By Steven Voser Reviewed by: Gloria Payá


You’ve likely seen mulch in flower beds, vegetable gardens, or under trees. But did you know that cannabis plants can also benefit from mulching? Not only does mulch help insulate the soil and cut down on your watering, but it can also feed your plants and create a healthy environment to attract friendly insects, fungi, and bacteria into your garden.

What Is Mulch, and What Benefits Can It Bring to Your Cannabis Garden?

Mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of a bed of soil. While it might seem simple, mulching is a tried and tested gardening technique that can help you grow healthier plants and produce better harvests.

In many ways, mulch works as a protective barrier, shielding your plant’s topsoil from the environment. Some of the main benefits of mulching include:

1. Better Insulation

Mulch can help insulate your soil, keeping it warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Not only does this create the perfect environment for the roots, but it also slows down the evaporation of water from your soil and greatly reduces the need to water your plants.

Cannabis plant with mulch and netting, showcasing soil insulation for temperature control and water retention, ideal for cannabis growing efficiency tips.

2. Improved Soil Quality

Mulching can help break up clay in your soil, allowing for better air and water movement around your plant’s roots. Plus, as organic mulch decomposes, it delivers nutrients to your soil and supports the growth of healthy microbes that further improve the quality of your soil and simultaneously protect your plants against pathogens and pests.

3. Easier Weeding

Mulch helps prevent the growth of weeds in your garden and makes any weeds that do sprout a lot easier to pull. This makes it ideal for outdoor growers whose cannabis plants are more likely to be exposed to weeds.

4. Reduced Soil Erosion/Compression

Soil naturally compresses and erodes over time. Mulch can help slow down this process and keep your soil healthy and fresh for longer.

5. Reduced Risk of Pests and Pathogens

By keeping your soil temperature optimal, mulch helps protect your garden against pests and nasty bacteria/fungi.

What Is Mulch, and What Benefits Can It Bring to Your Cannabis Garden?

What Kind of Mulch Is Best for Cannabis?

Mulch can come in a variety of types and textures, including:

  • Shredded or chipped bark
  • Wood chips
  • Shredded leaves and garden cuttings
  • Grass clippings
  • Straw
  • Newspaper
  • Dry, shredded leaves

What type of mulch you use is up to you, and will depend on the conditions in your garden.

Bark and Wood Chips

Dry, woody mulches (like wood chips and bark) take a long time to break down, and deliver fewer nutrients to the soil. However, they also need to be replaced less often and will improve the structure and aeration of your soil.

Grass Clippings and Garden Cuttings

On the other hand, grass clippings or other fresh, green prunings decompose very quickly. As they break down, these clippings deliver nitrogen to the soil, attracting insects, fungi, bacteria, and other microbes. Keep in mind that fresh clippings produce a strong odour as they decompose, which can be a bit unpleasant to have around the garden.

Want truly thriving soil? Get the Pro Growing Guide’s step-by-step amendment plans, pH/PPM maps, and canopy-training tips to complement your mulch strategy.

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Straw

Straw mulch is very effective at insulating soil, especially during the winter. It also helps protect your plants from soil-borne pests and pathogens, and creates an inviting environment for spiders and other beneficial insects that’ll further protect your plants from ants, mites, and more.

Newspaper

Newspaper is another great mulch material that’s simple to use and easy to get a hold of. Like dry, woody mulch, newspaper mulch breaks down slowly. It also provides fewer nutrients to the soil but is great at retaining moisture, blocking out weeds, and controlling soil temperature.

Dry Leaves

Dry leaves are arguably one of our favorite types of mulch, especially for growing cannabis. They’re great at insulating and improving the structure and aeration of your topsoil, and also do a great job at preventing water evaporation. Best of all, dried leaves are free! Just take to the streets during fall and you’ll find more than enough mulch to get you going.

What Kind of Mulch Is Best for Cannabis?

How and When to Apply Mulch to Your Cannabis Plants Outdoors

Mulching is super simple; and while it might seem like tedious work, it can make or break your harvest. Below we've outlined a few scenarios where mulch can really take your outdoor cannabis grow to the next level.

Kick-Starting Your Outdoor Grow in Spring

You're an experienced no-till organic cannabis farmer. You've already created a healthy soil biosphere and you're ready to harvest your winter cover crop of peas or clover. Once the weather picks up a bit, you'll want to top-dress your soil with 3.9 inches of coarse mulch and plant your young cannabis seedlings out under the sun. ¨

To plant your seedlings, pull back the mulch and place them in an appropriately sized hole in the soil. Water in well, and pull the mulch back towards the base of your plants. Make sure to thin the mulch out around the immediate vicinity of your plants' stems, and avoid direct contact as this can cause them to rot. For best results, add 1.6 inches of conduit plastic or pieces of plastic bottles as stem guards, and pile the mulch right up to the border.

Later on in the season, especially if you’re growing in an area with warm springs and hot summers, mulching will help your soil retain moisture, in turn cutting down the amount you need to water your plants.

Improving Soil Quality in Your Outdoor Garden

Your garden suffered a bit last year, and you're left with poor-quality soil that needs a boost. Cover your whole garden with 1 inches of worm castings or pleasant smelling compost. Alternatively, soak your entire garden with an aerated compost tea. Finally, apply 3.9 inches of coarse mulch (like wood chips or bark) and wait one week before you start planting. Repeat this process in fall and spring, and you'll soon have a healthy no-till organic garden.

Building New Garden Beds From Scratch

You don't have an established outdoor garden in place, but you want to enjoy organic no-till cannabis gardening. There are countless ways to build healthy garden beds in time for the next growing season. Some of our favorites include lasagna beds, sunken garden beds (ideal for hot climates), or hugelkultur[1]. Alternatively, growing in pots using organic cannabis super soil can also produce spectacular harvests. Whichever route you choose to go down, remember to use a solid layer of mulch to begin your no-till journey.

How and When to Apply Mulch to Your Cannabis Plants Indoors

If you’re a budget indoor grower with no way to manipulate the temperatures in your grow room, we highly recommend using mulch to insulate your plants' roots, keeping them warm during winter and cool during summer. Indoors, mulch also offers a cost-effective way to prevent pests like fungus gnats, which thrive in humid topsoil.

As is the case outdoors, you can apply mulch to your indoor cannabis plants as early as the seedling phase, as long as you ensure the stems don't make contact with your mulch of choice.

How and When to Apply Mulch to Your Cannabis Plants Indoors

Revitalising Your Indoor Garden

Since cleanliness is the key to a healthy indoor garden, we always recommend "spring cleaning" your entire setup post-harvest. Pathogens and pests can start small; all it takes is a single spore or egg trapped somewhere in your grow space for your entire upcoming harvest to be in jeopardy.

Flush your lines, clean your pots, and pull apart your pumps and reservoirs. Safely pull apart, clean, and reassemble every piece of equipment in your grow room. Wash down the walls of your room or tent, replace dripping or misting nozzles, and vacuum your ballasts. If you think this sounds too pedantic, just talk to any indoor grower who's had to deal with an algae infection or root aphids.

Mulch Like You Mean It

Whether you’re a rookie grower or a seasoned veteran, you can benefit from mulch in your cannabis garden. It’s relatively easy and inexpensive to come by, and just a little work will certainly pay dividends in the future. Make sure to try it and see the results for yourself!

External Resources:
  1. The Many Benefits of Hugelkultur | Permaculture magazine https://www.permaculture.co.uk
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: