Can I work with this soil?

[NoMoreBottles]

I had a sample tested by soil savvy after one run. I am hoping this batch (about 120 gallons) can be amended as the bag soils around here have been loaded with fungus gnats and thrips. The mix was

30% peat
30% perlite
30% lobster compost/cow manure
10% pine bark fines
Per cu/ft
1/2 cup fish meal
1/3 cup fish bone meal
1/3 cup crab meal
1/2 cup neem seed meal
2/3 cup kelp meal
1/8 cup langbeinite
1 cup oyster shell
1 cup gypsum
1/2 cup greensand

The flowering was compromised by low temps after week 5 and a spiraling fungus gnat problem (that came from some bag soil I had also been using) that ended up shutting me down. I was using tap water at about 32 ppm. The soil has been kept in 55 gallon storage tubs and dried out fully. After rehyrdating it there have been no signs of fungus gnats. I was thinking about adding some azomite to help with micro deficiencies but I dont want to raise my calcium or sulfur numbers which are high (I dont know why they are this high). I started a worm bin and have been feeding them paper, cardboard, fan leaves and broccoli and carrot scraps from kitchen. I did not add any of that, I was thinking of starting with a tea when I get going again. If you had this soil to work with what would you do with it?

 

[Northwood]

@NoMoreBottles what are they testing there exactly? Is that just mineral salts available to plants right now, or are they estimating the potential of microbes to mineralize the elements currently bound up in complex molecules in there? There is a difference with organics because the first thing doesn't mean shit. You need to know about what is really in there, and estimate what the potential of its release in available forms is over time.

Edit: Aww gypsum, that's why your ppm are high for both calcium and sulfur. I wouldn't worry about those figures because the calcium and sulfur will only be available to your plants in small amounts over years. I've seen trees and weeds growing in nothing but gypsum gravel/sand just beyond the beach in the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia. All the sulfur and calcium was just a growing medium to all that botanical life! lol

 

[NoMoreBottles]

@NoMoreBottles what are they testing there exactly? Is that just mineral salts available to plants right now, or are they estimating the potential of microbes to mineralize the elements currently bound up in complex molecules in there? There is a difference with organics because the first thing doesn't mean shit. You need to know about what is really in there, and estimate what the potential of its release in available forms is over time.

Edit: Aww gypsum, that's why your ppm are high for both calcium and sulfur. I wouldn't worry about those figures because the calcium and sulfur will only be available to your plants in small amounts over years. I've seen trees and weeds growing in nothing but gypsum gravel/sand just beyond the beach in the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia. All the sulfur and calcium was just a growing medium to all that botanical life! lol

I appreciate your reply. I used the test to get an idea of what I was dealing with instead of trying to guess about what to ammend with. The last time I was in this position with an old batch I added gypsum and some other things that had calcium. I ended up dumping it all. I didnt want to screw this up again. This is directly from the Soil Savvy website about their test:

"Soil Savvy™ uses patented ion-exchange resins which exchange hydrogen (H+) and hydroxide (OH‑) for 14 essential plant nutrients within your soil. These 14 nutrients that Soil Savvy™ detects are the bio-available forms, meaning they are the forms of nutrients which are readily available to your plant. Soil Savvy™ simulates a plant root and only uses field-moist soils for analysis.

Standard soil tests don’t accurately represent the amount of bio-available nutrients within your soil. They show total nutrient but not what amount is currently available for plant uptake (bioavailable). The process of a standard soil test changes the natural chemistries of your soil through a process which requires the soil to be dried and then ground into a fine aggregate to remove the majority of the organic compounds (leaves, roots, mycorrhizae, etc). The soil is then exposed to chemicals, which are used in the analytical process to determine the total amount of nutrients within your soil. Through this process, certain nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are removed, or volatized, when exposed to the high temperature during the drying process."

 

[Northwood]

"Soil Savvy™ uses patented ion-exchange resins which exchange hydrogen (H+) and hydroxide (OH‑) for 14 essential plant nutrients within your soil. These 14 nutrients that Soil Savvy™ detects are the bio-available forms, meaning they are the forms of nutrients which are readily available to your plant. Soil Savvy™ simulates a plant root and only uses field-moist soils for analysis.

So not too useful for organic growers then. I guess it will tell you whether there are enough nutrients available now for your seedlings to survive the first couple weeks if you put them in there right away. The problem is with these cheap soil tests is that the majority of your nutrients in an organic grow are not immediately available to your plants, and exist still bound to complex organic molecules that your bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms break down and release to your plants gradually over the course of your grows. All that potential will not show up on this sort of test.

You can get a soil analysis done that really does measure and estimate the release potential of basic nutrients (even nitrogen), but it's really expensive for small recreational growers and probably not cost-effective. I'm not saying your soil test is completely useless. In fact if you have problems, testing for available nutes will give you a snapshot of what condition your soil is in at the time and provide some useful information. If your soil biology is sluggish for example, the plants may use up nutrients faster than the microorganisms can supply it. Your soil test will help you know that, as well if you have a salt toxicity and lockouts due to too much of something. At this stage though, I wouldn't worry about the soil test results too much considering the biology in your soil isn't yet running at 100%.

 

[NoMoreBottles]

Thank you for taking the time to take a look. Right now I am considering brewing a tea from castings out of my worm bin to wet the soil a bit more and hopefully get some activity going. I did make a batch of LABS last fall, would this be a good time to use some of that too? Do you think adding some azomite would benefit or potentially cause problems?

 

[youraveragehorticulturist]

I use azomite here and there, I don't think it would ruin your soil.

Compost tea or some bacteria to jump off your soil could be cool. I usually try to use some compost tea for my first watering after I put plants n soil in pots.

How did you plants look last time you grew in the soil? Green and healthy or yellowish and spindly?

Looking at your dirt-graph, I would probably use your soil as it is. For micronutrients I would use a micronutrient/humic acid fertilizer like Bio Ag "TM-7" or Build a soil "Big 6" to cover the middle until you get your soil tweaked.

Then I would find something with more P to use during flowering. Crab shell or guano or fish bone or whatever to top dress with.

 

[MICHI-CAN]

Both are over complicated. Easier solutions with the work being the acquisition and mixing. All your questions have been answered. But unfortunately as separate issues. LOL.

 

[Growitpondifarm]

Unlike melich-3 test and other traditional soil tests, soil savvy tests are reporting PLANT AVAILABLE nutrients. The traditional soil tests gave you the physical composition of the soil. Big difference especially for the hobbyist Gardner. These tests are super useful and I test my soil 3-4 times a year with this same test, wether it is in my cannabis garden or my food garden. Lot of bad info in this thread regarding testing.

To circle back to your original question I see no issue with the results and would just add some higher P soil amendments but be careful as P is way over used in cannabis gardening and can have massive negative impacts on plant health when over applied. If you’re gonna go the guano root use sparingly. Compost that is made using a lot of animal manures typically will be high in p and K. Better option than using a high P Dry fert in my opinion.

 

[kratos015]

I had a sample tested by soil savvy after one run. I am hoping this batch (about 120 gallons) can be amended as the bag soils around here have been loaded with fungus gnats and thrips. The mix was

30% peat
30% perlite
30% lobster compost/cow manure
10% pine bark fines
Per cu/ft
1/2 cup fish meal
1/3 cup fish bone meal
1/3 cup crab meal
1/2 cup neem seed meal
2/3 cup kelp meal
1/8 cup langbeinite
1 cup oyster shell
1 cup gypsum
1/2 cup greensand

The flowering was compromised by low temps after week 5 and a spiraling fungus gnat problem (that came from some bag soil I had also been using) that ended up shutting me down. I was using tap water at about 32 ppm. The soil has been kept in 55 gallon storage tubs and dried out fully. After rehyrdating it there have been no signs of fungus gnats. I was thinking about adding some azomite to help with micro deficiencies but I dont want to raise my calcium or sulfur numbers which are high (I dont know why they are this high). I started a worm bin and have been feeding them paper, cardboard, fan leaves and broccoli and carrot scraps from kitchen. I did not add any of that, I was thinking of starting with a tea when I get going again. If you had this soil to work with what would you do with it?




View attachment 4800563

Crab Meal, Gypsum, and Oyster Shell all have Calcium in it. Explains why your levels are so high. Removing the Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) and replacing it with Basalt will lower your S and Ca levels. If for some reason that is insufficient, you can swap out the Crab Meal with something else. Any 4-6-4 blend from Dr Earth/Down to Earth will work so long as there are no calcium inputs in it.

Look into a product called TM7 for micronutrients, its good shit but very powerful. Little goes a long ways. Its a small bag, but that small bag has lasted me almost 3 years now.

Be very cautious attempting to correct the P in the soil. The excess Ca, Mg, and S can be dealt with pretty easily. Excess P is a recipe for disaster.