2018 No Til Mulching!

Starting with these three strains from Dark Heart nursery. the soil has been prepared with potting soil mixed with perlite. kitchen scraps and worm compost from previous season was also added to the mix along with some red worms. the soil is covered with mulch and has been cooked for the past 2 months. the idea is to try have the mulch keep the soil cool and moist, creating an environment that would attrach and keep the worms happy. good soil... good plants... gonna keep it simple this year and see how it goes.

Started watering these beautiful ladies with kangen ionized water. watering around 2 to 3 days apart depending on the shape of the plants. soil underneath mulch seems to be moist and in good shape even after 2 days without water.

Started watering using Kangen Ionized water at ~6.3 pH (water pH meter currently broken so trusted the machine and combined a 1 to 1 ratio of 5.5ph and 7.0 pH). watering about 2-3 days apart. plants seems to display more horizon growth rather than vertical, that or the plants are just slow growing (anyone who have idea on this, I would greatly appreciate input). plants starting to display mild yellow and white coloring on older leaves. will probably start watering every other day. soil pH is measured at 7. tried to lower it with top layer coffee grinds and 6.0 pH kangen water. soil pH remained at 7ph. any input greatly appreciated guys! happy growing

leaves we're droopy. i definitely over watered the plants

I think I am still over watering the plants. started watering every 2-3 days when the top inch is drying out. plants still seems to be drooping a little. pH of soil is around 6.7. will start to maybe water every 3-4 days or when top 2-3 inches of soil is dry.

A rough week for my babies. went on a week long vacation and had my mom take care of them. they received 2 waterings during the entire week, the watering was also done during the evening. not sure if that was a good time for the plants. I came back yesterday and found them in pretty bad shape. numerous wilting and color change. I went ahead and migrated them from containers to ground. roots inside the containers were not healthy or strong. probably from suffocating with the mulch layer. DONT USE MULCH NEAR THE BASE OF THE PLANT!!! this is so far one of biggest lesson from growing with no til mulching. the plant probably needed a lot more oxygen but the base was always wet and moist, even with a 3 day watering cycle, the mulch worked too well in keeping water in. now that the plants are in the ground, I am going to maintain a ~6 in. radius of no mulch around the base of each plant. I also added coffee grounds under the mulch, the idea is to feed/attract the worms and stimulate their activities around the plant. keeping my fingers crossed and sending them much love in their new open space. also using Ionized water **thanks May!