New Grower First Grow in 22 years, Nature's Living Soil

[Tom Bombadil]

That is the thought process. I just watered to runoff 6.4 ph going in. 12/17 oz of runoff ph was 6.4-6.5 & 600-606 ppm. The guy at NLS told me teas then topdress with Girl Flower Power when it shows sex. That's when it got funky. My guess is that it started with the tea and had yet to show any signs of a problem then I added GFP topdress and have watch plant leaves decline.

Sorry u are going thru this. It doesn't feel good. I know.

whats your waters starting ppm? remind me what base soil you mixed with your nls? 600 is very low for runoff in organic soil. a fresh pot of ffof runoff is over 1000ppm...without added nls which i assume would further increase ppm. hmmm

 

[Big Sul]

whats your waters starting ppm? remind me what base soil you mixed with your nls? 600 is very low for runoff in organic soil. a fresh pot of ffof runoff is over 1000ppm...without added nls which i assume would further increase ppm. hmmm

Starting water ppm is 18. I have been using rainwater. My tap water is 192ppm. HF soil/NLS

 

[pop22]

I'd say your PH is off from the excessive use of teas. PH is likely low and causing lockout.

The use of teas should be minimal especially in living soil. Properly inoculated living soil shouldn't need teas at all! Your building an ecosystem that is self sustaining. If the microbes already in the soil aren't doing there job, somethings wrong with the mix. You'll find people here who believe their anecdotal "evidence" trumps science, but science says teas accomplish little if any benefit, and teas have very low PH, so every time you use one your subject your soil to PH shift. The other problems people have with organic/living soil is over feeding and over watering. I see you water by volume of soil, which is a good technique, however, 7.5 % is not enough. 15% is minimum, 20% for well watered without runoff. I experimented with this extensively.

The key to good living soil is a good, well blended organic mix, inoculated with a range of micro life, which can be best accomplished by the use of fresh worm castings and Mycorrhizae Fungi Inoculant, and benefical nematodes. A good living soil is self sustaining although that's tough to mantain in small pots. If it were me, and using 5 gallon pots, I'd set the pots aside at the end of the grow, top dress them well and let them rest for 90 days to recover, keeping them watered. I'd use a second set of pots and rotate them. Or get a 30 gallon pot and use it for up to 4 plants and it will sustain it self with just an occasional top dressing

 

[xena499]

@Big Sul I forgot to mention I was mixing OF with NLS

 

[xena499]

@pop22 Thanks for the informed response ! I appreciate the info on the teas, and especially the watering. I understood that 5-10% was the volume to water range, so picked a middle number and adjusted frequency based on the plants needs. 15-20% is much different than what I was doing ! I will try now 20%!
Also, great advice on top-dressing, resting the soil, and using a second set of pots.
Rather than top dress, my previous plan was to "start over" and recycle the soil. Using the NLS instructions, add 1 pound of NLS to recharge the 5 gallon pot (mixing it throughout the soil) and rest it for 1-2 weeks. Following your 90 day resting period, the mixing as previously planned with 1 LB NLS per 5 gallon seems like a bad idea, vs the top feed. Can you please advise on the amount to topdress well? 1/4" Thanks again for your help!

 

[pop22]

What is NLS?

@pop22 Thanks for the informed response ! I appreciate the info on the teas, and especially the watering. I understood that 5-10% was the volume to water range, so picked a middle number and adjusted frequency based on the plants needs. 15-20% is much different than what I was doing ! I will try now 20%!
Also, great advice on top-dressing, resting the soil, and using a second set of pots.
Rather than top dress, my previous plan was to "start over" and recycle the soil. Using the NLS instructions, add 1 pound of NLS to recharge the 5 gallon pot (mixing it throughout the soil) and rest it for 1-2 weeks. Following your 90 day resting period, the mixing as previously planned with 1 LB NLS per 5 gallon seems like a bad idea, vs the top feed. Can you please advise on the amount to topdress well? 1/4" Thanks again for your help!

 

[xena499]

@pop22 Nature's Living Soil, which is the living soil/compost concentrate I'm using to start the pots, and feed the plants with teas each week.

 

[Big Sul]

What is NLS?

Same stuff as me @pop22

 

[pop22]

Yes but I still don't know what it is.

Same stuff as me @pop22

 

[Proph]

Yes but I still don't know what it is.

It's a "super soil" amendment.. But the directions for use is not very informative.

ORIGINAL CONCENTRATE — Nature's Living Soil

www.natureslivingsoil.com

@xena499 what bagged soil did you combine the NLS with?