I know I keep saying it man, and I wish I was there so you could see the way I say it... as in non-offensive
you are overthinking all of this, like 60,000%
where are you roughly?, give me a city or state area, and i'll find you what you need, but you've been told by some of the absolute most knowledgeable organic guru's here the same thing, you are thinking of this all the wrong way, and I guarantee if you continue it'll bite you in the ass, especially if you are making your own soil.
just do not add up the npk numbers, you'll only confuse yourself further and lead you to adjustments you don't need
I think the honest to god best decision for you at this point is to get a bag (or better yet find local) of composted steer manure (cheap), get kelp meal, and get rock dusts, and be done with it.
steer manure will cover essentially everything, and what it lacks the kelp will cover.
start a compost and or a wormbin (preferably both, they are different)
the road you are already going down is going to lead you to frustration, more money spent, and I've seen too many growers do that, and then they think organics is shitty because their grow didn't go well
probably 95% of first time organic growers are guilty of the same thing, so don't feel bad, but you need to listen to us.. you are making waaaaay more work for you than you need to.
trust me, I have a few neurotic tendencies as well, i know what it's like man, and you just gotta resist the urge to overthink/overwork it all
you were thinking of langbeinite, its also called sul/po/mag has a good amount of potassium in it, as well as sulfur and magnesium (hence the sulpomag name)
don't add the potassium silicate, don't add the magnesium sulfate, don't add the potassium sulfate, you don't want that in there at all.
you inquired about potassium inputs, these are good ones to add. I'm not putting the ashes in there because I don't like the solubility or ph fluctuations it has.
comfrey, dandelion and nettles are fantastic sources of potassium, not to mention they are renewable and FREE ( I can't recommend enough on the importance of fresh comfrey as a frequent topdress)
most seed meals are as well, soybean, cottonseed, neem etc
alfalfa meal and kelp are staples in most organic mixes
manures are reaaaally great, for an even bioavailable fertilizer that add humus to the mix as well as microbial diversity, as well as sulfur (crucial for it's role in terpine development)
the best being manure being alpaca (easier to find than one might think, look for alpaca wool farms)
sheep manure is high in potassium too
insect frass is sorta also
my advice is to forget about langbeinite in regards to it being a source of potassium, it's more for micro nutrients and sulfur, but it's to be used very sparingly and depending on your decisions it may be too much (magnesium and potassium in large amounts cause lockouts)
I honestly urge you to take a simpler approach, get some local dairy/steer manure or if you are lucky alpaca manure, then mix that in with your existing ffof, add kelp meal, a form of fresh humus (check craigslist for hippy wormfarmers or composters) and some rock dusts
that will be more user-friendly to you, and much more forgiving.
not to beat a dead horse, but I cannot stress enough the value of having comfrey, dandelion (who can't find those anyways) or stinging nettles
I have yet to use nettles but comfrey is almost a must-have, in fact for me? it is.
I would not do a grow without it personally
I was advised that my original mix might be low in K (I think by you monkey man lol)
dr who also said hes always looking to get the K up in his organic mix and that's why he likes the granite RD and K-S if needed
so I was looking for what organic sources that raise the K
but was trying to avoid frequent soluble K-S inputs
for that matter I was trying to avoid all water soluble inputs that are frequently required due to leaching
id already maxed out the kelp meal and many of the slow release K options (greensand) wouldn't be available until who knows when
I prefer not to use silica in the medium because if its done in a way that provides a decent amount of K it would be a ph issue
and its also a quick/water soluble salt fertilizer
as for the numbers
im not referencing the numbers they way hydro would
I understand the numbers tell you the amount potential npk but not the availability of the npk in any given time frame
therefore they can not be calculated mathematically in the way soluble salts can be
I only look at the numbers as a general reference to how much K might be available over an extended time frame and my goal is just to make sure theres some K on the buffet
ultimately yesterday I decided to simply eliminate the fish meal from the mix thinking in terms of less is more....
so that the total sum of the other amendments (containing K) in the mix will increase fractionally
the fishmeal just had a ton of N and I don't want to end up to hot
N is easy to add and theyres plenty of organic sources of N that are quick if it ends up light but I think itll be fine
most nutrient issues are better defined as nutrient imbalances and occur when one element is too high and blocks another competing element from uptake.... Ive understood that for many moons
so I understand and appreciate the point your making
@greasemonkeymann
ive tried comparing the build a soil mix with the link provided on building soil and make sure my total amendments are less than what there recommending .... the build a soil re-amend has a lot more in it than im using that's for sure
I purposely chose to use amendments that are not high in P
theres already some P in there and again P is easy to add organically and quickly if I was short (again don't think I will be)
the only thing ive been chasing is the K
you have mention comfrey a couple times an I have it written down
and I regret that I have yet to look into it, should have done that already
anyway...you did answer my question about K resources and it was great info
the alpaca poop might be viable
ive seen a few farms around
I will be moving soon ....
after we make the move I will be composting for sure
theres a dairy farm 1/2 mile from my new place and my neighbors got horse so manure wont be an issue
I will get them to bring me plenty of poop...they got more than they can use lol
