Problem with soil

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by jblewballz, Apr 12, 2017.

  1. Ok i have a question about how I can prevent the top layer of soil becoming hard. Right now i break it up, or mist it with a sprayer so the water wont run down the sides. I have peat moss, perlite and vermiculite. What else can i do or mix in to keep the soild soft
     
  2. Add rice hulls. Mix it into the top of the soil
     
  3. I'll assume for the purpose of the response that you're following the "organic only" approach. Soilless mediums that have a proper mix and ratio of organic amendments and soil organic matter will tend aggregate in clumps due to the binding of those bacteria and fungi. That's absolutely a good thing and it's good you're breaking it up prior to watering. This action relieves the surface tension so the water will flow normally through the container.

    Now for a couple of caveats. If there is a white, crusty substance on the top layer it's one of two things; accumulation of salts or indication of fungal presence. The former is bad and the latter is good. "Salts" could be an indication of high sodium content in your water (assuming you are not using synthetic fertilizer). Another caveat might be an indication of poor porosity.

    You're absolutely doing the right thing disturbing and crumbling the top layer as you indicated. Consider it normal.
     
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  4. I would highly suggest a wetting agent in addition to what you are doing.

    I've run into the same problem with top dressings of VC that have dried out and basically turned to concrete (the individual castings are coated with calcium ((carbonate?)) and are a bear if they get dry). Breaking them up only goes so far and the surface tension must be addressed.

    My standard go to is watering with warm water with a good shot of Ivory liquid added. Dawn also works as does aloe, yucca extract, or whatever with saponins in there that will break the surface tension. I also do the same thing whem making fresh mixes to help the peat moss accept water that first time.

    It might take more than one application, but once the surface tension is broken you're pretty much GTG from then on. Adding a mulch layer really helps to keep the surface moist. Pine bark mulch is my prefered choice for this or, as Possuum prefers, a hardwood bark.

    But the wetting agent really makes life simple for the long term.

    Wet
     
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  5. I am all organic and there is no surface fuzz or anything. It just gets hard as a rock. I leave my tap water out and only add cal-mag. I used to add a drip a dish soap as a wetting agent and cant figure out why. I think when i went all organic i cut out everything else
     
  6. Just curious...

    If you're "all organic", why are you adding cal-mag?
     
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  7. Honestly i only started a few days ago. My last grow didnt do so well. This time i mixed up some new soil, added em-1 or whatever it is and let it sit for month. Last run was mix and plant, it was without em-1. I am not going to use it the cal-mag from now unless i see a problem
     
  8. Fair enough...

    So what's your soil mix? Maybe you don't have enough "aeration" in there. Perhaps the top of your soil is drying out because your environment is too dry? Have you tried utilizing a mulch layer in your pots?
     
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  9. hmm, I mulch with lave rocks, just the biggest ones so I can easily remove and reuse. Protects the top soil from the light. Probably could use a better rock, something like terra cotta. I'm also trying large Hickory smoking chunks on one pot. I like something I can put down and remove at anytime. But yeah, mulch, even the kind you buy at the gas station I suppose. Clover is an option. I plant it when the plant is in full bloom since that is when the leaves are thinner and more light starts hitting the old soil again.
     
  10. I tied mulch on top, it was polluted with fungus gnats so i tossed the rest after i got those fuckers out of my space. I will post my mix here in a second and my space struggles to stay around 60%rh, but i shut the heater off and now its around 75% with lights on.
     
  11. 5 gallon for each item below
    Peat moss
    Worm castings
    Perlite


    4 tbsps per gallon of bat guano (about 26 tbsps)


    1 cup lime

    Then 4 cups of everything mixed up i listed below
    1 cup dry tomato fertilizer
    1 cup neem seed meal
    1 cup alfalfa
    1 cup crab meal
    2 cups of kelp meal
     
  12. Also about 3-5 gallons of vermiculite
     
  13. Fungus gnat were there because of too much moister, not the mulch type. The best way I found of getting rid of gnats is to have a thick layer of dry mulch (dry leaves, straw, bark , wood chips...) and take a fan and point it to blow across the soil. Gnats are shitty fliers and the wind will prevent them from landing on the soil in search of a spot to lay eggs.

    I can literally take a bucket of gnat infested compost, sit it in front of a fan and within 2 - 3 days no more gnats.
     
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  14. That was the only time i had gnats, every other grow i didnt use mulch on too and no gnats. The gnats went away when i removed the mulch. I was puzzled
     
  15. What I'm saying is even if the gnats came with the mulch they could easily be dealt with by using a fan and letting the mulch layer dry out.
     
  16. If you fear bugs in your mulch, if you fear seeds in your mulch, throw it in a bucket of boiling water first, then apply. The mulch will also break down faster, and feed the herd better.
    os
     

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