Hi guys I have supersoil I've reammended and something in it is causing my plants stress so I'm looking for help diagnosing the issue.
I've been casually growing outdoor for years but have been taking it more seriously the last few years, and I have a few successful organic indoor grows under my belt. Two years ago I did my first supersoil mix with subcools recipe which went well with the exception they faded a little near the end but likely because it was about 1/4 to 1/3 SS in the bottom of a 65 gallon fabric pot promix bx peat/perlite mix on top. Last year I recycled my soil for the first time-I dumped all the supersoil and the basemix (promix) together in one large pile to compost together over winter. Then in the spring I split it into two piles-one to reammend as supersoil and one to stand by to be used as a base mix on top. I figured the composted supersoil/base soil mixture would be more or less like starting out the recipe with the roots organic or ocean forest rich soils. I remade my supersoil using 2/3 quantities. This second grow was ok but not as good as the first, the plants weren't totally happy and had some nutrient deficiency problems.
Now this year I did the same thing-composted all soil together over winter then reammended half of it, this time at full strength to see if it helped. It's been 7.5 weeks composting with teas added weekly but before I can use it I need to address my current issue. Here is my issue-my plants that are growing in my basemix (old supersoil I didn't reammend) are not happy-pale green, red stems, browning shriveling lower leaves. Other plants like peppers I put in this mix are also having the same problems. I thought this would be a pH issue, so I tested my well water with drops and its a little low-bright yellow, as was my runoff from my plants. Yesterday I tried adding natural pH up to my water until my runoff was looking a little more green color-closer to 7.0. But everything I read tells me that pH shouldn't be an issue. I apply compost tea to my plants and my composting soils about once a week which should be helping as well. I currently feed with roots organic liquid nutrients that I aerate for 24 hours prior to feeding (before I did the aerating, they were having trouble uptaking nutrients).
Unfortunately my nice bluelab pH meter disappeared after my last indoor run so I'm working with drops until I replace it. I bought a cheap home soil test from the garden store to see if any of my nutrient levels in my soil are super high. I'm starting the TLO book as it's more in line with the approach I want of recycling every year, I understand there are some things that don't necessarily need to be reammended which is where I suspect I went wrong. It may be nutrient burn and subsequent lockout. Any organic soil folks out there with some insight please let me know what you think. I can share pics and offer more information if needed, thanks in advance
I've been casually growing outdoor for years but have been taking it more seriously the last few years, and I have a few successful organic indoor grows under my belt. Two years ago I did my first supersoil mix with subcools recipe which went well with the exception they faded a little near the end but likely because it was about 1/4 to 1/3 SS in the bottom of a 65 gallon fabric pot promix bx peat/perlite mix on top. Last year I recycled my soil for the first time-I dumped all the supersoil and the basemix (promix) together in one large pile to compost together over winter. Then in the spring I split it into two piles-one to reammend as supersoil and one to stand by to be used as a base mix on top. I figured the composted supersoil/base soil mixture would be more or less like starting out the recipe with the roots organic or ocean forest rich soils. I remade my supersoil using 2/3 quantities. This second grow was ok but not as good as the first, the plants weren't totally happy and had some nutrient deficiency problems.
Now this year I did the same thing-composted all soil together over winter then reammended half of it, this time at full strength to see if it helped. It's been 7.5 weeks composting with teas added weekly but before I can use it I need to address my current issue. Here is my issue-my plants that are growing in my basemix (old supersoil I didn't reammend) are not happy-pale green, red stems, browning shriveling lower leaves. Other plants like peppers I put in this mix are also having the same problems. I thought this would be a pH issue, so I tested my well water with drops and its a little low-bright yellow, as was my runoff from my plants. Yesterday I tried adding natural pH up to my water until my runoff was looking a little more green color-closer to 7.0. But everything I read tells me that pH shouldn't be an issue. I apply compost tea to my plants and my composting soils about once a week which should be helping as well. I currently feed with roots organic liquid nutrients that I aerate for 24 hours prior to feeding (before I did the aerating, they were having trouble uptaking nutrients).
Unfortunately my nice bluelab pH meter disappeared after my last indoor run so I'm working with drops until I replace it. I bought a cheap home soil test from the garden store to see if any of my nutrient levels in my soil are super high. I'm starting the TLO book as it's more in line with the approach I want of recycling every year, I understand there are some things that don't necessarily need to be reammended which is where I suspect I went wrong. It may be nutrient burn and subsequent lockout. Any organic soil folks out there with some insight please let me know what you think. I can share pics and offer more information if needed, thanks in advance