Fuggzy
Perfectly Flawed
thanks for the detailed explanation... big help bro!! and yes your soil and plants too look perfect!!
i have come to know about this sterile term on internet only. people have shared scary details of insects and what not there can be in soil. maybe access to a lot of soil mix brands has created this misconception but i think you got a point there about people using these fertile lands by rivers since ages. so i will definitely use this fertile river soil. its called Red Soil locally due to its color. at this point i believe the following mix should work:
40% Red Soil + 40% well rotten manure or leaf compost + 20% rice hulls
I would stay around 30% rice hulls. If the Red soil tends to harden when dry, the extra 10% would help keep it loose. If it is called red soil I would guess it is a clay base. Maybe a 35/35/30% mix. For the manure and leaf compost (leaf mould) try to do 1/2&1/2. Leaf mould is one of the best items you can use. Typically it has the 15 most sought after minerals, and, it is loaded with humus.
don't know if i can find oyster flour but i will check out and see what i can find to buffer pH. i hope that will be enough to get going? right? Oyster flour can be found on Amazon if you do online ordering. Thee brand I use is Down To Earth, and the product is just called Oyster Shell. It is currently $10.99 for 6lbs. (it's a 3 way win... better tilth, adds calcium, and buffers pH)
If you are not able to get oyster flour/shell, another item that will buffer soil pH is Lime. You need to get pulverized as it takes a long time for it to break down and be effective. However the Lime will not improves the soil tilth. Also you may notice below that it is primary made of calcium carbonate, but do not rely on this to provide calcium to your soil. It takes to long for lime to break down, and the grow will be long finished before the calcium is readily available for the soil. Limes primary job in soil is to buffer Ph.
my only concern about using soil is compaction or hardening. but i think if i amend it with compost and rice hulls then it shouldn't be a problem? or increase the ratio of rice hulls to 30% instead? The compost will help, and stick to 30% hulls. The leaf mould (compost) will help with the soil tilth too, but I would still try to get some oyster flour.
perlite is definitely expensive.. 2-3Kg for around 10$ or so. but rice hulls are pretty common. can get them for free if i ask a friend who cultivates rice on his agricultural land. but its dirt cheap anyway! awesome alternative!
watering the plants is something i have really gotten afraid of. lol.. i understand shit happens but that was just massive! so far haven't watered the plants at all. the top surface of pots feel dry but not down below. the pots still definitely have little weight compared to dry pot with scarecrow! the plants are looking very healthy so far. i will share the picture in evening.
and if i may ask please, one thing i was pondering, if you spray just the top, doesn't that just wet the top couple of inches of pot and leave the bottom of pot dry? This would kinda of depend on the soil compositions, but in general, if done daily, it would help maintain a moist lever. (gravity takes effect, and most soil will have a capillary action, sucking in the water)and also doesn't the root theory say that canna plants love dry cycles and grow roots rapidly when dry. Yes. so why spray daily? There are different thoughts on this, but I do it to maintain moist soil. When the plant is just a seedling, it needs the noisture to live, as it gets a bit bigger, and has some leaves, it will be able to retain more water interinally. I like to feed less quanties, on a more often basis. Even watering daily, you can do things like watering the edge of the pot only, and not hitting the core. This would encourage the roots to reach the edge of the pot, thus filling in space. Ultimatilly, you will find what works for you, and it will just be what you are comfortable with. I know I can miss 3 days of watering and my soil will be just fine, although my plants will be thirsty, they will be okay. won't the roots reach for moisture still left in the bottom halft of pot? Yes, but that is fine. Roots are going to go down no matter what. (if you take a rooted plant, and set it on it's side the roots can tell, and will start to grow to the new down posistion)The purpose of the wet/dry is to promote them to fill in faster. With more roots, you get more nutrients, and more plant. I don't personially do a wet/dry, but I do water on the edges of my pots...
If I missed anything, just give my a holler bud!
the leaves never opened and it died.
