Soil and Ph question

[ethanp711]

With my newly purchased 'Ferry Morse' electronic soil detector...I took my first readings of the soil which has been brewing for a week in a 60 gallon rubbermaid tub. Inside is as follows:

1 cu ft of 'Miracle Grow Organic Choice Garden Soil'
50 lb bag of 'Black Cow Manure Compost' 0.5 X 0.5 X 0.5
2 bags, 8qt each of 'Miracle Grow Perilite'

My meter shows the Ph scale 9-0 and fertility markings 'too little', 'ideal' and 'too much'. My first test reveals Ph '7' on the nose and fertility pegged at 'too little'...

On hand to be mixed in are blood meal, bone meal and lime.

Advice...guidance, any help would be great.

Thanks...

e-

 

[Big Eggy]

maybe a splash of blood/bone/fish.. but be careful i've killed plants getting carried away with that stuff [salts ozzing out the bottom of the pots]. Maybe do a small batch see what your meter says then and work out how much to add to the whole lot.

 

[LavenderCowboy]

ethanp,

Well, it may be the meter, or it may be the manure....My reccomendations for compost is only about 20% of the mix....IMO, you have lots more than that in your mix....First I would reccomend you purchase some Pulverized(powdered) dolomite lime and add to the mix @ 2 TBS per gallon....Next I would cut the mix with another bag of MG Organic Potting mix.....You're also missing K for the mix...I would suggest both kelp and greensand.....If the PH meter you bought is a cheapie, it's probably the meter giveing you that 9 on the ph.....JMO....LC

 

[AbbieDoobie]

I woulda just ordered some Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and been done with it. No screwing around with meters and compost, just use it from the bag. I'm having the *best* grow ever with this stuff. I used to use MG potting soil, but never again. All I'm doing now is just testing the Ph of the water and of the 1/2 strength Earth Juice formula I'm also using, keeping both between 6.0 and 6.5 Ph, as Rezdog suggested before he disappeared into the ether. Good luck...

 

[ethanp711]

Thank you all for the replies...my intention at this point is to cut the mix with another bag of MG as LC suggested, but I think I will go to my local hydro shop today and get the foxfarm as well, if only to have a small batch of soil...new bucket, nw try...then we'll compare readings...go from there. You never know, my next thread may be asking where I can get a good Ph reader...

respect...

e-

 

[LavenderCowboy]

ethanp,

Well, you're gonna end up with a world of potting mix, but that's fine, nothing wrong with that....Let's wipe out a thread and let me go ahead and give you a link to the only "potting mix" ph meter that I trust....It's hi-dollar, but it's worth the money....

http://www.rittenhouse.ca/asp/Product.asp?PG=686

This particular meter is a ph/moisture meter...At the bottom of the page you can click on the meter that's PH only...$59 I think....Also, this company is Canadian and you can do a google search for "Kelway PH meter" and find an American company with the same meter....

When you get everything like you want it, let us know and we'll reccomend the ferts to put in the mix....BTW, you can use Maxicrop soluble Kelp powder as the kelp source....Hope this helps....LC

 

[Big Eggy]

the Black Cow Manure Compost aint that hot.. it not like fresh steaming patts.

EDIT: forgot we were talking about ph not npk.

 

[LavenderCowboy]

Big Eggy,

No, it's not that hot, but you would be supprised what "manure" will do to burn plants....His PH is probably high because of his meter....LC

 

[ethanp711]

Thank you LC for the link, i'll check it out...

 

[Protostele]

ethanp,

......If the PH meter you bought is a cheapie, it's probably the meter giveing you that 9 on the ph.....JMO....LC

LC - ethanp actually said the ph meter scale went from 9 to 0 as a scale. The ph measurement of his mix was 7.

I recycle my mix and have a bin setup along the lines of Three Little Birds and I think I am on grow number 5. I have been adding coco choir each grow to replace some of the original mix which was based on Promix HD. My ph has risen to 7.2 according to a provincial lab and confirmed by my hydroponic ph meter which I use to test the runoff. I am trying to bring it down a bit by making sure any water I add is adjusted to 6.0 and if it is lower then I don't worry about it. Last runoff I checked was 6.5 so it is working. The Black Russian plants look fine and are growing nicely into the scrog screen.

Protostele

 

[Verite]

Im pretty sure hes got one of those $5 meters that are just like the moisture meters. Dont use them as they wont provide the results that mj needs. You need one that will read in tenths 0.1 to get dialed in.