Strong smell (ammonia) from super soil?

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Would you suggest re-amending anything? Particularly blood meal for Nitrgen? Not sure if by gassing off, anything other than nitrogen gasses off?
yea, but that's got so many variables in that...
no way to know how much was lost, luckily nitrogen is super easy to apply as the plants grow
I simply do NOT like pretty much any of the supersoil ingredients, too many redundant ingredients, too many soluble ingredients...
too many slaughterhouse ingredients
blood meal, bone meal, and guanos are known to be a lil sketchy to use in regards to health.
not to mention they simply aren't as useful as some other inputs.
if I were to add something to your mix it'd be alfalfa meal, and aeration.

But I wouldn't add anything at this point personally, too easy to overapply

besides a lil light on nitrogen isn't going to hurt them, you'll see that def coming a mile away, easy to treat
 
yea, but that's got so many variables in that...
no way to know how much was lost, luckily nitrogen is super easy to apply as the plants grow
I simply do NOT like pretty much any of the supersoil ingredients, too many redundant ingredients, too many soluble ingredients...
too many slaughterhouse ingredients
blood meal, bone meal, and guanos are known to be a lil sketchy to use in regards to health.
not to mention they simply aren't as useful as some other inputs.
if I were to add something to your mix it'd be alfalfa meal, and aeration.

But I wouldn't add anything at this point personally, too easy to overapply

besides a lil light on nitrogen isn't going to hurt them, you'll see that def coming a mile away, easy to treat
That is very true. Was just seeing if this would effect the other amendments during the process in any way. Nitrogen is probably the easiest to deal with I agree. I already have alfalfa meal, kelp, seaweed, oyster, and the rest that are a part of subs original recipe. I've always had great tasting flowers with his recipe but this is a first of overwatering the mix and I went into panic mode haha. I have 8 girls in flower as of today so my mix has another 8-10 weeks to do its thing. I will turn over every 2-3 days. Does there come a time when I no longer turn over? Maybe the last 2 weeks? I let my last batch set for a while and didn't show any deficiencies throughout the grow when using teas sparingly but I was thinking you'd have to at least wait to see the soil webbing before turning to know its working as that is the sign of active life.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
That is very true. Was just seeing if this would effect the other amendments during the process in any way. Nitrogen is probably the easiest to deal with I agree. I already have alfalfa meal, kelp, seaweed, oyster, and the rest that are a part of subs original recipe. I've always had great tasting flowers with his recipe but this is a first of overwatering the mix and I went into panic mode haha. I have 8 girls in flower as of today so my mix has another 8-10 weeks to do its thing. I will turn over every 2-3 days. Does there come a time when I no longer turn over? Maybe the last 2 weeks? I let my last batch set for a while and didn't show any deficiencies throughout the grow when using teas sparingly but I was thinking you'd have to at least wait to see the soil webbing before turning to know its working as that is the sign of active life.
my favorite thing to do when experimenting with new recipes or making new batches is simply buying a cheap plant froma hardware store and plopping that into your mix when you think it's ready, then wait a week to see if it grows, if it does, it's ready.
I've always liked growing legumes or grass on cycling soil, you'll visually see them bust out when the nutrients become bio-available
 

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
my favorite thing to do when experimenting with new recipes or making new batches is simply buying a cheap plant froma hardware store and plopping that into your mix when you think it's ready, then wait a week to see if it grows, if it does, it's ready.
I've always liked growing legumes or grass on cycling soil, you'll visually see them bust out when the nutrients become bio-available

That's what male cannabis is for. You can do the extremes to him. See how dry you can get him. How much is too much fert.

I've found that his female counterpart will respond similar. I treat males like crap. Stick them in the bathroom and forget to give him light. Then end up giving him something like 5 hours. Oh well. All I need is two pollen sacks then it's the grave...

Abusing males takes the stress out cannabis growing. See exactly what the plant will tolerate.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
That's what male cannabis is for. You can do the extremes to him. See how dry you can get him. How much is too much fert.

I've found that his female counterpart will respond similar. I treat males like crap. Stick them in the bathroom and forget to give him light. Then end up giving him something like 5 hours. Oh well. All I need is two pollen sacks then it's the grave...

Abusing males takes the stress out cannabis growing. See exactly what the plant will tolerate.
somehow that post makes my balls hurt.
I feel a lil bad for those dudes
not a bad way to learn things though, I always say you'll learn a LOT more from abusing and mistreating plants
 

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
somehow that post makes my balls hurt.
I feel a lil bad for those dudes
not a bad way to learn things though, I always say you'll learn a LOT more from abusing and mistreating plants

Go through a divorce and the feeling is normal. Somehow you end up relating to the plant. Mother Nature karma of the universe.
 
I want to thank you all for chiming in, putting my mind at ease, and giving great advice. It's nice having people willing to tell you when you're wrong and when you're right so we are not playing guessing games when we are just not sure. Thanks again, I greatly appreciate you all for stopping by this thread. I will be starting a grow log with this soil. I'll be doing all TGA gear: Agent Orange (taking cuts for outdoor while the indoor is going as well) for sure but I need to decide between Jack Skellington, Chernobyl, and Plushberry. Any of you guys grown these strains? I was a big fan of AO.
 

BudmanTX

Well-Known Member
I'm always experiementing with different soils, i do keep a base of what i use first when i do, the rest is experimental. . Like this new littleonei have growing, this time i added the crushed sea shells and the ground up pumpkin seed. The rest is the base of the mix.
 

Tangerine_

Well-Known Member
I'm in Maine too. Gotta love these ridiculous temp fluctuations. A wk ago my master bath cold water pipes froze...two days later it was in the high 50s. o_O
 
I'm in Maine too. Gotta love these ridiculous temp fluctuations. A wk ago my master bath cold water pipes froze...two days later it was in the high 50s. o_O
Haha yeah you aren't kidding. Hopefully it doesn't snow in late April again this year!! We live in a beautiful state that is well preserved but Mother Nature is a cranky bitch around these parts. Outdoor always has me on edge haha.
 
my favorite thing to do when experimenting with new recipes or making new batches is simply buying a cheap plant froma hardware store and plopping that into your mix when you think it's ready, then wait a week to see if it grows, if it does, it's ready.
I've always liked growing legumes or grass on cycling soil, you'll visually see them bust out when the nutrients become bio-available

Definitely going to do that! So, do you turn your soil every few days throughout the entire cooking cycle? I was always under the impression you let it set untouched for a period of time, whether halfway through or near the end, so that the soil web is visible then mix it in by turning it a final time prior to using the mix.
 

Tangerine_

Well-Known Member
Haha yeah you aren't kidding. Hopefully it doesn't snow in late April again this year!! We live in a beautiful state that is well preserved but Mother Nature is a cranky bitch around these parts. Outdoor always has me on edge haha.
I have no doubt we'll get that last shitty slushy storm in April. We almost always do. I remember one yr it was so bad all the DOT plow trucks were sinking on the newly thawed shoulders. This is an awesome state but you gotta be tough and resourceful to live here, haha.

I also got tired of standing outside in October during downpours with the wind beating the shit out of me while I furiously try to re-stake plants and finally re-built my dads greenhouse. Mother Nature isn't to be trusted here.
 

prostheticninja

Well-Known Member
Read through the thread, and you aren't freaking out anymore, but for what it is worth: I have experienced this as well. I got a couple bags of Kind Soil (decent stuff too, in a pinch) in a trade with a buddy, and as soon as I cut into one of those I smelt a super pissy, ammonia, smell. I was kinda freaked out to put my plants in there, but one tester didn't die, so after that I was confident to use the rest.

Moral of the story: you want your soil mix to smell slightly like a litter box lol.
 
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