Moisture when cooking soil

[Greenthumbs256]

I add any extra tea along with the sludge left in the bottom of the bucket back into my recycling soil bin. If you strain off the particulate matter or use a mesh bag or something throw all the spent materials in there too. Been doing that for awhile & works well. Does not make things go any faster; cooking time is to normalize the ph from the soil amendments you added in. If you have a decent quality soil probe you can always just check to see if it's done. Higher than 6.5 is good enough but if don't have one (I don't) you simply wait 30 days & there's really no need to bother checking ph. That's long enough for the microbes to begin breaking down the organic compounds so they are in an available range for your plants to absorb.
I use water collected from a dehumidifier as my main supply and supplement with rain when I collect it or use spring water when I go to the mountains and fill up my jugs. Dehuey water is in endless supply this time of year where I live; probably dump a few gals a day into the buckets and they all get cycled through in time. It has like 8ppm. My tap is about 75-80 ppm but is laden with chloramine. RO is super wasteful. I only use that as a last resort; Walmart has an RO machine for .37 per gal which is ok when in a pinch. Problem with using raw water is it has zero macros; so I add a liquid organic cal mag at 6-10 drops per gal.

Is cal mag truly organic I stopped using it and and tried to add it more in my mix with amendments but I'm still seeing slight cal mag issues! I'm worried the cal mag I add to my waterings might hurt all my precious microbes I work so hard to breed!

 

[dubekoms]

They make organic cal mag, made with with calcium carbonate and magnesium nitrate.

 

[charface]

They make organic cal mag, made with with calcium carbonate and magnesium nitrate.

I was wondering about that,
The chelates? However you say it
Is this a problem with the organic cal mag? As far as microbes.

I get that we routinely add microbes
So in my mind it would be acceptable.

The rev goes on and on about that and the acids but then says he has a bottle of calmag, unless I just didn't understand correctly.

Maybe this is one of those contradictions richarddrysift was talking about.

But yeah, I cant imagine not having some fast acting calmag at hand

 

[dubekoms]

I was wondering about that,
The chelates? However you say it
Is this a problem with the organic cal mag? As far as microbes.

I get that we routinely add microbes
So in my mind it would be acceptable.

The rev goes on and on about that and the acids but then says he has a bottle of calmag, unless I just didn't understand correctly.

Maybe this is one of those contradictions richarddrysift was talking about.

But yeah, I cant imagine not having some fast acting calmag at hand

I have no idea haha but I needed it specially under led which requires more calmag. I think I'll just start adding more calcium inputs into my soil and start using more epsom salt for mag to get around it.

 

[charface]

I have no idea haha but I needed it specially under led which requires more calmag. I think I'll just start adding more calcium inputs into my soil and start using more epsom salt for mag to get around it.

Im keeping my bottle stashed just in case, im a bad person. Lol

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

I have often wondered this too, and I think yeah adding more sources of cal/mag to the soil to be broken down by the microbes I think would be the best way to go. How can we achieve the right concentrations in the soils?

 

[Chunky Stool]

As far as organic calcium goes, I think bat and seabird guano are naturally chelated and should be readily available to the plant.
One of the more knowledgeable people in the organic forums said that bone and crab shell nutrients become available at different rates, so I use both in my mixes.

 

[charface]

Is there an organic calcium folier?
Boiled eggshells or something?
Also
Do any of you spray epsom salts?

 

[Richard Drysift]

Is cal mag truly organic I stopped using it and and tried to add it more in my mix with amendments but I'm still seeing slight cal mag issues! I'm worried the cal mag I add to my waterings might hurt all my precious microbes I work so hard to breed!

Get General Organics liquid calmag it's the only one I know of that is OMRI listed safe for living soil. It's recommended by the rev. I've been using it for years now. Add it at 6-10 drops per gallon of water; dosing by what the label says can cause salt buildup but using a dropper you can add it at almost every watering if you need to; only needed when using RO or distilled (dehuey) water though. Rainwater has all the macros already. I also add crushed eggshell to my worm bin and mineral inputs to the soil directly but it's actually kind of hard to provide macros like cal & mag in soluble form if it's not in the water. Here's a link:

https://www.planetnatural.com/product/camg/

 

[Wetdog]

I have a question because this whole conversation is puzzling. Doesn't anyone use dolomite lime in their mixes?

I use no liquid cal/mag and never have, but have not had a cal/mag issue in over 8 years. I did 9 years ago after listening to Coot and some bad information on dolomite that had no relevance to container mixes.

I DO add a bit of Epsom Salts to fresh mixes because the Mg in dolomite is slower to release than the Ca. Once it does start to release, the Mg becomes a non issue for several years at least.

I use the dolo just for pH buffering and use other sources for more Ca, but the dolo seems to provide enough Mg on it's own. I know I don't need to add Mg specificly.

Am I missing something here?

Wet

 

[charface]

I have a question because this whole conversation is puzzling. Doesn't anyone use dolomite lime in their mixes?

I use no liquid cal/mag and never have, but have not had a cal/mag issue in over 8 years. I did 9 years ago after listening to Coot and some bad information on dolomite that had no relevance to container mixes.

I DO add a bit of Epsom Salts to fresh mixes because the Mg in dolomite is slower to release than the Ca. Once it does start to release, the Mg becomes a non issue for several years at least.

I use the dolo just for pH buffering and use other sources for more Ca, but the dolo seems to provide enough Mg on it's own. I know I don't need to add Mg specificly.

Am I missing something here?

Wet

Not missing anything
I have just become so used to adding calmag via bottle to my indoor grow

Now That im moving towards fully organic water only I just want to make sure I have my bases covered in case I mess up and find myself needing to add. Im still learning and between fungi, nutrients, microbes etc
My head is spinning. Lol

But Im doing the research in advance.

Outdoor im currently running dry amendments, n tea
But i want to mix it all myself instead of buying it next year

 

[Greenthumbs256]

Get General Organics liquid calmag it's the only one I know of that is OMRI listed safe for living soil. It's recommended by the rev. I've been using it for years now. Add it at 6-10 drops per gallon of water; dosing by what the label says can cause salt buildup but using a dropper you can add it at almost every watering if you need to; only needed when using RO or distilled (dehuey) water though. Rainwater has all the macros already. I also add crushed eggshell to my worm bin and mineral inputs to the soil directly but it's actually kind of hard to provide macros like cal & mag in soluble form if it's not in the water. Here's a link:

https://www.planetnatural.com/product/camg/

I do also add egg shells to my worm bin and bananas alot! Lol but I use my sink water it's well water and I bubble it for 24ish hours! To be honest I don't know if I have good water or not but I've been using it for about 2 years! I will get a small bottle of this cal mag and use it every once in a while just for a small boost of cal mag!

 

[Richard Drysift]

I have a question because this whole conversation is puzzling. Doesn't anyone use dolomite lime in their mixes?

I use no liquid cal/mag and never have, but have not had a cal/mag issue in over 8 years. I did 9 years ago after listening to Coot and some bad information on dolomite that had no relevance to container mixes.

I DO add a bit of Epsom Salts to fresh mixes because the Mg in dolomite is slower to release than the Ca. Once it does start to release, the Mg becomes a non issue for several years at least.

I use the dolo just for pH buffering and use other sources for more Ca, but the dolo seems to provide enough Mg on it's own. I know I don't need to add Mg specificly.

Am I missing something here?

Wet

I add a handful or 2 of D-lime and garden gypsum when I recycle the soil. I ran out of calmag last year and stopped using it for awhile but after a few weeks some of the older fans were spotted. Went back to giving calmag again and the plants are now happy & green. I think it has a lot to do with your water source. Dehumidifier water is what I use mainly because I collect a lot of it but it's very low ppm. When I give rain or spring water I add nothing at all.

 

[Richard Drysift]

I do also add egg shells to my worm bin and bananas alot! Lol but I use my sink water it's well water and I bubble it for 24ish hours! To be honest I don't know if I have good water or not but I've been using it for about 2 years! I will get a small bottle of this cal mag and use it every once in a while just for a small boost of cal mag!

If you have been getting along without it you may not even need it. Well water should contain macros already.