IF (big IF) I've understood Charles Dowding's "No Dig" method correctly, he top dresses all his beds with a 2" layer of compost every year.........and that's it - apart from some stuff about cow's horns and stirring of cauldrons.
My Question for the G&G Panel is :-
Would a 2" layer of compost on top of a container of MPC that has been used for growing tomatoes enable you to grow another crop in it next year (I don't mean lettuce but something like cucumbers or carrots)?
For the record, I normally empty the MFBs onto the GH beds and grow salad leaves in that but, every year, I buy bags of compost to fill them for the tomatoes and cukes.
I know you're going to say "Try it and see" but I'm interested in your thoughts first.
I use no-dig on allotment beds and my understanding is that the bed gets healthier and fed due to the activity of worms taking that top layer down into the bed along with microbial activity. I don't think you'll get that in a MFB. Having said that if you've fed all year and plan to carry on doing so next year then the compost is probably going to be in decent nick anyway.
I've often wondered about Charles Dowding methods ongoing? If I cover with cardboard and then compost and plant through it what am I supposed to do when the crop is harvested and I am redy to plant the next crop in the same area? Do I cover with cardboard again and add compost or do I just add compost? Because I have a never ending supply of cardboard and to save on the cost of compost, is it not feasible to strip off a couple of inches of soil and add to wheelbarrow, after which it will be returned on top of the cardboard?
To hypothesise on your query Veggie I would say that in open soil worms would be an integral part of combining the layers of soil and stopping compaction. In a pot, you probably wouldn't have the worm population or any invertebrates to break down and mix the layers?
Thanks both You seem to agree that I need worms in the soil - maybe its time for more pets.
I do less digging now but still a bit. For example, where I grew peas last year (getting a bumper crop), I pulled up and hoed mainly but digging over the end of the patch that was mainly clay and weeds. When the onions were just big enough to plant out, I hoes again and planted the seedlings with a trowel. They have had one feed on my special brew and are now looking like a bumper crop.
Because of the pandemic, we had a composting toilet in the garden for visitors. This has given me a reasonable supply of urine which is rich in nutrients, particularly nitrogen. To create my special brew I have been adding this to a 200L water butt filled with comfrey leaves and topping up with water. I was surprised that the resulting mix had less of a smell that comfrey on its own. The tomatoes and other greenhouse crops are thriving on it also. So no compost added but a good organic fertilizer - that is free.
(08-08-2021, 11:05 AM)Vinny Wrote: [ -> ]I've often wondered about Charles Dowding methods ongoing? If I cover with cardboard and then compost and plant through it what am I supposed to do when the crop is harvested and I am redy to plant the next crop in the same area? Do I cover with cardboard again and add compost or do I just add compost? Because I have a never ending supply of cardboard and to save on the cost of compost, is it not feasible to strip off a couple of inches of soil and add to wheelbarrow, after which it will be returned on top of the cardboard?
To hypothesise on your query Veggie I would say that in open soil worms would be an integral part of combining the layers of soil and stopping compaction. In a pot, you probably wouldn't have the worm population or any invertebrates to break down and mix the layers?
Would stripping off the top bit of soil count as "digging" because you're disturbing the soil?
(08-08-2021, 11:56 AM)Veggie Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks both You seem to agree that I need worms in the soil - maybe its time for more pets.
You're welcome to some of mine Veggie. I seem to have hundreds of tiger worms, (brandlings), and as they like to live near the surface of the soil, they are always getting into my pots, even if left on a hard surface, in fact, even if they are on pot feet. They are a nuisance in small pots that have seedlings in (i.e. 3" type pots) because as they burrow around they leave air pockets around the roots so the seedlings suffer. I have a plastic cloche with a flat top and in damp weather they wriggle to the top of that as well. Goodness knows what they expect to find there.
On the plus side, my clay soil always looks freshly hoed in damp or wet weather and the surface no longer gets compacted by birds feet or heavy rain as the tigers continually turn the surface.
I dont practice the no dig method with my containers, but as I find it very difficult to get my balance if trying to dig any containers
I empty them out, but the main reason for that is some of my pots are made up with soil and gravel from molehills and the burn, which can introduce some very unwelcome weeds, so I remove those from the growing medium, I do reuse the soil with added compost and B.F.B. my tomatoes are grown in a raised bed similar to a large container, so after removing the plants and roots, without digging, I top up with seaweed and compost.
Veggie I also find part of your post quite, surprising, I thought you would be familiar with the cow horns and cauldron stirring
Compost just isn't a very good growing medium for the longer term. In containers it seems to gradually lose its structure whatever you do. Perlite, bark, grit etc. all help aeration but eventually the organic matter in the rest of the mixture decomposes into dust. This leads to compaction and lower ability to hold water and air, which is bad news for roots. As has been said, in a container you don't have the insects or microbiome as you would in soil. Compost applied to the top of the container is just going to sit there and gradually break down with no structural effect on what's underneath.
OK everyone, No Dig in Pots is not a good idea.!
Thanks for telling me, in the nicest possible way, that its a bonkers plan! I'll forget I ever thought about it.