Slownickel lounge, pull up a chair. CEC interpretation

[slownickel]

i'll send in samples this week. should i till in my covercrop first?

Guys,

If you are going to mix your soil, do it now and then take a sample. Take out all the leaves, etc... better if you can sift it. Then lightly dry it and send in 200 grams. Try to take equal quantities from up above and down below.

If you have good vs bad areas, learn now. Send in separate samples.

 

[VortexPower420]

What size screen should we sift with?

 

[slownickel]

Just a typical sift you would find at the supermarket. The finer the better. Try not to grind up stuff into it like peat etc..

Sift after drying.

 

[plantingplants]

Why sift? They don't do that there? I didn't sift mine...

 

[Tonygreen]

This is a bit of topic but as have become more and more aware of what I am doing/have been doing to my soil I am wondering about the affects of spinosad and mosquito dunks on beneficial in the soil. When I use these products and I wiping out my soil life as well as the bugs?

 

[slownickel]

Spinosad won't do anything against beneficial insects, not sure what the mosquito dunks are? Is that some form of BT, if so, no worries.

 

[TnTLabs]

yo tony, nice to see you back around!
not exactly sure how safe spinosad is, but it will kill bees!
but in general i am with slownickel on this one, it shouldnt harm beneficial insects.

Mosquito dunks contain BTI - Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, a strain of bacteria that will "normaly" kill mosquito & black flies larvae.. yet new studies show they might also affects bird reproduction...

generally speaking though if your soil is healthy and you have healthy plants, they will stay pest free.. for healthy plants a lot of people forget looking at Si levels, ascorbic acid and like already mentioned aminos are also very important

 

[MrBungle]

Spinosad kills fish too.... so use it all up don't dump it down the drain

 

[slownickel]

I read in Tony's question that he was applying it to the soil on an indoor grow....

 

[MrBungle]

If you were indoors and you made more spinosad solution than you needed... how would you responsibly get rid of it?

 

[slownickel]

The key is not to ever make more than you need. Worse comes to worse, go outside and dump it on the soil somewhere.

 

[plantingplants]

Half life is one day if in water and exposed to sunlight. A week or two in soil and longer if it gets deep in the soil.

I'd put it in a clear container and leave it in the sun then dump it.

 

[caterpillar710]

Latest testnpost grow shows 3200ppm Ca for what it's worth.

 

[slownickel]

Latest testnpost grow shows 3200ppm Ca for what it's worth.

What is testnpost? Is this sap, leaf, soil or soil solution?

 

[TnTLabs]

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=61664&pictureid=1668372&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

Crazy thing is the plant still grew as big as the healthy ones. It flowered a little weird but ended up finishing ok. The tips of every branch was clustered and strange looking but the buds below the Tips were fine

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=61664&pictureid=1668371&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=61664&pictureid=1668373&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

.. nice greenhouse by the way

 

[caterpillar710]

Post grow soil test has me at 3200ppm ca

 

[slownickel]

Cater,

Depending on the rest of the bases, that level might be spectacular or it might be super low.

 

[caterpillar710]

8.3:1 ca to mg

200ppm k

300ppm P

30ppm na

Cec meq/100g 20

PH 6.6

 

[TnTLabs]

8.3:1 ca to mg

200ppm k

300ppm P

30ppm na

Cec meq/100g 20

PH 6.6

i know i come from coco, but used to mix my own salts and so know what ppm are adequate.. soil is slightly different, depending on composition of course...

300 P is way too much in any soil.. K is optimal, ph seems low too... maybe cause of the excess P, also too much P will inhibit N and Fe uptake
plus you might be inhibiting mycorrhiza formation
ca to mg also seems of , no?

 

[caterpillar710]

Lol.