DIY Organic Potting Mix's for Grass - Ace Spicoli

[acespicoli]

In agriculture, magnesium sulfate is used to increase magnesium or sulfur content in soil. It is most commonly applied to potted plants, or to magnesium-hungry crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, lemons, and roses. The advantage of magnesium sulfate over other magnesium soil amendments (such as dolomitic lime) is its high solubility, which also allows the option of foliar feeding. Solutions of magnesium sulfate are also nearly pH neutral, compared with the slightly alkaline salts of magnesium as found in limestone; therefore, the use of magnesium sulfate as a magnesium source for soil does not significantly change the soil pH.[28]

Magnesium sulfate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Dime]

When I grew hydro and made my own ferts from salts when it was highly illegal and hard to find premix,magnesium suphate was a seperate addition.

 

[acespicoli]

When I grew hydro and made my own ferts from salts when it was highly illegal and hard to find premix,magnesium suphate was a seperate addition.

You mean like a part a part b then foliar feeding MSulfate?
Mixing MS salts im familiar with that, the anion cation mixes and polarity of the ions

 

[Dime]

You mean like a part a part b then foliar feeding MSulfate?
Mixing MS salts im familiar with that, the anion cation mixes and polarity of the ions

Yes like the hoagland formula and then add mgso4 and trace elements including iron. Later I dropped the trace and just subsituted a bit of well water

 

[Dime]

Yes like the hoagland formula and then add mgso4 and trace elements including iron. Later I dropped the trace and just subsituted a bit of well water

Not foliar feed though,just mixed epsom salts in water

 

[Dime]

I have never found foliar feeding to make much difference in my case

 

[acespicoli]

Just adding trace to substrate, or correcting a deficiency would likely make it noticeable
Yeah every time I mix a batch of organic substrate like to tweak it a little as I dream up new things to add
Overall im happy with the results so much you can add,

but is it gonna make a big difference as long as you have a little organic compost... ?
how many runs can I get from one mix thats a interesting question as well
usually just run it once and ditch it in the garden
should upload some pics of the flowers

 

[Dime]

I've never grown real living organic indoors,seems like a lot of work to me

 

[acespicoli]

Maybe at first id agree, but in the long run it probably saves labor unless your well automated

 

[Dime]

I don't know much about it but I would think the only way to grow truly organic would be in a greenhouse open to nature for the pressures like bugs and self balance and the need to let the soil create life . I am distinguishing between organic tea or non chemical nutrients grows vs living soil grows involving animal manure and real farming methods .

 

[Old Piney]

I don't know much about it but I would think the only way to grow truly organic would be in a greenhouse open to nature for the pressures like bugs and self balance and the need to let the soil create life . I am distinguishing between organic tea or non chemical nutrients grows vs living soil grows involving animal manure and real farming methods .

Yeah I also don't know. I do very limited indoor growing. I am curious @acespicoli ,can you grow indoor with the real living soil ?

 

[Dime]

This is about the hoagland formula that I learned on . Premix ferts were outrageously expensive and the police watched hydroponic stores so I bought the salts from CIL through our local feed and seed mill in 50 lb sacks . I still have some in my garage that's over 20 years old, that's how long it lasts.You can tweak it to your imagination and if you're good at math you can really get accurate. I chose some different salts than he did due to availability but it ended up in gallon concentrate a&b, empsom salts and trace elements in seperate containers. I ran 1200 plants once using it.

Hoagland’s nutrient solution

Protocol Author Rana Munns Overview This protocol describes how to make up standard nutrient solution using the original recipe of Hoagland and Arnon No2, with modifications for using it in solutio…

prometheusprotocols.net

 

[acespicoli]

I don't know much about it but I would think the only way to grow truly organic would be in a greenhouse open to nature for the pressures like bugs and self balance and the need to let the soil create life . I am distinguishing between organic tea or non chemical nutrients grows vs living soil grows involving animal manure and real farming methods .

When we talk about these things is important to be on the same page concept wise.
For my mix there is the promix bx contains a beneficial endomycorrhizae

Then there is the Epsoma products im using a multi product mix that has to do with research
on whether cannabis is a herb or a woody bush?
That contains
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 1,000,000 CFU/gram
Bacillus licheniformis 1,000,000 CFU/gram
Bacillus megaterium 1,000,000 CFU/gram
Bacillus pumilus 1,000,000 CFU/gram
Bacillus subtilis 1,000,000 CFU/gram
Paenibacillus polymyxa 1,000,000 CFU/gram

Also from a municipal county waste facility live living compost derived from grass leaf and tree waste
In addition im also feeding with dry molasses to keep the lacto bacteria alive and well and provide sugars in direct form to the plants for terpene production.

Chitin provides the insect component with no bugs,
to make sure there are no bugs
Diatomaceous earth and Bt.I

im pretty satisfied with it, need to do a side by side grow in topsoil vs the mix

Fungus Gnats and White Flies were the main pests Bt solved

Organic Fungus Gnat Control | ARBICO Organics

Fungus Gnats, members of the Diptera family, are major pests in the soils and potting mixes. Commonly found in greenhouses, indoor growing settings and nurseries, the gnat larvae feed on fungus, but also damage plant roots and adults can spread disease. Fungus gnats reproduce quickly, so control...

www.arbico-organics.com

Powdery Mildew and Green algae were the only other challenges locally
Easy fixes

 

[acespicoli]

This is about the hoagland formula that I learned on . Premix ferts were outrageously expensive and the police watched hydroponic stores so I bought the salts from CIL through our local feed and seed mill in 50 lb sacks . I still have some in my garage that's over 20 years old, that's how long it lasts.You can tweak it to your imagination and if you're good at math you can really get accurate. I chose some different salts than he did due to availability but it ended up in gallon concentrate a&b, empsom salts and trace elements in seperate containers. I ran 1200 plants once using it.

Hoagland’s nutrient solution

Protocol Author Rana Munns Overview This protocol describes how to make up standard nutrient solution using the original recipe of Hoagland and Arnon No2, with modifications for using it in solutio…

prometheusprotocols.net

I can see where the work would be excessive at that amount

This is where I learned the tech and recipes decades ago
Have to check some of your grows and cultivar choices sounds interesting
Only run DWC a few times, want to try RDWC

 

[acespicoli]

Yeah I also don't know. I do very limited indoor growing. I am curious @acespicoli ,can you grow indoor with the real living soil ?

sure might depend on your definition of living soil

 

[Dime]

I began with 4 inch rockwool cubes on 4 x 6 tables using ebb and flow and mothers in pails. I found the cubes to be really expensive and no where to dispose of them so I went to a stone yard who happened to have a bit if lava rock and bought it so I could reuse it. I ran drippers and found they clogged too often so I made a manifold and ran copper pipe that went to a pipe teed and I drilled holes in with a gate valve shut off to the tables on constantly,That solved the clogging problem and also brought lots of air to the roots at the same time and I let me drop air pumps. I tried to eliminate as many variables as possible to run a fairly automated system and all I had to do was change nutrient solutions in the reservoirs.Later I made a self contained system with 5 inch pipe glued together in 6 rows and the drain went directly into the reservoir ,that was a good set up,much better than the tables and lava rock, in the pipes i used no medium,just clones in the holes

 

[Dime]

Sorry , I didn't mean to go off topic, thx for the link on the organic.

 

[acespicoli]

I began with 4 inch rockwool cubes on 4 x 6 tables using ebb and flow and mothers in pails. I found the cubes to be really expensive and no where to dispose of them so I went to a stone yard who happened to have a bit if lava rock and bought it so I could reuse it. I ran drippers and found they clogged too often so I made a manifold and ran copper pipe that went to a pipe teed and I drilled holes in with a gate valve shut off to the tables on constantly,That solved the clogging problem and also brought lots of air to the roots at the same time and I let me drop air pumps. I tried to eliminate as many variables as possible to run a fairly automated system and all I had to do was change nutrient solutions in the reservoirs.

Back in the old days necessity as the mother of invention
Thought about using lava rock, did use coarse perlite and vermiculite (soil less)
Used the clay pebbles like LECA on the buckets but yeah air pumps are noisy and cost electric hard to automate

Its all good, actually even better to share different aspets ideas its all related to nutes and growing of different degrees, ty

Welcome

 

[Dime]

You can tell when you have the nutes right,they stand up craving the light

 

[acespicoli]

You can tell when you have the nutes right,they stand up craving the light

When all things are in perfect harmony it is a sight to behold

Stomatal conductance - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

For mechanism, see: Stomatal opening and closing

Stomatal conductance is a function of the density, size and degree of opening of the stomata; with more open stomata allowing greater conductance, and consequently indicating that photosynthesis and transpiration rates are potentially higher. Therefore, stomatal opening and closing has a direct relationship to stomatal conductance.


I had just recently started getting into this study in depth
it started with VPD

I love the videos of a plant moving during time lapse photos during the day
always wonder as to the cause

Stems have several main functions:[3]

• Support for and the elevation of leaves, flowers, and fruits. The stems keep the leaves in the light and provide a place for the plant to keep its flowers and fruits.
• Transport of fluids between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem.
• Storage of nutrients.
• Production of new living tissue. The normal lifespan of plant cells is one to three years. Stems have cells called meristems that annually generate new living tissue.
• Photosynthesis.

Stems have two pipe-like tissues called xylem and phloem. The xylem tissue arises from the cell facing inside and transports water by the action of transpiration pull, capillary action, and root pressure. The phloem tissue arises from the cell facing outside and consists of sieve tubes and their companion cells. The function of phloem tissue is to distribute food from photosynthetic tissue to other tissues. The two tissues are separated by cambium, a tissue that divides to form xylem or phloem cells.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_hair
Calcofluor White confocal fluorescent image of developing tomato root Confocal fluorescence image of Arabidopsis root hairs
Having a large surface area, the active uptake of water and minerals through root hairs is highly efficient. Root hair cells also secrete acids (e.g., malic and citric acid), which solubilize minerals by changing their oxidation state, making the ions easier to absorb.[4]


Yeah all things must be right