The Super Soil Under The Sun Thread (large scale)

jackbog

jackbog

Active Member
No that ? Was for nug but anyways wow kush thoese are awesome ones how are they so big. Good job man
 
grownbykane

grownbykane

Active Member
the chick in those photos better be careful, the plants look big enough to consider her food haha. beautiful work, wonderful garden.

kane
 
C

CreedTaylor

Member
Nice plants.*trees. Its amazing that this plant can become a tree in one season.



I know "tom Hills" outdoor recipe calls for quite a bit a gypsum. How and why does this work? I thought gypsum would lower PH, so every time I hear of his recipe I'm very intrigued.
What do you guys think?
 
kushking42

kushking42

Well-Known Member

  • straight from the horses mouth:

    Hi folks,


    An old post - a quote from "Hemp diseases and pests" and a book recommendation..


    I believe this was written by Bart Hall in an excellent intro to the basics of soil balancing. Search "William Albrecht" for more.


    "In most cases, correcting for low calcium will simultaneously correct for low pH (acid soil). A common error in conventional agriculture is to see low pH as the problem, rather than as a symptom of low calcium. With such an approach, calcium additions to the soil have tended to be incidental to limestone applications focused on correcting pH, rather than governed by the calcium/magnesium regime in the soil.
    This is unfortunate, since calcium as a nutrient plays an important role in crop health and quality. Of particular interest to hemp producers is calcium's action in strengthening cell structure. This occurs both at the level of plant framework (fiber in this case) and at the level of cell chemistry. Adequate levels of available calcium significantly improve the strength of the pectin that is such an important component of plant cell walls.
    Strengthening pectin with calcium is a chemical reaction independent of whether or not the pectin is part of a living plant or not. Anyone who has used soluble calcium to set the low-methoxy pectins used in making sugarless jams can attest to this fact. In living plants with abundant available calcium, pectin is much more robust. Among other things, it makes cell walls more resistant to the polygalacturonase enzyme used by most fungal germ tubes to break down plant defenses when attempting to exploit an infection court. In plain English that means that there is a greater chance that germinating fungal spores will dry out and die before they get into the plant and start to grow. In practical terms, the plant is more resistant to fungal diseases."




    Folks, get this book on the coffee table please, it is a collection of all research to date kind of book & is absolutely outstanding.



    the ^^ high Calcium soil mix mentioned previously is by design and with at least a partial eye to the ongoing fungi war, as is the ascorbic acid (not sure mentioned) added to the Brix Mix at 1/2 tsp per gal.


    Gypsum brings Sulfur, and we want 1 part Sulfur for every 10 parts N and P I believe, notes not handy but that is close for maximum microbe activity. Back soon, missed a few good questions, look forward to a long thread here - let´s get some dirt under our fingernails .



    heres the recipe:


    I've played with a lot of different soil recipes over the years, 1rst year new soil mixes, as well as yearly additives. Here's a very simple mix that is well proven and I am comfortable recommending for those large outdoor containers. It gives about 50 cubic feet or just over 300 gallons (dry U.S), and fills a 6ft diameter container to a depth of about 18inches - perfectly.




    25 bags black gold potting soil (1.5cf ea)

    4 bags stutzman farms chicken manure (1 cf ea)

    1 bag perlite (4 cf ea)

    1 bag (50 lbs) bonemeal (steamed, not precipitated)

    1/2 bag gypsum (aprox 1/2 cf) - Edit -> 1/2 of a 40 lb bag (20lbs).




    Mix well, water thoroughly, let rest for 2-3 weeks minimum, transplant, and stand back

    ​



  • Why gypsum?

    Yes, what you posted is a recipe for giants plants. SSH and Afghanistan/Haze crosses are imo good hunting grounds for this type of plant we want. I hope to locate the proper combination in clone form from within an Afghanistan/Haze F2 and spread that around for these types of grows, as well as have that (F2 gen) be the start of a new inbred line I'd like to create for indoor/outdoor.


    The mix is for outdoor use only, for one we wouldn't want to use chicken manure indoors with a quicker cycle. If your water is good, plain water with this mix until budding (at which time I like to slowly add bloom formula, maxing out at week 4-5 or so with 2-3 consecutive fertigations at full recommended strength) seems fine. I had very high pH water source (8+) so I used Earth Juice grow/cat at the rate of aprox 1/4 tsp per gal on every watering to lower irrigation pH to 6.5. Folk who have no H2O pH issues, use plain water in this mix with excellent results. Also, If my H2O pH was closer to 7, I might go 50/50 gypsum/lime instead of straight gypsum.


    Folks who are checking out the numbers on this mix will no doubt note that it is high in Calcium.







    Yes, 6'x18". The goal here for me is to tend well the soil depth in the area from about 1"-12" deep, this is where maximum potential (Oxygen levels, temp etc) lies regarding a productive soil. While tending this depth correctly (in regards to irrigation frequency), roots deeper than 24" would likely get culled off due to insufficient Oxygen levels anyway - so 18" soil depth is about right imo.


    Some of these have 1/4" "hardware cloth" laid down first to keep critters from burrowing up into them, some don't. Some have this black breathable "ground cover" covering the entire bottom, some are left mostly open on the bottom - it all works. I have also used heavier "shade cloth" in the past instead of the ground cover, the ground cover holds up a little better/lasts longer. I use a heavy gauge "field fencing" for the containers and I think it comes in rolls that are 32" high, then I fold them to aprox 2' high. Cut to 20', + a little overlap at the connection = 6' containers.


    A definite improvement is to also then wrap these things in burlap, so you don't have heat culling your roots before they reach the edges of the containers. -T​


 
Cann

Cann

Well-Known Member
word, just read the whole thing, this is awesome kushking, you really got that soil recipe dialed in. my god those things are trees. would love to continue the CEC discussion here and elsewhere, needs to be brought to light for the community. any pics of those ladies finishing out??? i can only imagine what they looked like in late october...
 
kushking42

kushking42

Well-Known Member
as others might agree i will talk soil all day! i am dusting off the farmers almanac and deep into planning for the ranch, so now is the time. i have some work to do but will contribute more shortly.
 
Cann

Cann

Well-Known Member
sounds good man, if you talk, i'll listen. trying to learn as much about soil biology as i can, and you seem to know your shit. feel free to post whatever you want in this thread haha
 
Cann

Cann

Well-Known Member
lol looks like its just you and I who are interested in soil biology so far...bumpity bump lets see if anyone has anything to say...
 
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