The Gee Spot - You Finally Found It

[Gee64]

Browns seem to always be scarce when you're ready with the greens so what I did this year was make a big pile of browns from my spring cleanup. It's mostly left over leaves from last year's leaf mowing that didn't breakdown over the winter, twigs, dead grass, acorn caps, stuff like that. A pretty good mix of things actually.

This fall I'll screen some of the pile and store it in totes for use in my soil mixes and spread the rest of the pile across the garden and flowering plants, and will start a new pile with the fall garden/yard clean-up.

Circle of life and all that.

Thats pretty much what I do. I cover my garden in leaves about 6" deep for winter, then in spring I rake them all off, run them thru the lawn mower, and use half as a mulch and half goes into the carbon pile.

 

[Gee64]

I need to add biochar to my garden as a water holding feature. The soil doesn't have enough other carbon in it yet to hold enough moisture in between rains so watering is a must which I'd like to get away from.

The thing to remember with biochar is it lasts forever, so don't keep adding it or it will add up long term.

 

[Gee64]

And some trees, like black walnut, have compounds in them that inhibit plant growth so knowing the source of your inputs of wood chips and sawdust is important.

I've always been led to believe walnut, teak, and cedar are the ones to stay away from.

 

[SmokingWings]

I've always been led to believe walnut, teak, and cedar are the ones to stay away from.

Heard and read similar. The walnut is not good because of the plant compound or whatever produced by the tree. Don't know about teak.

From what I have read it is cedar or pine bark that is bad as a mulch or when added to soil or compost. But, the wood chips themselves are not a problem. When I was researching the making of "aged forest products" and similar wood composts the companies that have done the experimenting were mentioning that pine wood chips were a great addition. The sugars/sucrose in the pine helped to speed up the decomposing of the other woods used in the piles.

Then there are pine needles which is short lived problem which goes away as the stuff decomposes.

New gardening term for those who like to learn at least one new thing a day : Arborist Wood Chips.

 

[Gee64]

Heard and read similar. The walnut is not good because of the plant compound or whatever produced by the tree. Don't know about teak.

From what I have read it is cedar or pine bark that is bad as a mulch or when added to soil or compost. But, the wood chips themselves are not a problem. When I was researching the making of "aged forest products" and similar wood composts the companies that have done the experimenting were mentioning that pine wood chips were a great addition. The sugars/sucrose in the pine helped to speed up the decomposing of the other woods used in the piles.

Then there are pine needles which is short lived problem which goes away as the stuff decomposes.

New gardening term who like to learn at least one new thing a day : Arborist Wood Chips.

Hey SW. Thanks for the explanation.

I never dove into the why's, I just stay away from them as there are plenty of others that work well.

Out here in BC we have a lot of Douglas Fir so it's bark is a main staple in pretty much any mulch, but we also have a lot of cedar so you do need to use a bit of diligence when purchasing mulches.

We don't have much for pine anymore, the mountain pine beetle devastated millions of hectares of pine trees about 10 years ago.

 

[Gee64]

I need to fill some 10gal pots and get them properly hydrated. Today I have to do some concrete work so likely tomorrow will be the day.

 

[Gee64]

Hopefully Miss Sticky isn't a Mr Sticky. Both the Miss Sticky seed and the Durban Poison seeds popped into the one solo never sprouted. Bad Ganja Mojo on that cup, it must be sent to a recycling depot.

 

[Azimuth]

I need to fill some 10gal pots and get them properly hydrated. Today I have to do some concrete work so likely tomorrow will be the day.

Good thing you have a cement mixer!

 

[Gee64]

Good thing you have a cement mixer!

IKR! except today I need it for cement.

That kinda sucks. It wasn't built to mix cement, it was built to mix soil damnit!

 

[JiggiLotus]

Heard and read similar. The walnut is not good because of the plant compound or whatever produced by the tree. Don't know about teak.

From what I have read it is cedar or pine bark that is bad as a mulch or when added to soil or compost. But, the wood chips themselves are not a problem. When I was researching the making of "aged forest products" and similar wood composts the companies that have done the experimenting were mentioning that pine wood chips were a great addition. The sugars/sucrose in the pine helped to speed up the decomposing of the other woods used in the piles.

Then there are pine needles which is short lived problem which goes away as the stuff decomposes.

New gardening term for those who like to learn at least one new thing a day : Arborist Wood Chips.

Don't fact me on this, however, I do believe the different wood chips are beneficial to particular plants like azaleas and stuff. I personally wouldn't use them for my cannabis whatsoever. Yuk. Cedar is more of a pest defense mulch. Snakes will die if they eat a rodent that's bedded in cedar chips. Just thinking out loud. Carry on.

 

[JiggiLotus]

Hey SW. Thanks for the explanation.

I never dove into the why's, I just stay away from them as there are plenty of others that work well.

Out here in BC we have a lot of Douglas Fir so it's bark is a main staple in pretty much any mulch, but we also have a lot of cedar so you do need to use a bit of diligence when purchasing mulches.

We don't have much for pine anymore, the mountain pine beetle devastated millions of hectares of pine trees about 10 years ago.

That's crazy!!! And sad!! Wtf.

 

[SmokingWings]

I do believe the different wood chips are beneficial to particular plants like azaleas and stuff.

Some of them, especially the bark, can be acidic which will help plants that prefer acidic soil. Rhododendrons and azaleas should be grown in acidic soil, somewhere in a pH range of 4.5 to 5.5 give or take. At least that is what the American Rhododendron Society writes.

Cedar is more of a pest defense mulch. Snakes will die if they eat a rodent that's bedded in cedar chips.

Had to look that one up. If the rodent has small wood chips on it when it gets eaten then the problem is that the snake will not be able to digest and pass the wood. Those creatures do not have the enzymes and gut bacteria needed to digest wood and other similar plant materials. Plus the cedar can slowly poison the snake in several other ways.

I personally wouldn't use them for my cannabis whatsoever.

The cedar chips or wood chips in general?

 

[SmokingWings]

We don't have much for pine anymore, the mountain pine beetle devastated millions of hectares of pine trees about 10 years ago.

Looked that one up too. Caused by an infestation of those Mountain Pine Beetles as their population increases because of the hotter and drier summers and warmer winters. Normally the population of beetles remains steady and the natural defenses of the pine trees keeps everything in balance. But, now that the population is increasing it is enough to overwhelm the pines and also allows the beetle to expand beyond its usual range.

 

[Gee64]

Looked that one up too. Caused by an infestation of those Mountain Pine Beetles as their population increases because of the hotter and drier summers and warmer winters. Normally the population of beetles remains steady and the natural defenses of the pine trees keeps everything in balance. But, now that the population is increasing it is enough to overwhelm the pines and also allows the beetle to expand beyond its usual range.

Yeah thats exactly what happened. Maybe some palms can move in

 

[Gee64]

That's crazy!!! And sad!! Wtf.

It is sad. I used to live in Prince George, which is/was in pine central. The beetle wiped it all out. There were thousands of homeless squirrels everywhere. Poor critters.

 

[Gee64]

Some of them, especially the bark, can be acidic which will help plants that prefer acidic soil. Rhododendrons and azaleas should be grown in acidic soil, somewhere in a pH range of 4.5 to 5.5 give or take. At least that is what the American Rhododendron Society writes.


Had to look that one up. If the rodent has small wood chips on it when it gets eaten then the problem is that the snake will not be able to digest and pass the wood. Those creatures do not have the enzymes and gut bacteria needed to digest wood and other similar plant materials. Plus the cedar can slowly poison the snake in several other ways.


The cedar chips or wood chips in general?

Or the snakes?

 

[Azimuth]

Rhododendrons and azaleas should be grown in acidic soil,

And blueberries!

 

[Gidorah]

Yeah thats exactly what happened. Maybe some palms can move in

Haha, we need a beetle that eats palms, those things sprout everywhere like weeds around here!

 

[Gee64]

Haha, we need a beetle that eats palms, those things sprout everywhere like weeds around here!

Haha yeah I guess you do. Spoiled SOB

 

[Gee64]

BK manifolded Revegger.

Normally every year on Aug 7th I look at the outdoor plants snd think, "Yup, flower is starting." but this year and it's August 9th and it hasn't started yet. We have had abnormally high night time lows ever since early July and very hot, bit not record hot days. I wonder if not cooling at night has an effect? Anyways it should start any day now.

BK again from the other side.

RV Clone in a 107 litre tote.

and from another angle.

RV clone in the middle in a 7gal cub

and from another angle.

The other RV vlone in a 7 gal cube.

and from another angle.