Questions regarding organic soil

I have been using ffof for my first 4 grows. I've decided to go the organic route this time to save some time and money on nutrients. I'm using coast of maine platinum growers mix. Like my previous grows, I'll be using ro water. My questions are, should I add Cal mag to my ro water since the reverse osmosis system strip the water of calcium and magnesium? Or will the soil be able to provide those nutrients? Should I adjust the pH? Or will it adjust itself? I'm growing from seed in a 5 gallon smart pot to avoid transplanting. They are starting their 3rd set of leaves so I haven't exactly watered the pot enough to get a run off so I haven't been able to check the run off.

Just wanna make sure my girls are getting what they need from the get go

I add a tbs roughly of epsom salt (CaMg ) per gallon every other watering, and compost teas.

I've never checked ph in soil in 10 years.

I use two gallons fabric pots with promix. There's enough nutrients in the soil to support it till the 4th week of veg. The black strap in compost tea supplies calcium and magnesium.

With five gallons of soil. I'd check the ph of the water to make sure it isn't on the extreme points of the scale. Like 4.5 or 8.0. Checking but not adjusting unless it's extremely high or low PH.

Next time it rains in your area. Check the PH of the rain at first collection and after an hour. See what PH mother nature gives them.

Best thing you can do is to prepare the living soil, Two inches of leaf matter or grass clippings left to disintegrate into the soil underneath over winter, will outperform anything out of a bag.
Start this year for next year's soil. throwing stuff in from a bag can be very far from organic, especially when using sterile compost etc.I'd rather have the above soil with a bit of volcanic rock dust than anything from a bag.

D'sNuts said:

I add a tbs roughly of epsom salt (CaMg ) per gallon every other watering, and compost teas.

I've never checked ph in soil in 10 years.

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I have epsom salt but it's not ground up finely to the point I can mix it with water. Do you think a tbs of calmag would be sufficient enough?

SouthCross said:

I use two gallons fabric pots with promix. There's enough nutrients in the soil to support it till the 4th week of veg. The black strap in compost tea supplies calcium and magnesium.

With five gallons of soil. I'd check the ph of the water to make sure it isn't on the extreme points of the scale. Like 4.5 or 8.0. Checking but not adjusting unless it's extremely high or low PH.

Next time it rains in your area. Check the PH of the rain at first collection and after an hour. See what PH mother nature gives them.

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I will definitely check the runoff after she matures a little more and I can water to the point of runoff. I'm pretty interested to see what the pH is gonna read.

I've never in my life checked the ph of run off water. The water that didn't run off is being buffered and stabilized by the soil. The run off wasn't exposed and buffered as long. Then there's how fast the soil drains.

I understand people swear by it but I don't have much faith in it...

Chrisz0825 said:

I have epsom salt but it's not ground up finely to the point I can mix it with water. Do you think a tbs of calmag would be sufficient enough?

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Epsom salt left in water for 5 or 10 minutes will dissolve.

Chrisz0825 said:

I have epsom salt but it's not ground up finely to the point I can mix it with water. Do you think a tbs of calmag would be sufficient enough?

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Epsom does not have Ca in it......It is a poor choice for that. A TBL a gallon is too much also.
A TBL of Ca/Mg is too much. 5 ml per gallon for any of the bottled Ca/Mg products on the market is fine.

Metering the run off is simply getting the pH of the run off. It's not the pH of the soil and many factors can change the pH. It is not a reliable way of pHing anything!

Soil self pH's. If you have the proper amounts of liming agents in the soil......just water and walk away......Watering/feeding a soil plant will cause the pH to drop like a whole point in pH. As the soil dries back out, it rise's back to it's "rest" point. This natures way of allowing for nutrients that are best taken up by the plant at their differing optimal pH values.

"Epsom for Ca - OMFG - really"

A tbs = 5 ml

that platinum mix is $31 for a 1.5 cf bag where i am!!! it ought to veg,flower,harvest and trim the damn plant for that cost!

Chrisz0825 said:

I have been using ffof for my first 4 grows. I've decided to go the organic route this time to save some time and money on nutrients. I'm using coast of maine platinum growers mix. Like my previous grows, I'll be using ro water. My questions are, should I add Cal mag to my ro water since the reverse osmosis system strip the water of calcium and magnesium? Or will the soil be able to provide those nutrients? Should I adjust the pH? Or will it adjust itself? I'm growing from seed in a 5 gallon smart pot to avoid transplanting. They are starting their 3rd set of leaves so I haven't exactly watered the pot enough to get a run off so I haven't been able to check the run off.

Just wanna make sure my girls are getting what they need from the get go

Click to expand...

You can get try to away with adding in a dry sources of cal and mag but it takes time to break down and become available to the plants. I agree with others here who are saying don't even bother worrying about ph; it's almost a non issue in organics.
I suggest using other minerals besides Epsom salt like garden gypsum, crushed oyster shell, and dolomite lime. I add all three to my recycling soil plus I compost eggshells from a a worm bin. A supply of compost is often overlooked by organic noobs and is the most important element IMO; a supernaturally active mix keeps your plants healthy and green even if NPK values are relatively low. Microbes can consume every bit of organic material present in a container as long as there are large healthy populations of them; regular applications of AACTs will maintain their numbers. Most times a deficiency is in fact due to a lack of microbial activity; there are still nutrients in the soil waiting to be consumed by the microherd and made available for uptake.
Cal/mag helps to absorb all other nutrients and its not always readily available in a mix that has not been amended and recycled a few times. It can take a year or longer for some minerals to break down and become available in the soil. So because of this I say yes to adding a liquid preferably organic cal/mag at least until you can recycle & amend the soil a few times. I use distilled water supplied from a dehumidifier which has like 4 ppm so I add in General organics calmag+ at 6 drops per gal at almost every watering. If I use collected rain I add nothing as it usually contains macros and microbial life. The key is to give plants clean water that is about 25 ppm. Rainwater is the shit btw...
Dont avoid transplanting; potting up as the plant develops gives opportunity to add granular mycorrhizae on the roots and to add in fresh mix and compost. I pot up as needed until just before flipping to bloom phase. Then push in 2 jobes organic spikes into the final size pot which feeds through to harvest time.

D'sNuts said:

A tbs = 5 ml

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WRONG sport!

D'sNuts said:

I add a tbs roughly of epsom salt (CaMg) per gallon every other watering, and compost teas.

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NO CA IN EPSOM!

tsp = teaspoon = 5ml

NO "b or B" in it... add that "b" and it looks like tablespoon! That's 15ml.

If your building your soils, yourself......You're getting enough Mg in there and don't need Epsom..

Thank you for the correction.
I use a tsp per gallon.