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Each garden situation is unique, and many factors help determine which garden techniques you should use.

These include the soil's condition, the size and location of the garden, commitment, and personal preferences.

Each technique affects the microecology in its own way. Home gardeners may use techniques that are impractical for a farmer or guerilla planter. But all growers have the same goal when they prepare soil for planting: to create a soil environment conducive to growing a healthy, vigorous plant.

BOX G Fertilising Cannabis Depends on the Crop

Historically, Cannabis is known to require high fertility. In a fertile soil, Cannabis can outgrow practically any annual plant. Cannabis also is a known depleter of soils. This is true particularly with marijuana, since seeds, flowers, and leaves comprise the harvest.

Hence it's necessary to fertilise the plants each year. Hemp, on the other hand, comes from the Cannabis stem, and the fibre consists primarily of cellulose (C6H10O5)n. When hemp is grown, all plant parts except the fibre are returned to the soil; so the nutrients are also returned. Moderate fertilisation, if any, is all that's required for hemp farmers.

If you are already growing a vegetable garden, the chances are that your soil is in pretty good shape for growing marijuana. However, vegetable gardens may be a little acidic, particularly east of the 100th meridian.

The soil should be prepared in much the same way that it is prepared for corn cultivation, with the addition of lime to raise the pH to near neutral.

Tilling

Gardens which may not have been planted recently (in the last three or four years) require more work. It is best to begin preparing the soil in the fall, before the first frost. This can be done using a spade or shovel. The ground is lifted from a depth os six or eight inches and turned over so that the top level, with its grass and weeds, becomes the bottom layer. Large clumps are broken up with a blade or hoe. Larger areas can be turned with a power hoer or rototiller. Conditioners, such as fresh leaves, composts, mulching materials, pH adjusters, and slow-release fertilisers are added and worked into the soil, so that they begin to decompose during the winter. It is especially important to add these materials if the soil is packed, mucky, or clay-like.

Soluble fertilisers should not be added in the fall, since they leach to the subsoil with heavy rains.

In the spring, as soon as the ground is workable, turn it once again. If the soil still feels packed, add more conditioners. If you are using manure or other organic materials, make sure that they are well decomposed and small clean and earthy. Fresh materials tie up the N in the soil while they cure, making this nutrient unavailable to the plants. Commercial fertilisers and readily soluble organics, such as blood meal and wood ash, are added at this time.

The ground can also be seeded with clover or other legumes. Legumes (alfalfa, clover, vetch, etc.) are plants which form little nodules along their roots. The nodules contain bacteria which live in a symbiotic relationship with the plant. As part of their life processes, these bacteria absorb gaseous nitrogen from the air and convert it into a chemical form the plant can use. During its life cycle, clover uses up most of the N, although some leaks into the surrounding soil. But when the plant, or any of its leaves, die, the contents become part of the soil. The process of growing a cover crop and turning it into the soil is sometimes called green manuring.

After the last threat of frost, at about the same time that corn is planted, the soil should be worked into rows or mounds, or be hoed. At this time, the seeds should be planted. If any concentrated fertiliser is added to the

soil, it should be worked into the soil and should not come into direct contact with the seeds.

The actual amount of tilling that a given soil requires depends on soil condition. Sandy soils and light loams may need no turning, since they are already loose enough to permit the roots to penetrate. Turning may break up the soil structure, damaging its ecology. These soils are easily fertilised, by using soluble mixes or by the layering technique described below. Soils which are moderately sandy can be adjusted by "breaking" and levered or pushed, but the soil is not raised. This is done about every six inches, and can be accomplished quickly. Farmers can loosen sandy soil by disking at five or six inches.

Some gardeners mulch the soil with a layer of leaves or other materials to protect it from winter winds and weather. This helps keep the soil warm so that it can be worked earlier in the spring. In states that border of the 100th meridian, this helps prevent soil loss due to erosion from dry winds. Soil often drains well in these areas, and the ecology of the soil is better served when it is left unturned. At season's end, marijuana's stem base and root system are left in the ground to help hold topsoil. The next year's crop is planted a cover crop, such as clover, or alfalfa, which holds the soil and also enriches the nitrogen supply.

Layering

Layering is another method of cultivation. The theory behind this program is that in nature the soil is rarely turned, but builds up, as layer after layer of compostable material falls to the ground. This material, which contains many nutrients, gradually breaks down, creating a rich humus layer over a period of years.

The layering method speeds up the natural process. Since gardens are more intensely cultivated than wild fields, new material is required to replenish the soil nutrients. Gardeners like Ruth Stout "sheet compost," that is, they lay down layers of uncomposted material and let it decompose at the same time that it serves as a mulch. But most gardeners prefer to use material which is already composted. The compost shrinks and builds the topsoil layer about an inch for every six inches of compost. After several years, the soil level will be raised considerably, and the top layers will be an extremely rich, porous medium which never needs turning.

In order to prevent a spillover of the soil, gardeners usually construct simple beds (using boards) to contain the garden areas.

Layering is most successfully used on porous soils, especially sands, which contain little organic matter. It can also be used with clay soils. However, experienced growers say that clays should be turned several times before the technique is used, or the first couple of harvests will be small.

Planting a cover crop such as clover will give the soil structure. As more compost is added, the clover is covered and the new seed planted. The clover, with its N-fixing properties, remains a permanent cover crop.

When marijuana seeds are to be planted, a planting row is easily tilled with a hoe. The clover protects the soil from sun-baking and its resulting water loss, and makes it harder for weed seeds to get started.

Tilling and layering are basic methods which are used with many variations. In some ways, there almost seem to be as many gardening techniques as there are gardeners. For instance, one gardener bought three cubic yards of topsoil and a cubic yard of composted steer manure. He mixed the material and filled raised beds with it to a depth of 18 inches, and had an instant high-power garden. Another grower made compost piles in his raised troughs during the winter. By planting time, the compost was complete and filled with earthworms.

The beds became warmer earlier, and he could plant sooner.

A midwestern gardener used marijuana as a companion crop in much the same way Indians used corn. In between the marijuana, she planted beans and squash. She didn't get many stringbeans and only a few squash. But she believes that the beans gave the plants extra N, especially during the first six weeks, and the broad squash leaves protected the soil from the hot August sun.

A gardener in Georgia had such a sticky clay soil that a shovel once got stuck in it. He dug holes two feet deep and two feet wide with a power auger and filled them with a fertile mix of two parts sand, one part clay, three parts topsoil, and one part chicken manure. He claimed that his plants grew six feet in 10 weeks. Filling holes with a rich soil mixture is popular with guerilla farmers, who often must plant in poor native soils.

Mulching

Mulching is a labor-saving technique that many gardeners and farmers use for a multitude of reasons. A mulch placed on the ground before fall frosts helps the soil retain heat and protects it from winds and freezing temperatures. In the spring the mulched soil becomes warmer earlier in the season, and can be planted

several weeks sooner than usual. A mulch cover keeps the seedlings' roots warm and eliminates a lot of weeding, since most weed seedlings cannot pierce the cover.

During the summer, mulches keep the ground cooler and more moist by absorbing and reflecting light and reducing surface evaporation. These are important points for farmers in dry areas. The water savings can be 50 percent or more.

Any plant or animal material will do for mulch. Gardeners use hay or straw, leaves, composts, manures, sawdust, bark, or plant clippings in two- to six-inch layers. A barber in Palo Alto uses hair. Baled hay is inexpensive and easy to use as a mulch. Round hay bales unroll in a long sheet that is easy to spread over the ground, and square bales can be pulled apart into tile-like squares.

Mulches create an ideal environment for earthworms and microorganisms which condition and enrich the soil.

These organisms require a relatively cool, moist, dark environment. The mulch develops a dry outer crust which reflects light, keeping the underlayers cool and moist. Materials such as leaves, bark, and sawdust decay slowly because they do not contain enough nitrogen to maintain dense populations of decomposing microorganisms. Manures and composts contain more nitrogen and decay more quickly.

With few exceptions, mulches can be applied practically any time of the year, but the best time is probably in the fall, after the crop is harvested and before the ground has frozen. Leaves, plant clippings, and straw are applied in a thick layer from six to ten inches deep. Hay is layered two to six inches deep. Denser substances, such as manures and composts, should be mixed with straw and leaves to aid decomposition. This mixture is spread in an even layer, about two to four inches deep, over the entire surface of the garden. If winds pose a problem by blowing the mulch away, you can cover it with newspapers or sheets of plastic held down with rocks. If your area is dry, give the mulch a good soaking once before frosts.

By the spring, much of the material will seem to have disappeared. But underneath the top layer, you will find a soft-textured, earthy-smelling humus, teeming with worms, insects and other small animals. This is a sign of a healthy ecosystem and a fertile soil.

Some people apply mulch in the spring, placing it between rows as they sow the seeds. The mulch keeps weeds from competing with the seedlings, absorbs the sun's warmth, and releases nutrients to the soil.

In cold areas, such as Montana, New England, and Alaska, growers place black plastic sheets over the soil.

These absorb the sun's heat, allowing the soil to be planted sooner. The seedlings develop quickly in the warmer soil. The plastic is removed once the seedlings are well-established.

Newspapers and white plastic can be used to decrease water loss during the summer. They also reflect light back to the plants.

One innovative grower from western Colorado placed a sheet of white plastic over her garden and cut out holes wherever she plant the seeds. Though it is quite dry where she lives, she didn't need to water the plants until late July. And she had no problems with any weeds.

Containers

Containers are another option open to grower. Plants can be grown full-size in containers which are at least five gallons (larger would be better). Fill them with high-grade topsoil, or a plating mixture as described in section 6. Planters are a convenient compromise where the soil is particularly poor or for the home gardener who does not wish to get into large-scale gardening. But remember, eight good-sized plants can yield over four pounds of grass.

Plants in pots need to be watered frequently, but require much less total water than a garden. The gardener can also move the plants. Some gardeners use this technique to maximise the amount of sun the plants get during the day, or as the sun's position changes with the season. And growers can easily induce early flowering by moving the plants to a darkened area. {Figure 61. Containers are convenient for outdoor gardens.}

Almost any large container that can withstand the weight of moist soil and which has holes for drainage is suitable. Containers which held toxic chemicals, herbicides, insecticides, or other possibly harmful substances should be avoided.

We have seen all kinds of ingeniously made containers. Some growers use old bathtubs, and others use wooden packing crates or bushel baskets. A simple wood container 18 inches wide, eight feet long, and 18 inches deep was made by a New Jersey grower, who grew six plants in it. Trash cans, plastic containers, barrels, and even rubber tyres have been used. One grower grew plants in one-cubic-foot bags of soil by cutting a five-inch-diameter hole in the top and poling holes for drainage. To assure drainage, growers sometimes fill the bottom of each container with a six-inch layer of stones or gravel; is you are planning to move such container, lightweight perlite would be more suitable.