looks like it's helping :)
And yeah, I've had basil next to my plants too,,,

Do you grow those basils in the same pot as your weed though?
Sorry I haven't been on your thread lately, it's winter here and would kill me to see it :P
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
I had this idea a few years ago that if you plant aloe as a companion plant it will take care of keeping things healthy in the soil....I still think so, though I'd like to be able to have a larger area to companion plant them in....to further test this theory
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
Yesterday I was about to make a new thread here with a shitload of info, but it wouldnt let me paste the whole text, I'll break it down later today and get it up
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
hmm i have probably 15 aloe plants going in my veg room i wonder if i should take a little one and try to plant it when i transplant my few week old plants into their 14 gallon SIPs im making ....interesting idea... i have heard of companion planting but never heard of anything with aloe... whats the premise behind your idea?
 
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