Ca is important during veg, but if added during flower, it will lock out K. It would be your base saturation ratio on soil tests. There isnt a set target value, but they need to be in the ratio to keep from locking each other out.
Tad Hussey has a great podcast!
High phosphorus is a common problem in my garden! I started getting my soil tested in 2015 and I didnt exactly know how to fix it until I hired an expert. I mean, $40 isnt too bad to get advice from someone who has a PhD. Soil testing and soil agronomist changed my game for sure!
I started with "supersoil" so I know exactly what you are saying lol. It did get me on the organic path though, so I cant hate
Huh...I actually use the KIS organics nutrient pack for re-amending, and the NPK is 2.5-3.5-1 (P is the highest).
So true! Where else could we get that kind of service. Also huge piece of mind during the grow. Just imagine having two or three overlapping deficiencies and the mixed messages that could create during a grow.
I was treating P tox with only Fe and Mn. I should have been adding Ca and Zn too. I've been low in Ca, Fe, Mn, and N but couldn't figure out why I was yellowing so badly. Each one listed causes yellowing lol. You cant tell the difference from looking at the plant until severe deficiency and your plants are fucked by then. Soil testing has stepped up my game and getting professional help has helped me understand how to actually fix problems.
90% of soil P is in an unusable form, so just unlocking it in the soil is enough. I'm talking about potting soil with peat anyways. High calcium soil is different
Makes sense, although I think the fertilizer manufacturers would rather you dump more P in the soil, instead of focusing on the micro herd. Or to make sure you're not short of P if you have low mycorrhizal activity.
The part of Cootz's mix that is overlooked is black leaf mold. It takes 2yrs to make pure leaf mold btw lol. I can have good castings in 8-12weeks... I found a mix that had both neem and karanja but it was def expensive. I'm thinking that is part of his outdoor regimen because he's stated that he's an outdoor grower. Cootz is also the one that started using barley with crab meal. Barley has chitininase to break down the chitin in crab meal. However, I have done my own research and found out that Streptomyces produces chitinase also. I get a lot of Streptomyces with my homemade Grokashi. It took me a while to realize why they use beet juice in the Grokashi recipe, it's for the Streptomyces culture. I'm rattling on now...
Red wheat bran has a healthy dose of Mn too. For a while, I was looking at natural Mn inputs and realized how hard it is to find.
Paul Stammets said that there is no college course that focuses on fungi and that the American Gov does not see the importance of micro biology in farming. Yes, all of their fertilizer is made from phosphoric acid
I appreciate the contributions subcool and coots made. Coots is very much a specific recipe tailored to his situation but I agree the chitin thing was pretty cool. I wish someone would make a working man’s soil recipe with inputs readily accessible to the masses. I grow beets, will have to look into that. I’m getting more interested in starting a worm farm, way more doable than the black leaf method, lol, good point
does it matter if it’s red or regular, afaik it’s similar??
Thats why I use a one part dry,all the hard to find ingredients in one bag.
myke what 1part dry , do you speak of
Gaia 444 & 284.
i'v never came across this Gaia where is this marketed?