I'd just about bet the reason Sunshine #4 is becoming problematic is because they're not monitoring the proper amount of calcined clay that's supposed to be included, changing the ph. Sunshine #4 is also precharged with NPK nutrients.
Ya know I bet youre right. I wonder how many people plant directly into this stuff? Seems like a lot from what ive seen online. I always mix my soil with amendments and let them cook a month or two before i plant. I thought that was a pretty common practice but maybe not :-/
When did this start? I'm pretty sure that this product is produced at one, maybe two facilities. It's not a regional product, like cheap commercial EWC. I still have more than half a bail of the stuff left from a purchase over a year ago...
http://www.sungro.com/professional-products?brandID=1&productID=79 Sunshine Mix #4 contains no calcined clay (whatever that is), just dolomite. No "NPK"...
waktoo, I really hate to disappoint you, and I especially hate proving someone wrong because in my experience folks have a difficult time believing they are wrong and a more difficult time apologizing when they find out they have been more then dead wrong. Must I prove it?
Not now but I'm assuming that's the problem, I believe, from my own research that they used to do this, but I can't prove it. NPK? I can prove.
From the "ph manifesto:" So what's Sunshine #4 mix made of? It's made of 60% – 70% peat and 30% – 40% perlite. This is the combination you want and gives you excellent aeration which you'll need for great big thick root development. And as hundreds of university studies have conclusively shown the bigger the root system the bigger the yield. And that's what we're after isn't it. BIGGER YIELDS. It also has a starter charge of fertilizer that gives it an NPK ratio of 6-Â5-Â11 meaning it has a ratio of 6% nitrogen (N), 5% phosphorous (P) and 11% potassium (K). All you have to do, then, is add a bit more nitrogen to the mix and this would be a near perfect medium for growing your plants. Sunshine #4 also contains a wetting agent (surfactant) to ease surface tension and allow for better initial water penetration to the growing medium.
DESCRIPTION REVIEWS (1) Setting the standard in professional growing! Sunshine Mix 4 is recommended where high air capacity and fast drainage are needed: during winter months, with frequently watered or salt sensitive crops, or where frequent leaching is required. Excellent for nursery stock, perennials, cutting propagation, hanging baskets and interior-scape. Available size: 3.8 cu ft Bag Contains Dolomitic limestone to adjust media pH to 5.0-7.0 and to provide calcium and magnesium. Gypsum is added as a source of sulfur and calcium. In addition, Sunshine 4 has a highly soluble nutrient charge equivalent to about one liquid feeding with a complete fertilizer, plus trace elements at a normal rate. Ingredients: Canadian sphagnum peat moss, coarse grade perlite, gypsum, dolomitic lime and Sun Gro's long-lasting wetting agent. Grower's Tip: Avoid compressing the mix when filling containers or when planting to preserve desirable air porosity.
Sunshine Mix # 4 / LA4 Mix # 4 is recommended where high air capacity and fast drainage are needed: during winter months, with water and salt sensitive crops, or where frequent leaching is required. Ingredients: Canadian Sphagnum peat moss Coarse perlite Starter nutrient charge (with Gypsum) Dolomitic limestone and our long-lasting wetting agent
Waktoo, by graciously providing you this opportunity to apologize I'm actually doing you a favor to ensure that you're not worse off otherwise with your unrealized insult which was never brought to your attention for you to deal with appropriately, stifling any futhur proclivity you either have had or may have in the future if gone unchecked. I am willing to freely forgive and accept your humble apology. You may do so via this forum. I pray that you will not be guilty of similar pride by ignoring this appeal. I hope you will do the right thing and act quickly.
mmmaaaaaaaaaaaan, WHAT are YOU smokin'?!?!?!?! Do you even read your posts before you hit enter??? WHAT exactly should I be apologizing for? Your own ignorance? I posted a link to the MANUFACTUROR of Sunshine Mix #4. The ingredients have not changed. Perhaps in your old age you've confused SM4 with one of the other myriad forms of soil medium that SunGro Horticulture produces/manufactures? Or do you normally rely upon the information provided by ill informed third party concensus? If there were an actual problem with this product, commercial greenhouse growers all over the world would be raising total hell. It's not just for growing "weed"...
http://www.planetnatural.com/product/sunshine-mix-4/ http://sungro.com/files/2010_Catalog.pdf Sounds like waktoo is much like a whore for attention and controversy. Your showing an immature philosophical method when you consistently revert to logical fallacies as your preferred style of argument. I find this kind of fallacy all too typical of those who know the inherent weakness of their argument, either can't or won't prove their argument. Play the man waktoo and prove that Sunshine # 4 has no precharged NPK. C'mon waktoo, muster the intestion enough and put forward a syllable to validate your charge, then prove the connection. Are the merits of your care so weak, so inept, that you believe to libel me to make your point ... so childish, waktoo. The difference here is I proved the connection and you didn't which says much more about you rather than me, aye? I had hoped that you were a bit more sophisticated intellectually, I'm sorry that I thought more of you than I should have.
Don't forget to drink some Cal Mag before pissing on your plants, that always fixes my PH problems. Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk Live Free
Lol I always vomit on the dolomites before adding them to my soil. The Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) in your stomach will react with the dolomites making the newts available faster. TJ
I'm a big enough man to admit when I'm wrong... I was wrong. My apologies. I did not realize that the original Sunshine Mix #4 had been REPLACED with the new Sunshine Mix #4 "with Mychorrizae". I was under the impression that they were two separate product mixes, the old one still being available on the market. I've had a bag of the "old" mix for about a year and a half now. I've already posted what ingredients are in it, no NPK... This is the first time I've seen a nutrient profile for a bag of peat moss. However, I'm not sure that one can automatically assume that the the nutrient profile is chemically derived. With the exception of the "low phosphorus starter fertilizer" that they mention, all those "nutes" can very well be provided by the natural materials used in the mix. My most humble apologies for the unnecessary insults. EDIT: FWIW, I've been in contact with a horticulture professional that has worked in the industry for well over 30 years. He says that other than the addition of mychorrizae and gypsum to the "old" Sunshine Mix #4, there is ZERO difference between the two, i.e. the nutrients listed on the Sunshine Mix #4 "with mychorrizae" data sheet are derived from the natural materials present in the mix. NO ADDED NPK... He also claims that the issues people might be having with the "new" SM#4 are possibly due to how the product is stored once it arrives at the hydro store/nursery/what have you. Most places that sell these products store them outside because they come on pallets. If these products are stored wrapped in black plastic and left to sit in the sun for extended periods of time, it tends to have very deleterious effects as far as product integrity is concerned.