jHands
Active Member
Yeah the place I bought my amendments from (local) is recommending a thorough flush of the soil. Not possible given my situation. What can I do about these salts?
First Living Soil Grow - Plants Not Happy
- Thread starter jHands
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ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
i kinda agree with them but if you dont have a drain below your bet its gonna be kind of a bitch to accomplish that. the only way to get them down is to dilute the soil, or run some water through it... unless there is an option I'm not familiar with!
where do you think all that sodium is coming from? The kelp?
Maybe there is something like fulvic acid that will help bind and immobilize the Na in the soil... seems weird its so high!
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jHands
Active Member
The ECe rating is what they’re referring to. They didn’t even bat an eye at the calcium levels etc. They’re blaming the high ratio of castings in the mix, yet I know guys that have run this same recipe and are absolutely crushing it, without even bothering to do an analysis. How would you recommend I flush these beds with no way to get them out of the room and no drain?
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
nah the calcium is fine, and it's a good ratio of Ca:Mg. ok so this is certainly a solubility test. I should have noticed that by the EC reading. is it possible for you to run some water through the bed or no?
jHands
Active Member
The beds are in rooms with standard doors to enter. No drains in floors. Was never intending on flushing as it’s kinda frowned upon with living soil. Aggravated at my poor planning right now. Best case scenario is flush then shop vac run off? I don’t even know if I can flush in these geo planters. Seems unlikely water will get through much,
if at all, and what remains will likely kill the plants.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
plant your cover crop thick and maybe they will help with removing some of the extra nutrition! that seems like a good idea to me...
jHands
Active Member
Funny thing is, the plants that made it through the rough learning curve are showing signs of vigorous growth, yet still showing slightly burnt tips etc. I’m thinking about treating the pH and just running them through and seeing what happens. Guy at the ag store claims my yields will suffer greatly with soil that salinic
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
Wouldn't surprise me. I mean clearly they are stressed... and we all know what happens to yield under stress. Did they give you a recommendation on how to approach the pH? I'm interested to know what they had to say. I know soil sulfur cycling can really take a while to start having an effect.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
oh yeah that'd do the trick for sure. Looks like they're finally getting adjusted though... yeah a couple are in rough shape still but look at it this way... you probably won't need to reamend for your next crop
I think getting your pH would definitely help your cause. at least you're relieving some of the stress.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
i prefer low to mid 6's. just dont go overboard with the first application. you can always apply more if you need to.
Bobby Long Buds
Well-Known Member
Was the peat moss you used just peat moss and lime or was it pre amended “potting mix” ?
I don’t know much about coots mix but I thought maybe that could be the reason for excess nutrients.
If I were trying to grow small plants in that massive amount of soil I would find it hard to keep the water cycling in and out fast enough. Do you use a moisture probe to ensure the roots aren’t waterlogged?
I don’t know much about coots mix but I thought maybe that could be the reason for excess nutrients.
If I were trying to grow small plants in that massive amount of soil I would find it hard to keep the water cycling in and out fast enough. Do you use a moisture probe to ensure the roots aren’t waterlogged?
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
coots mix is generally 35% drainage material (I even prefer 40%). soil holds water but plenty of air at the same time from all the porous drainage stones.
jHands
Active Member
Not sure on the moss. I may have overwatered at some point because when I inserted the probe into the root zone 3 days after watering it indicated very moist soil. As the soil has dried out, and the probe has confirmed it with increasing mbar ratings, some of the plants have come to life. I’m just gonna stop worrying about it and accept my soil was too immature for planting when I planted. I have a friend who’s using this exact same mix minus the biochar in a large scale rec grow, and he’s killing it. So despite what the soil tests will say, I’m just gonna keep on keepin on. If my yields are terrible after the first run or two in each bed, I’ll reassess.
CanadianDank
Well-Known Member
Definitely looking great man, you're going to have a jungle in there!
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
lookin better dude. what light are you running?
jHands
Active Member
Progrowtech EV700 full spectrum LED
