[quote name='"StickyFiskers"']I turn mine once a week. Not sure if there is such a thing as too little or too much.[/quote] Right on SF. Thanks for the info. I over think stuff a lot. Haha
"Cooking" your soil has nothing to do with the sun. It's just a term used to refer to the process of nutrient cycling, where the microbes in the soil start to break down the organic amendments. Sun has nothing to do with it. The rain cannot wash any of the "nutes" out of your soil either. The nutrients are contained within the organic amendments, they are not in a water soluble form. That being said, you don't want your soil to be soaking wet for 30 days either, that could create a lack of oxygen. If you have to do it indoors you can. But if you have a place to put it outside that would be a lot less messy! Just put it underneath something so that it can't get completely drenched.
Another noob question.... When I transplant from the 1gal to the 5 gal bucket, do I put just the super soil in the 5gal or do I put a layer of top soil over the super soil also?
You should transplant into your regular soil. If the "super soil" is what you're using, go ahead and transplant into that. As long as the plant is old enough, it will be fine.
The way Subcool does it is to fill the lower half of the container with super soil, then use a bagged soil around the root ball to finih filling the container. I was hesitant myself to try this ,but it works.
Thanx guys One last question. Do I use distilled or purified water and how much do I use to activate the soil if I'm only doing the 1/8th mix?
Let your tap water sit out for 24 hours to allow the chlorine to evaporate. Then use this. Nobody can give you an exact amount of water to add, it will vary depending on a lot of things. You want the soil to be about as moist as a wrung-out sponge. HTH
Anybody got an answer on this? it looks like all it does is make more negative hydrogen electrons to make the water more stable Anyone use this product? will it harm the organics? (i doubt it but i would like to know)
from their website: "This is significant because plant cellular aquaporins (aquaporins are little channels that transport water and nutrients through cell walls) let (H-) good water in and keep (H+) bad water out. The problem with most water is that it has been striped of valuable electrons during filtration, purification and moving through pipes. This results in water molecules competing for remaining electrons and clumping together." H- = good water and H+ = bad water lol (not true). Here we go: 1) First of all, the molecular formula of water is H2O, not H. H- =hydride=a negatively charged hydrogen ion that will not associate with oxygen to form H2O. There's no such thing as water where the hydrogen is negatively charged-if the H were negatively charged, it wouldn't form water. 2) You know what happens when water molecules don't "clump together"? You get water vapor instead of liquid water. The attraction between water molecules (them "competing for electrons") is what gives us liquid water. Additionally, all electrons are negative. There's no such thing as a "positive electron". And to top it all off, more negative charge = less stable, not more stable. This is $55 a gallon rubbish my friend. Spend that money on some good EWC or something. HTH
So what is the ph of the soil supposed to be when its all mixed up? I did the 1/8 mix and its been cooking for a week now and the ph is around 5.8-6.0. Will the ph rise during the cook or should I add some more dolimite lime to the mix to get it to the proper flowering ph?
[quote name='"JONxDON"']Can someone tell me how many gallons does the 1/8th recipe make?[/quote] I filled a small kitchen trash can, 50L
How much lime did you add to start with? If it's only been a week, the lime hasn't even started working all the way yet, give it a while to work first. It should be fine.
[quote name='"InTheGarden"']How much lime did you add to start with? If it's only been a week, the lime hasn't even started working all the way yet, give it a while to work first. It should be fine.[/quote] I used the 1 tblspn called for in the 1/8 recepie. I bought a soil ph reader and got a reading of 7.0-7.3. I previously just put some soil into distilled water of ph 7 n let it sit for a minute before I stuck my pen in n got the ph readings from before.
to get it to the proper flowering ph? What is flowering pH? This isn't hydroponics. You don't need to sweat your soil pH. First and foremost make sure that you have a solid humus component(s). I've never checked my soils pH once. I don't even have the equipment to do so anymore. Use quality humus, use your little bit of lime if you like, let your mix nutrient cycle for a month prior to use and never worry about pH again. Ever. J
Ps - take a look here regarding compost and soil pH - http://www.extsoilcrop.colostate.edu/Soils/powerpoint/compost/CompostEffectsonSoilQuality.pdf J
[quote name='"jerry111165"']to get it to the proper flowering ph? What is flowering pH? This isn't hydroponics. You don't need to sweat your soil pH. First and foremost make sure that you have a solid humus component(s). I've never checked my soils pH once. I don't even have the equipment to do so anymore. Use quality humus, use your little bit of lime if you like, let your mix nutrient cycle for a month prior to use and never worry about pH again. Ever. J[/quote] LOL, sorry J. I am coming from hydro so please forgive me, its what I'm used to. This is going to be my first soil grow n I am regretting ever going hydro in the first place I followed the recepie exactly except for the azomite. Couldn't find it so I used glacial rock dust in its place.