@gottagrowsometime, Hello, thanks and welcome, I maintain a thick layer of mulch that serves as food for the microbiology of the substrate, in addition, I constantly inoculate Mountain Microorganisms (MM) that are found in my Bio Fertilizers.
You can read this, where I explain how I interact with Mulch:
growdiaries.com/diaries/134104-grow-journal-by-defharo/week/717809
like 1