Cooking super soil is possibly an unneeded step for clones.

Just my opinion on this. But I think if you planted a rooted clone directly into super soil you will be perfectly fine. Because the ingredients are barely available yet. So by the time the plant gets big enough to tolerate some nutrients, 1-2 weeks, some will start to become available..

I think in the meantime it is very important to supplement with a liqued feed program to insure they get nutrients.


Anybody care to comment

Having a already establish population of beneficial bacteria and fungi helps prevent unwanted organisms from gaining a foothold in your soil because they out compete them for the available resources. Still a crucial step IMO.

What do you mean by super soil? I like to use soilless mixes like pro-mix with mycoraizai(sp). The first feeding is usually a 1-1-1 for me.

That's not necessarily how soil microbes work. You let the soil "cook" so you have a decent population of microbes starting to make use of the nutrition you have supplied. Furthermore, supplementing with a salt based liquid nute will only slow the process of "cooking" more. Put some salt on a snail... see what happens.

How exactly are nutrients absorbed through the rhizosphere? The rhizosphere refers to the area around the roots of a plant. Your roots are covered with hydrogen, a cation, which they exchange for other cations as well as attract anions. This is basic chemistry. Obviously if you just put a bunch of organic matter in your pot then the microbes will not have a chance to exude any cations or anions, thus the roots will have nothing to exchange for their hydrogen. If the clay and humus (sand is too large to carry anions or cations) in your soil has a sufficient amount of nutrition then it will exchange its cations for the hydrogen on the roots. This is how the plant gets it nutrients. The rate at which a plant can absorb nutrition is referred to as its CEC (cation exchange rate). The higher it is, the more nutrition your plant can absorb. However their is a limit to a good thing. You don't want your CEC to get too high because that will make it so your roots cannot get sufficient oxygen and/or water and your soil will also have very poor drainage. Balance is the key to a good soil as it is the key to good growing.

The way salt based nutrients (chemical ferts) give your plant nutrition is by skipping the whole process of microbes exuding food and going straight to the roots. Obviously what is not used by the plant is then left in your soil and acts as a build up that can be used later. Most of the time this salt build up is unwanted though and that's why flushing became common practice. Chemical ferts provide immediate, and most of the time, good results. However, the salt based nutrition coming from your chemical ferts results in the death of your microbes. Your soil will no longer be able to provide nutrition to your plants and you will rely solely on ferts to feed your plant. That's why as time goes on you need to add more and more ferts to your grow. There is nothing wrong with this at all, but if you plan on going the route of chemical ferts, don't waste your time with a soil recipe and "organic nutrition."

Click to expand...

^I hope that helps.

Why?what clones need are a proper balance of oxygen and water to grow roots,hence rockwool is king! and i don't think supersoil is considered super till after the cook!so what you have is some soil mix and trying to start clones in it.

Living soil, Is an awsome alternitive for someone trying to branch away from chemical fertilizer use, You are cultivating the soil before during and after the grow. Trying to do both is about as, well thought out as useing sulfered molasass to make organic tea foods for your plants. You are defeating the purpose of the molasass, Chemical fertilizers contain stabilizers and preservitives. These preservitives kill bacteria so,aren't you defeating the purpose of living soil, by adding chemical nutes, yes sure you are many people try mixing the "cooked" or living soil idea together iv'e never seen it do anything other than marginal results. I keep living soil, I plant my clones in it , later I plant my veg plants in it, after they are done blooming, I re-cook and I use it again, and again, and again. You get the picture, I don't have to buy new soil. I new there had to be an alternitive to disposal and re- purchase. I've used the same re cycled living soil for several years its sorta like a sourdoe starter.

i dont know who said i was using chems because I never said i was using chemical nutrients... I use Earth Juice btw.

Also by putting rooted clones directly into super soil. then after they have been in the super soil for a month, then it will have cooked right?
Theoretically the soil is still cooking. whether it has a clone in it or not....

My input on this, I've put clones in super soils before they cooked problem a was the rootzone heats up from the microbes eating the food which fucks the roots up and the plant begins discoloring and twisting like crazy, problem b is the fact you may be planting into unwanted patheogens that could had been cooked out...