Ok I tried to search but not finding answers... I have "organic" soil Peat,EWC, and perlite, amended with kelp meal, neem cake, alfalfa meal, crustacean meal, some bat guano, a little bone meal, rice hull biochar, larger perlite sized chunk biochar, a little dolomite... You get the picture... Oh just got about 3 pounds of worms last night and going to add some worms to my containers. 5 gallon now but will probably switch to 10g no tills next run... So I read a lot of LED growers have issues with calcium/magnesium deficiencies under LEDs.... Finally to my point... What about adding extra calcium and magnesium to the soil rather than foliar feeding or adding minerals to water? I have a few kilos of fine powder calcium carbonate, and magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts), would these two powders be kosher to mix in with soil? I'm not too worried about a "certified organic" label, as long as it helps and doesn't hurt... If it's ok, how much do I add per cuft? Same question with silica powder... Sorry heard different things about silica so thought I would ask here. Just starting small worm farm, I know I can add egg shells to the worms, but that will take months before it's ready to add to the soil... http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
I would add Gypsum Flour and Oyster Shell Flour at 1 cup per cubic ft unless you can get both, then just do 1/2 cup per cubic ft. I think the LED CaMg issue shouldn't pop up. Also, you have enough stuff in the soil to cover it anyways lol. You can water with Silica every watering, just add first to water and mix before anything else. I put my egg shell in my coffee grinder after they've dried out. Feed it to the worms, they'll get to it. Also using Fulvic Acid in your waterings helps breaks down material in the soil faster so it becomes available faster. Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk Live Free
Do these LED growers grow in organic soil? I bet not... Your soil mix sounds solid. You don't need to add anything else. The silica powder should not be added to soil. You mix it with water and use it as a drench or in a foliar spray. Unless I'm totally ignorant to the mysterious powers of LED lighting that enables them to interfere with the uptake and assimilation of calcium and magnesium... Sounds like stoner science to me... Did you pre-charge your biochar?
The LED CaMg is stoner science, lol. I've also heard the real cause were from using coco coir and other high salt nute products causing a lockout of CaMg and that's the real issue most of these guys have. Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk Live Free
Ok that's cool. A bit ago I thought I had a problem, well I DID have a problem but moving the lights up fixed the problem hahah. I won't worry about it then, thanks guys. Yes I soaked the biochar in some tea made from alfalfa and kelp mostly. What mix do you use for silica, 1/4-1/2c per gal drench and 1tbl/gal for foliar? http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
What brand of Silica are you using? I think it's 1/4-1/2 TSP per gal. I'm using AgSil. Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk Live Free
Can't get brand name here, use scientific grade http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Add enough dolomite or the calcium carbonate to the peat. 1cup/cf. More Ca is fine. I use 1cup of dolomite AND 1cup of gypsum/cf in my initial mixes (making from scratch). For re-amends, I'll usually use calcitic lime (calcium carbonate), but very, very seldom have any need for epsom salts. Usually enough left from the dolomite. Wet