Cooking soil before testing?

[ExoticKangaroo]

I just mixed about 300 gallons of fresh soil. Peat, perlite, amendments, minerals. My local testing facility said that mix does not need to cook for testing. I thought that doesn't sound right. Any input?

 

[smokinrav]

I tend to agree. Never had to cook my mix, even tho it was much like yours, and it had its issues, or I had issues with it, but in the end it was a beautiful medium that I was able to reuse for years.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I just mixed about 300 gallons of fresh soil. Peat, perlite, amendments, minerals. My local testing facility said that mix does not need to cook for testing. I thought that doesn't sound right. Any input?

Doesn't sound right at all to me. Sounds like they just want your money. Everything about the soil will change as it cooks. Temp, pH, available nutes, all that shit. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[@EastCoastGenetix]

I just mixed about 300 gallons of fresh soil. Peat, perlite, amendments, minerals. My local testing facility said that mix does not need to cook for testing. I thought that doesn't sound right. Any input?

If you get it tested now it will tell you what's available at that moment just like if you let it cook then get tested. The difference is with cooking your letting the microbiology build and start the natural cycle. In agriculture normally the test is done before planting, only in a new field but it's done after a crop. Your always build for the next round. I just switched to No-Till beds and I mixed around the same amount of soil from scratch but I didn't test before I grew in it but I did let it cook for 2 weeks before thought. I plan to test after my second round because, I want to get the soil cycled before hand so when I get my results hopefully I won't have alot of amendments.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

If you get it tested now it will tell you what's available at that moment just like if you let it cook then get tested. The difference is with cooking your letting the microbiology build and start the natural cycle. In agriculture normally the test is done before planting, only in a new field but it's done after a crop. Your always build for the next round. I just switched to No-Till beds and I mixed around the same amount of soil from scratch but I didn't test before I grew in it but I did let it cook for 2 weeks before thought. I plan to test after my second round because, I want to get the soil cycled before hand so when I get my results hopefully I won't have alot of amendments.

Organic nutrients can take a long time to break down and become available to the plants. A lot more nutrients will be available after cooking than before. So that doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[@EastCoastGenetix]

Well, you are right in a sense. If he uses his soil then it'll be to hot to plant into. Most super soil needs a buffer zone so over time your plants can grow into. So if he mixed 300 gallons then after it cooks it could be 300 gals of hot soil and he would needs more soil to use for a buffers zone and for back filling sides. But using it right away with everything not fully available it acts as slow release fertilizer and he could plant in his soil without risk of burning plants.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Well, you are right in a sense. If he uses his soil then it'll be to hot to plant into. Most super soil needs a buffer zone so over time your plants can grow into. So if he mixed 300 gallons then after it cooks it could be 300 gals of hot soil and he would needs more soil to use for a buffers zone and for back filling sides. But using it right away with everything not fully available it acts as slow release fertilizer and he could plant in his soil without risk of burning plants.

Not all dry amendments are slow released. Bone meal and guano's can quickly burn the shit outta them if you don't let it cook first. It can literally fry the roots.

 

[@EastCoastGenetix]

Not all dry amendments are slow released. Bone meal and guano's can quickly burn the shit outta them if you don't let it cook first. It can literally fry the roots.

Right but since he didn't say what his amendment mix was I wasn't going to jump the gun. I personally use Dr. Earth dry amendments with organic bio-stimulants and Veg and Bloom microbes from Raw Nutrients. So I cooked my soil in the beds for 2 weeks after I mixed it up but it was mainly for the mycelium growth I get from using Dr Earth. I top dress every three weeks. So even in organics it's many of styles and recipes. I even learned my lesson from planting straight into a hot super soil.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Right but since he didn't say what his amendment mix was I wasn't going to jump the gun. I personally use Dr. Earth dry amendments with organic bio-stimulants and Veg and Bloom microbes from Raw Nutrients. So I cooked my soil in the beds for 2 weeks after I mixed it up but it was mainly for the mycelium growth I get from using Dr Earth. I top dress every three weeks. So even in organics it's many of styles and recipes. I even learned my lesson from planting straight into a hot super soil.

Well you told him he could use it right away without the risk of burning his plants. Sorry, but that's just wrong. We have no idea what amendments he added, and neither does the soil testing company.

The main point I'm trying to make is that the soil test is gonna read different if you do it before and after cooking the soil. At least that's as far as I understand the process.

 

[@EastCoastGenetix]

Well you told him he could use it right away without the risk of burning his plants. Sorry, but that's just wrong. We have no idea what amendments he added, and neither does the soil testing company.

The main point I'm trying to make is that the soil test is gonna read different if you do it before and after cooking the soil. At least that's as far as I understand the process.

You are correct and I'm not disputing that. But is he making 300 gallons of super soil? If yes, then he needs to let it cook and fill only 1/3-1/2 of his pots with it and the rest with a filler. If no, then if he lets it cook to long it'll be super soil.

 

[@EastCoastGenetix]

I just mixed about 300 gallons of fresh soil. Peat, perlite, amendments, minerals. My local testing facility said that mix does not need to cook for testing. I thought that doesn't sound right. Any input?

What did you amendment with?

 

[ExoticKangaroo]

I know my soil needs to cook before planting thats not the question. I leave it cook for 3 months. Question I have is if I'd be wasting time having it checked now. Mostly concerned with soil ph. If I can have it tested now It would be beneficial because I could correct any mistakes with plenty of time to cook still. My mix is as follows
8 cubic feet peat moss
4 cubic feet vermiculite
4cubuc feet perlite
8 cubic feet castings
2 pounds insect frass
8 cups seabird guano
12 cups earth dust base
20 cups earth dust boost
24 cups kelp
24 cups alfalfa
12 cups oyster shell
12 cups azomite
6 cups gypsum
6 cups mixed minerals
I do believe thats all but I could be missing something

 

[ExoticKangaroo]

This is a flowering mix. 2 months veg then they go into the bed and veg another week or two to adjust to transplant then flip

 

[ExoticKangaroo]

This is the same mix I've been using but I scaled it way up. I was doing 30 gal mixes before

 

[ExoticKangaroo]

And its only 15 for the base test and an additional 3 dollars for cal mag. So its only 18 dollars for the test