MotherLode Gardens 2016

[plantingplants]

I know I'm not an expert but from your lab report, I would say just make your mounds and go. Your old soil looks good-- you didn't get the N test, and you said they're yellowing, so clearly it's missing a little N, but you're adding fresh coots on top, which as you can see from my results, is really high in N, so they'll be fine, and if they start yellowing later in the season, feed them some N. It was also a little low in K, which the fresh coots has a SHITLOAD of, so you're fine there, too. And as for the Na, I'm sure your fresh mix has enough there, too. Mine was very high in Na. I think your old mix was also a little deficient in micros, but you're spraying micros, right? Because you should be anyway because even the fresh coots has a shitload of K so it locks out micros.. so you're fine.

So in my amateur but somewhat informed estimation, you should just cut your losses and make your mounds.

"sunk-cost fallacy. When one makes a hopeless investment, one sometimes reasons: I can't stop now, otherwise what I've invested so far will be lost. This is true, of course, but irrelevant to whether one should continue to invest in the project."



edit: does leadsled know that your lab report is for old coots mix? I'm just wondering if he's thinking that it's new stuff, and like milkyjoe said, is worried that the oyster shell Ca might give a false CEC value which would throw off all the cation nutrient target values. I don't think you would have to worry about that with old soil since the oyster shell Ca is free? Just a guess. Take that with a teaspoon of salt.

 

[milkyjoe]

Is that a mix of new and old coots from the new mound?

 

[Stone House]

Any chance you could repot into bigger containers to buy you another week or two?

 

[leadsled]

I"m feeling really frustrated and discouraged with the result of my attempt to get my soil tested and amended properly


I sent my soil to Fruit Growers Lab in february, tryin to be proactive and make sure i didnt get delayed. Got my results back and posted them here, where i was told that i got the wrong tests, and i had to send my soil to Logan Labs instead

Logan Labs took almost 3 weeks to get my soil and give me the test results. At that point it was last week, and I could have been putting my plants in the ground already

So i sent the Logan Labs test results to Leadsled for recommendations. he took a few days to email me back, saying that my test results show i have high calcium that I need to get ANOTHER test from logan labs (AA 8.2 test for excess calcium) before he can give me recommendations

Leadsled said i dont need to send in another sample, i guess Logan labs can re-use the sample i already sent them for this extra test? But even if i dont have to mail in another sample, when i do finally get my amendment recommendations it will still take a while to get all the amendments and mix them in. at this point i should already have my plants in the ground. I've had my new soil for 2 weeks and havent made my mounds yet cuz i was waiting to amend my old soil. My starts are looking like they need to go in the ground.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point. Wait for another test and recommendations and then spend a few days mixing dirt, ( who knows how much longer that whole process will actually take, at this point its been almost a month already.) or just say fuck it and make my mounds now without amending the old soil , that way i can get my plants in the ground before they start getting rootbound.

I thought i would have all this stuff handled several weeks ago. trying to do everything properly is costing me a lot of crucial growing time. All these setbacks are putting me in a weird place mentally. I just wanted to do everything right but circumstances beyond my control are fucking me, as usual.

I just want somebody to tell me what the fuck to mix into my old pots. didn't think it would be this damn hard. So many stupid obstacles this season.

hope this makes sens. sorry for ranting. any advice would be appreciated


EDIT: just tried to call logan labs and their voicemail says they're closed now, and it's only 11:30 am pacific time. I swear i'm goin to fuckin shoot myself , this whole soil test fiasco is ridiculous

Sorry to hear the tests took so long to come back. Go direct to logan labs for the quickest turn around.

Part of the delay is shipping the soil sample to logan labs. They already have the soil! Yes, that is correct you do not have to send in another sample. Logan labs runs another test on the current soil sample they have on hand.

If you want to get the amendment recommendation now. Do not wait. Order minerals based on current test now. Do not wait for another test to come back


Get the minerals in your hands so you do not have any more delays.

If logan labs lags gets back the AA8.2 test on monday or tuesday. Your minerals arrive. You amend plant and go.

Hope that helps you plant on time. You still got time.

 

[Shcrews]

Is that a mix of new and old coots from the new mound?

the test? just the old coots from last yr

Any chance you could repot into bigger containers to buy you another week or two?

i dont think that would work the way i would want

 

[milkyjoe]

There is no way for me to tell about N. But the rest of the stuff you will need is water soluble, you can simply water it in. No need hold up on planting.

 

[maxmurder]

My last test was about a month ago I went thru aea and it took way longer than the last two tests thru aea. I noticed that the date on the test was more than a week later from when I got em so it wasn't Logan (who are probably super busy this time of year) it was aea who stalled. I got an email from Gary explaining that he was working out of town and sorry it took so long. Have you used any of the aea products on the yellowing plants?

 

[Shcrews]

i sent my tests straight to logan labs, not AEA

havent used any AEA stuff yet, just got it. im goin to foliar today. got this foliar recipe from byf:

per 1 gallon of water:

-1oz special blend A
-1oz special blend B
-1mL Pepzyme clear
-1gram Spectrum Extra



just curious, i thought pepzyme and spectrum extra were to be used for watering, not foliar feeding? everything on the packaging indicates that the spectrum extra should be watered into the soil i think... but not sure.

 

[Shcrews]

There is no way for me to tell about N. But the rest of the stuff you will need is water soluble, you can simply water it in. No need hold up on planting.

that's what i figured, but theres one problem.. If i pile the new good soil on top of the old soil and then water in the amendments won't that throw the new soil out of balance?

 

[milkyjoe]

The new soil will be high in K...but we know that K leaches very easily once the Ca from oyster shell kicks it off the cec sites. When it leaches if there is room in the old soil the K will attach to cec sites. The question for Lead will be how much? I would kinda wait until you see a sap K difference in reading from top to bottom in the plant before adding any k.

The sulfate micros will also leach down into the old soil, although we know you are gonna be missing a couple in the new soil also.

You will be fine watering them in. That AOG is taking off right...why wouldn't everything else.

 

[theJointedOne]

Chin up bro. Sorry your stressed out a bit. I know the feeling, if that helps any.

Just baby your babies, those are your biggest assets right now. Maybe transplant them I to bigger pots while your waiting. Especially if they are yellowing. Food is good for them. Make a small batch of tea in a Pickle barrel real easy, lots of love.

You've got the dna, sun, water, land, dirt, and labor. Increase your confidence, remember past successful seasons, and just give each em love.

Its not easy these days with the Internet and Instagram ect. Seeing everyone else and how they are doing, doesn't help when you hit a road block and everyone else is on cruise control.

Remember to keep everything simple.

Good luck bro

 

[Mr Chocolate]

I"m feeling really frustrated and discouraged with the result of my attempt to get my soil tested and amended properly


I sent my soil to Fruit Growers Lab in february, tryin to be proactive and make sure i didnt get delayed. Got my results back and posted them here, where i was told that i got the wrong tests, and i had to send my soil to Logan Labs instead

Logan Labs took almost 3 weeks to get my soil and give me the test results. At that point it was last week, and I could have been putting my plants in the ground already

So i sent the Logan Labs test results to Leadsled for recommendations. he took a few days to email me back, saying that my test results show i have high calcium that I need to get ANOTHER test from logan labs (AA 8.2 test for excess calcium) before he can give me recommendations

Leadsled said i dont need to send in another sample, i guess Logan labs can re-use the sample i already sent them for this extra test? But even if i dont have to mail in another sample, when i do finally get my amendment recommendations it will still take a while to get all the amendments and mix them in. at this point i should already have my plants in the ground. I've had my new soil for 2 weeks and havent made my mounds yet cuz i was waiting to amend my old soil. My starts are looking like they need to go in the ground.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point. Wait for another test and recommendations and then spend a few days mixing dirt, ( who knows how much longer that whole process will actually take, at this point its been almost a month already.) or just say fuck it and make my mounds now without amending the old soil , that way i can get my plants in the ground before they start getting rootbound.

I thought i would have all this stuff handled several weeks ago. trying to do everything properly is costing me a lot of crucial growing time. All these setbacks are putting me in a weird place mentally. I just wanted to do everything right but circumstances beyond my control are fucking me, as usual.

I just want somebody to tell me what the fuck to mix into my old pots. didn't think it would be this damn hard. So many stupid obstacles this season.

hope this makes sens. sorry for ranting. any advice would be appreciated


EDIT: just tried to call logan labs and their voicemail says they're closed now, and it's only 11:30 am pacific time. I swear i'm goin to fuckin shoot myself , this whole soil test fiasco is ridiculous

Hey buddy sorry your so stressed. I had a very similar soil test. Your CEC is super good so your exchangeable nutes are in there man. I would just hit it with lots of tea and maybe throw some blood meal on top of them and you might be good. Thats all I've done and my plants are stoked. I had some yellowing with some deps in old soil and it brought them right out of it. If you keep hitting the mounds with teas and then feed through the leaves the biology should balance out your mounds and your girls will get right on track

 

[plantingplants]

Hey shcrews, do you recall any particularly good BBHP phenos? They seem mostly thin leaved tall growing. The dream beavers are growing the fastest, bushier with a lot of growth at the nodes.

 

[xmobotx]

don't sweat this soil test stuff shcrews. i look at the soil test as a learning mechanism to see why your soil did what it did & maybe improve your understanding & your ability to get consistent results vs get way-laid by funky out of whack soil.

your soil is already NOT funky or out of whack.

it would be a good idea to get some numbers on your new soil & make certain it's as good {or better?}

The key things i see in your test is, Ca is slightly high. that's going to be OK cause your within your 8:1 high end of the cal-mag range & it's not too high. {albrecht decided 6.5:1.5 was optimum ~more recent research suggests little variability from 3:1 to 8:1} Next, K is slightly low {emphasis on "slightly" don't sweat 1% ~or 1.2} That basically gives you some control where you can hit them w/ K-sil or whatever around the flip ~but you might not even see a difference. Finally, like milky has pointed out historically, boron is low. Borax is damn near free compared to other supplements & that hits the sodium "issue" {i wouldn't sweat getting sodium up w/o maybe a couple tests assuring me it was actually low ~notice how it's fine in the FGL test? anyways, there's sodium in the borax} remember, you don't want more than 4ppm boron

i wonder what's going on w/ phosphorous? i notice that it's reported as extreme on the FGL test but seems within parameters on the logan test {which actually seems like you should maybe add it?}

i don;t worry much about P or N. because i use the stuff i use, P is in there & i don;t want to over-do it. similarly, N is bountiful & can be metabolized by living soil systems {there's tons of it in the air}

also, it would seem that the soil isn't completely homogenized & there's something like the "spikes & layers" thing going on. in nature, soil is varied rather than completely mixed to a consistent state. you see pockets of best & worse growth w/ good areas in between

anyway, remember that thing about spectrum & pepzyme being used to get good growth w/ salt build up? similarly, there's something to the chem guys argument that ionic whatever is ionic whatever & maybe "salt build up" isn't the best way to describe your variances but, the key to that discussion is the ability of the product to smooth over excesses & variances in your soil ~milky has used the word "alchemy"

 

[mikado1]

i dont think so. idk what that would look like, but it seems like if i drill into the bucket lid i'm gonna get a face full of landfill-juice (at least thats what it smells like)

im sure its an easy solution but my stupid ass and 2 other guys were stumped.

i got another 5gal bucket from them and it came with a different lid, with a thing to unscrew. but this one has nothing.

it's not sealed because we pried up the sides of the lid and a little gas and liquid came out, but the lid wont come off. the whole bucket is puffed out like a football from the pressure.

I feel like i waste a lot of time figuring out how do deal with non-growing related bullshit like this.

View Image

View Image

Go to a paint store and get 5gallon bucket opener.

 

[Shooter350]

The bucket lid. All of those vertical lines on the lid need to be cut with a razor knife. 8 or 10 of them. It's still going to be hard to get off after that. ✌

 

[HillMizer]

Just consider learning how to open a bucket a bonus. A lot of folks have learned about building and plumbing and electrical and tool and machine operation while gardening. You're doing awesome and learning a ton.

I cut them slits and work em loose with the big channel locks the put my knee right in the middle of the lid and push down while pulling up on the edges and making caveman noises. Paint and drywall joint compound come like that too.

 

[Nemato]

Schrews thank you for the awesome threads! Respect. I am curious to know how you altered your soil mix this year? Thanks again for the awesome thread.

 

[Robrites]

Schrews thank you for the awesome threads! Respect. I am curious to know how you altered your soil mix this year? Thanks again for the awesome thread.

Start reading at the beginning, Son.

 

[Manivelle]

hi schrews
have you got some tests from previous years and what kind of amendments you added ?
my tought on this .... you should try to make your own recipe of soil mix and use your own technic on some plants taking care of the soil by yourself year after year. and continu to do what you are comfortable with on the rest.. you'll learn and if you 'll do mistakes ...you'll make on little number of plants and you'll learn a lot.