Subscriptions - Maximum Yield Cannabis USA November/December 2020 | Page 75

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“Companion plants repel certain bugs and attract others
(that eat pests), like ladybugs. They’re great because
they allow you to move away from chemicals and microdosing.
You don’t have to engage in the rotational use of
different harmful sprays when you have basil, coriander,
and alfalfa deterring aphids and whiteflies,” says Dixon,
adding growers should sparsely spread a companion
plant like clover through the grid of the canopy and
around the perimeters of cannabis beds. “You don’t need
much more fertilizer and water. But you give them the
same love.”
Dixon stated he sees companion plants as a “secondary
undergrowth” encouraging high terpene content and
terpene expression.
Matthew Frigone, owner of Lazy Bee Gardens, located in
the Methow Valley of Washington state, noted his favorite
companion plant is White Dutch Clover.
“It’s like a living green mulch. It extrudes different
enzymes into the roots and traps the microbes so they feed
on each other,” said Frigone, who is also experimenting
with chamomile. “It’s known as a doctor plant because it
helps other plants. We want to see if it will boost simple oil
production in the plants around it.”
Plant Companion Seeds and Cannabis
Seedlings at Same Time
Typically, cultivators plant cannabis seedlings and
companion plant seeds at the same time. As the companion
plants sprout, they choke out unwanted weeds. Companion
plants can also eliminate the need for fertilizers. Laughter
said he uses companion plants to make compost.
“ Fungus plays a big part in offering
plants like cannabis sugars and
carbohydrates. You can distribute
spores into your soil. When
mushrooms pop up in the root zone
of cannabis, those tend to be the
happiest plants in your garden.”
“We have a cover crop and build layers of different materials.
Cannabis is a grass with roots that run horizontal. It finds
the sweet spots. What you want your companion plants to do
is make a net full of those sweet spots with a nutrient-rich
environment,” says Laughter.
Laughter added growers should cut down and pull out
companion plants that grow tall. This allows cannabis
plants to have full access to all the nutrients that the
companion plants generated.
Jeremy Moberg, owner of CannaSol Farms in Washington
state and president of the Washington Sun Growers
Industry Association, has a more intense strategy.
“We’re using chrysanthemums, which is where pyrethrins
come from. We put them around the edges and the
perimeters of the cannabis plants. We will just let them
grow unless they become a nuisance,” Moberg says.
Russet mites and two-spotted spider mites can wreak
havoc on a cannabis crop and the chrysanthemums serve
a dual purpose.
“One thing I am concerned about is that I hope the mums
bloom at the same time the cannabis blooms. That will allow
us to get the full advantage. Then we hope to harvest the
mums and then incorporate them into a compost tea. We’ll
spray that on the seedlings,” says Moberg.
Mushrooms Can Act as Companions
Horticulturists who use companion plants are constantly
experimenting with new plants and new ways of using them.
Laughter is now working on mushroom inoculations
for cannabis.
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