Dmannn
Well-Known Member
I feel your pain man.
Soil Test Results
- Thread starter Growitpondifarm
- Start date
Growitpondifarm
Well-Known Member
Damn stang, thanks for your service/sacrifice. If anyone was giving ou shit over your gardneing I hope they feel like an idiot after reading this.
That soil is Rich, look at those PPM levels compared to recommendation. Did you end up cutting this mix or planting right into it ?
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
No, I never figured out how to work with it and that is what led me to testing my soil. A former member(that I thought very highly of) on here swore to me that I didn't need to test my soil and it was always a guess with him. I don't like to play that game anymore! I am going to get scientific evidence to what my soil is doing. I always thought that I was getting all of the micro-nutrients from my compost. There is a saying in the Army "Assume will make an Ass out of u and me".
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
Since we are talking about why people are hating on me now, I will provide a link(like always). Sorry Wetdog, maybe we are at such an impasse that we should just "Ignore" eachother? Anyways, this is the article that started the beef between me and Wet... Do you notice how many people told me to lime my soil even though I provided a soil test?
https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/mehlich-3-soil-testing.1489052/
https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/mehlich-3-soil-testing.1489052/
Thai_Lights
Well-Known Member
I don't know about other rock dusts but glacial rock dust definitely doesn't do anything by adding it into your mix. A guy named Alberta organic gardening on YouTube mixes it into his soil and sends in soil tests and also tests on the vegetables and fruit and there isn't a difference.
This is why I've gone back to using only azomite and greensand for my minerals. As "slow" as they are they are still way faster than any rock dust. Azomite is a clay ish and greensand is a sedimentary rock and very soft, like sandstone. They weather much faster than basalt or granite that are super hard. There is a reason that both of those are used for monuments and such. They last forever.
Wet
Went back and reread that link and still stand by what I suggested. Make a nice simple mix from scratch and go from there. My all time fav is LC's #1, a simple blood, bone, kelp mix that is still very close to what I'm doing still.
Why would I want to "ignore" you? Or you me? Because I suggest you simplify your mix or inputs? You're having problems for sure, but neither of us seem to be able to pin down the root cause. So, you start with the bare minimum and add stuff over time and observe what happens. Could be the manure, could be the compost, could be any number of things, but if all are added how do you know which one it is?
37!? You've got time. I'll be 70 next month, my time is looking more and more limited for anything even semi long term, but, Ob la di, Ob la da, as the saying goes.
Wet
Growitpondifarm
Well-Known Member
400 W citizen cobs(8 chips total), 200w 3500k, 200w 3000k. They’re timber fixtures. I like them and have had good success under them in other grow spaces but this space is pretty small and I sometimes wonder if they may be a bit too powerful for the area. I should get a par meter and see for certain what’s going on.
Things are looking MUCH better, the plants loved the EWC/leaf mold/kelp/blood meal mix I mulched in last week. Color has come back, along with overall vigor and water consumption. The blueberry I have has not slowed down in vertical growth, a lot different than my last seed run from this pack. The two Jawa pies seem content with their current height.
I watered with a dose of tm-7 earlier this week to try and help with mineral issues.
Ready for flower production.
Growitpondifarm
Well-Known Member
Another update for anyone still interested . The plants look great, and just in time as flowers are just starting to set in. They’re drinking a lot of water and stretching out nicely. Really need to thank the guys in this thread that helped me get things back on track !
here’s the Jawa that was hurting the hardest
here’s the Jawa that was hurting the hardest Did you notice much of a difference between the Ironite and the Fertiloam? I googled the FL, but info was really skimpy beyond the iron & micronutrients.
A word of caution. With homegrown VC I would really slack off any BioAg products. VC provides so much and with BioAg being so concentrated, even the smallest amount kicks you into the "too much" catagory. Especially if humic/fulvic acid is involved. Big VOE here.
Shit's looking good and those micros will release more and more as time goes on and you are over the hump, so just be careful of over doing things.
Good time for flower!
Wet
A word of caution. With homegrown VC I would really slack off any BioAg products. VC provides so much and with BioAg being so concentrated, even the smallest amount kicks you into the "too much" catagory. Especially if humic/fulvic acid is involved. Big VOE here.
Shit's looking good and those micros will release more and more as time goes on and you are over the hump, so just be careful of over doing things.
Good time for flower!
Wet
DonTesla
Well-Known Member
For myself, I dont need to see soil tests to see that GRD is beneficial for plants. I took some dying yellowing plants that I was literally gonna kill, cause I was so embarrassed by their state.. this was during a move btw when I had two places, one being in the country. it was HOT that summer too.
So anyways, I added some GRD to the top soil and watered it in.. those plants ended up being not only the greenest and healthiest, but the most flavourful and pungent as well, out of the whole lot. They also made the most viable seeds (I pollenated it as well)
I guess a big factor to consider is fungals, because its the fungi that do the heavy lifting and eating and breaking down of said tougher ingredients... I usually like to put a V10 engine (equivalent) into the soil though, vs a 4 banger or V6..
My latest GRD blend, which is part (beautiful and red) Fe rich sand, actually attracts fungi within days, and you will see air roots tapping up into it, as well as mycelium flourishing ...
Azomite, named such cause it has everything from A to Z, imo anyway, has too many nasties / heavy metals etc in it for me.
I still think Gypsum and basalt and GRD is no match for a soil thats fungally activated and raring to go.
But damn, Wet, I had no idea you were 70.. I feel bad arguing now. Agree with you though on backing off of all needless BS if using powerful and fresh EWC. Humics, etc, no longer needed.. its like adding em twice when you have fresh castings.
Growitpondifarm
Well-Known Member
I did a fair amount of reading on the bioag products so I fully see where you’re coming from wet, I applied one soil drench using the recommended amount of 1/8 tsp/gallon of water. I have no intention of adding it again and used it strictly to speed up micro nutrient uptake as I was in a time crunch to flip these into flower.
In regards to the fertilome, I can’t say conclusively that it was effective as I sprayed the foliar application at the same time I topped dressed with the ironite. No way of knowing which one if not both helped these plants along. Regardless they appear to be healthy and hopefully flowering will continue smoothly. I only applied the fertilome via two foliar applications per the application rate in the bottle. I did these one week apart.
Don, can’t argue with your results and your experience. But I do believe testing soil is a helpful tool in any Gardner’s box. Seems the cannabis world has a lot to say on rock dusts in general and everyone has their own opinion. Your plants look great in your thread so whatever works for you I don’t blame you continuing to do!! Keep up the good work
Thai_Lights
Well-Known Member
GRD beneficial or not I have a lot of it so I'll just keep adding it to my worm bins until I run out.
DonTesla
Well-Known Member
Thank you friend... and I agree 100% btw. I think measuring / testing is a fundamental part to success. In fact, we do an 84 elemental-analysis on each amendment (including every GRD) even before it goes into the soil.. but was just saying, what sold me initially was the experimental top dress and the results that followed .. both on health potency and flavour.
Now of course, not all rock dusts are created equal.. some are cleaner, some are meaner, some are Fe rich, and some are in between'er.
Regardless of stance and discipline though, yes, its very good to always; Train, measure, adjust. Then repeat.
Respect guys,
DT
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
Glacial Rock Dust works that fast? I'be been having a problem with trace/micros and I have been overlooking GRD because I thought that it would take it years to break down like basalt and the other rock dusts. Good to know!
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
I was using testing to let me know what I was doing wrong mostly. Feel my way through the dark lol... I think that soil testing is a good idea, but it's not for everyone.
DonTesla
Well-Known Member
It sure can, especially if you go through the work of amping up your fungals in your soil a couple times before using it, which I always do and recommend for any flowering mix!
The texture is also key, this was not a powder flour per se but not a coarse sand either, more so in the middle.. and the reaction was indeed very fast.. 2-3 weeks only for visually, greener healthier plants. The flavour was really enhanced too. And that was the only thing I added other than water and UV/ sunlight.
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
I am missing compost right now. I started pure leaf compost last October and it is going painfully slow, as is my worm bed... I should stop by your thread again and see how you boost your micro-herd. It was very interesting but I was never able to get past the micro/trace deficiency. School of hard knocks over here...
You said that your GRD is rick in Fe, but what I need is a boost in Mn, Zn, and Cu.