Miyagismokes
Well-Known Member
Reminder that pouring water through hardwood ash is how you make lye.hardwood ash which also gives up a good amount of K as well
Careful!
Reminder that pouring water through hardwood ash is how you make lye.hardwood ash which also gives up a good amount of K as well
"..what's this?.. This.. is a chemical burn..."Reminder that pouring water through hardwood ash is how you make lye.
Careful!
Depends on the acidity/sappyness of the wood to begin with. DRYED hard woods have a much lower PH than wetter or sappy woods. In any any event you should "age the ashes" by piling in a shaded "moist" area."..what's this?.. This.. is a chemical burn..."
well it was a quote from fight club but yes you are right (-:Depends on the acidity/sappyness of the wood to begin with. DRYED hard woods have a much lower PH than wetter or sappy woods. In any any event you should "age the ashes" by piling in a shaded "moist" area.
You need to test for dispersion first. Search " testing clay soil for dispersion "I need to buy about a ton of this (maybe literally) for my clay soil in my garden too!
Why do you say it buffers soil to 6.5?Its a fantastic amendment! I love it.
You dont use gypsum for the same purpose as lime. It doesn't alter your ph.
Whats so good about gypsum, is it buffers the soil, so the ph doesn't swing easily at all.
Say you have a soil thats ph 6.5. Well why use lime? The ph is fine.
Gypsum still provides calcium, as well as the benefits of sulphur. But buffers the soil to stay at 6.5. Its fabulous stuff. Really!
Gypsum also breaks up sodic, clay soil.
Interesting. makes me think about what other amendments would have an effect on taste at too high of inputs.I have done a few experiments with gypsum and have found that too much in my mix gives a very nasty aftertaste to the smoke.
I ran four mixes in 2 cup increments and only really found awful taste beyond 6 cups of gypsum to 35-45 gallons of soil (45 gallon bags mostly full). 8 cups was almost unsmokeable (I smoked all of it).
2 cups per grow on a large plant should be enough but 4 cups was the sweet spot for my mix.
It doesnt really alter the ph at all. Its not a soil sweetener. I believe i stated that as well.Why do you say it buffers soil to 6.5?
AFAIK, Dolomite raises PH, thats what the carbonate part does. Because Gypsum doesn't have carbonate it does not raise it. It doesn't raise ph, or lower, or buffer it either in this magical 6.5 range you speak of. Maybe your mix was stable at 6.5 and the gypsum had no effect as it shouldn't compared to dolomite lime. That doesn't mean you should jump to the conclusion that it buffers!
I suggest this for people. Use dolomite if you want to raise ph, (once again it doesn't buffer it also raises and will keep going above 7). Use gypsum if your ph is in the desired range already.
Feel free to prove me wrong with some articles/studies stating otherwise, I have read my share hence my comments.
Just found this on Google for you. Enjoy the read.Why do you say it buffers soil to 6.5?
AFAIK, Dolomite raises PH, thats what the carbonate part does. Because Gypsum doesn't have carbonate it does not raise it. It doesn't raise ph, or lower, or buffer it either in this magical 6.5 range you speak of. Maybe your mix was stable at 6.5 and the gypsum had no effect as it shouldn't compared to dolomite lime. That doesn't mean you should jump to the conclusion that it buffers!
I suggest this for people. Use dolomite if you want to raise ph, (once again it doesn't buffer it also raises and will keep going above 7). Use gypsum if your ph is in the desired range already.
Feel free to prove me wrong with some articles/studies stating otherwise, I have read my share hence my comments.
If want to find which type of PEDS you have in your soil, so you know whether you need to amend with gypsum.Why do you say it buffers soil to 6.5?
AFAIK, Dolomite raises PH, thats what the carbonate part does. Because Gypsum doesn't have carbonate it does not raise it. It doesn't raise ph, or lower, or buffer it either in this magical 6.5 range you speak of. Maybe your mix was stable at 6.5 and the gypsum had no effect as it shouldn't compared to dolomite lime. That doesn't mean you should jump to the conclusion that it buffers!
I suggest this for people. Use dolomite if you want to raise ph, (once again it doesn't buffer it also raises and will keep going above 7). Use gypsum if your ph is in the desired range already.
Feel free to prove me wrong with some articles/studies stating otherwise, I have read my share hence my comments.
As well as a soil texture assessment. I like forming a bolus, to check for loam. Then ribbon test the bolus to check for clay.You need to test for dispersion first. Search " testing clay soil for dispersion "
Basically you place some lumps of clay in water, and see how fast it dissolves. If it starts dissolving, and starts to disperse through the water, your clay needs gypsum. Theres a standard dose / m2 too. Just hit up google.
If you dont get dispersion, or barely any, and it takes a long time. (generally hours) Then you need to add more organic matter.
There should be a guide for timing the tests too.
Its pretty simple really. Usually i just put my PEDS in a dish. Add a little distilled water. If i dont have dispersion within several minutes. Then i leave the sample overnight, and see how much its dissolved in the morning.
Hope this helps man.
Because adding gypsum to the wrong type of clay, wont do much at all. It could even be counter productive as well.