Hey Dudes, question for everyone here. I was having some serious pH issues with my living soil I’m using for a couple of plants. I bought it at the local grow shop, must have just been a bad mix. Either way, i got that lined out by flushing and adding gypsum. My issue now after learning you shouldn’t flush living soil is possible root rot. My run off pH is now 6.7 from 8.5… my plant now has the hard curled leaves, with dark black/purple coloring in the center of some. Not all leaves are affected. The living soil is made of sph peat, it holds water a little too well and basically turns too mud when watered. I dug out the soil above the roots and put in fresh roots organics soilless mix with coco/perlite/pumice/bat guano and the rest of the goods. My question is, should i just repot the plant completely, or just give her some time. They are in week 8 of veg, I’m planning on vegging another 3 weeks max. Hoping i have enough time to achieve a flip in that time frame. Thanks for all the help. Not the best pic in the world, but I’m at work and took a snap shot with my webcam. you can see on the far left plant the hard curling. Plant centered has corrected itself. Learning day by day, with a lil help from my friends.
Trae in OK
So, I think you missed the point of living soil and the theory and practice of natural organic growing. From the sound of it, you’re coming from growing in a hydro style like coco. The great thing about growing in LOS is that you don’t need to check your runoff or worry about pH. Do you mind if I ask what brand of “living soil” you bought? If you bought it from a grow store it should have been properly balanced and buffered and ‘cooked.’ If your soil is truly “living” it should have enough soil biology that there’s no need to pH your water either. For example, my water has a pH of 7.6-7.8 and I have no pH issues with my plants. You see, in a living organic soil microbes immediately around the roots will adjust pH for the roots so that they can uptake whichever nutrient it’s trying to take up. If a particular root hair is trying to uptake calcium, the microbes optimize the pH right there for calcium uptake; while around another root tip that’s trying to take up molybdenum, it’ll optimize the pH for that mineral, etc, etc. Cool huh? It’s pretty sweet!
How did you determine your soil pH was off before you added gypsum? A reputable living soil maker would have already accounted for buffering through lab soil test results and a researched and perfected soil recipe. There’s a good chance that by adding gypsum you may have thrown the balance of your soil off, accidentally. For example, I build my own living soil by using a specially designed set of nutrient and mineral packs from either BuildASoil or KIS Organics. They are perfectly designed. As long as I add the proper amount of substrate (peat in my case), aeration (I use pumice and rice hulls) and compost/castings with those packs the resulting soil will grow cannabis for up to 6 months without anything but water, as long as the water is at least between something normal like 5.8 and 8.0. If I were to add gypsum it’ll throw that perfect ratio off and the soil won’t work nearly as well! That’s why I think you may have hurt yourself by adding that gypsum.
As to the root rot…. IF the problem you had was truly root rot (and not something else) it wasn’t a tainted soil. Root rot is caused by overwatering. Period. The only way the soil maker could be responsible would be if the soil didn’t drain but I doubt that was the issue. Otherwise, the problem was caused by the roots being drowned in overly wet soil – the cause of root rot. Now, maybe it wasn’t root rot – could it have been a pest like root aphids that attacked your roots? That problem (or other pests or pathogens) COULD have come in on the soil. Just not root rot.
I don’t mean to be harsh or only the bearer of bad news. But there’s no point to pulling punches. Your best option, in my opinion, is to go heavy on the biology. Besides my standard recommendation of feeding Recharge, I’d look for other ways/products to add a diverse cocktail of microbial life. For sure I’d add some Lactic Acid Bacteria (LABs). I’ll post a link to how to make LAB from water, rice and milk below. It’s easy, cheap and only takes 7-10 days to make. Another form is sauerkraut juice. By a jar of sauerkraut and that juice the cabbage is in is full of beneficial bacteria! Put 4ml of LAB into each gallon of water. I’d also buy some EM-1 (you can get it on Amazon) and if you can afford it get some of these microbial inputs: Rootwise Microbe Complete, Rootwise Bio Enzyme Catalyst (although LAB also provides enzymes) or Tribus Bloom Microbes. Microbes are the solution to MOST problems in living soil!
Chris Trump on how to make LAB: https://youtu.be/1Ke4OQljVmg Chris is the American guru on Korean Natural Farming which fits hand-in-glove with living soil!
With the type of growing you’re interested in, it’s going to be ENORMOUSLY helpful to understand the basic theory behind how the natural system works – how nature and soil biology works. It’s a deep rabbit hole but you only NEED to go a little way down it to get what you need to pull it off. Coming from another style of growing you HAVE to let go of some of your practices and, most importantly, the way you used to think about growing. You’re going to get very frustrated if you don’t let go of the old and embrace the new (to you) way of approaching soil and growing. It’s actually very simple once you understand it and it’ll make growing easier and more fun! It’s just hard to let go of the ok’d ways.
I hope this helps you some.
@dtom420
youre right, the soil didnt cause the root rot, the soils ph was so high everything was locked out.. i watered, and watered, and watered, to get it into the 7.0 range.. causing the root rot
It’s me again. Sorry. Lol. I wanted to add some different options where you can learn about how all this works. The DGC is great and I love it but if you really want to make the most of growing with LOS you’re going to need more info than you’ll easily find, hunting and pecking about old shows and old Q&A on here. So, here’s some good resources.
READING:
If you like to read… Read Jeff Lowenfels’ Teaming with series, starting with “Teaming with Microbes – The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition”https://www.amazon.com/dp/1604691131/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_AfcCFb61FSVXC ALL of Jeff’s books are amazing but these two are absolute must-reads, imo. Scotty is a fan of these books as well.
Another great book from a well known early adopter in the cannabis world is: “ True Living Organics: The Ultimate Guide to Growing All-Natural Marijuana Indoors” https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937866092/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_PhcCFbKYM9BFF
COMMUNITIES:
So, even if you like to read, I don’t think I would have enjoyed the switch to this style of growing, or had such an easy time if it, if it hadn’t been for some other communities I happened to have belonged to! Having access to a community of growers that were passionate and knowledgeable about this type of growing was HUGE. Plus, there were tons of public grow logs where I could follow folks’ grows from start to finish and read about problems and mistakes and solutions along with the triumphs was extremely valuable. Some of those communities have since gone downhill but I’d recommend wwwAutoFlower.net and BeanBasement.nl Autoflower.net has a bunch of accomplished LOS growers and they’re extremely friendly and welcoming to growers who want to learn. Bean Basement is a unique community (started by renowned breeder Capulator, breeder of MAC) that’s only a year old; but it’s got extremely accomplished growers on there and it’s small, intimate and serious. The Basement requires you join and document a full grow cycle in real time in order to earn access to the full forum. Lots of full members will come and help out growers who’re doing their initial log. This system ensures that the forum doesn’t get populated by trolls or BS artists because they won’t take the time to document a 3-4 month grow just to get full access. It’s WORTH it, though, because the caliber of people that are inside and grow using living organics.
Podcasts:
There are some podcasts that will give you some invaluable information that shouldn’t be missed! I’ll bet you’ll really enjoy these!
Cannabis Cultivation & Science Podcast with Tad Hussey of KIS Organics: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAwQgDrCXDe8kwi6revZdWubuTTWM9INn This is the single best resource podcast I know of for any organic grower. The interviews featured here are as good as you’ll find anywhere and there’s NO BRO SCIENCE – it’s all REAL science. If you only listen to one podcast, this is the one!
Korean Natural Farming (KNF) with Chris Trump: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeGHRYFVwS1zHwYqGvlEAjvq89iMs2vmz Lots of how-to videos that will help you save tons of money on biological and other types of organic inputs for your soil.
Embracing Organics Podcast: This is a panel discussion that comes out weekly and includes Tanasi and Rasta Jeff (friends of the DGC) and others. Lots of knowledge bombs dropped here. https://youtu.be/ttuesSB8wDc I linked to a recent episode and you can go to their video list to see them all. I couldn’t find a link to the while list for them.
If you REALLY want to dive down the rabbit hole, you can start listening to John Kempf from Advancing Eco Agriculture: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvDZ_2dgT-0WYmveRvHMntnjsARQNWuMn This is very advanced stuff and is like a PhD level course – not what I’d start with.
There are many other great living soil oriented shows/podcasts but these are the best, imo, to start with
Sorry for making these long-ass posts but I’m super passionate about growing in living soil. So, when I see people wanting to get into it or struggling, I want to provide all the help/resources I can. There’s so much info out there but not a whole lot about growing cannabis THIS way; and there’s a lot of bad I do out there. I spent years banging my head into incorrect or conflicting info so I like to share the accurate resources I can, to help folks get started or get on track! There are lots of good guys and gals on IG also. If you have questions and I don’t reply fast enough in here, or miss it, DM me on IG and I’ll try to help and come answer your question here. Good luck and happy growing- you’re going to grow the healthiest medicine possible with LOS!
@dtom420
Thank you sir !
I posted a 2nd extensive comment but, because it has a bunch of links in it, it went to “awaiting moderation.” So, it may not appear until Monday. Sorry. It has a bunch of different (non-DGC) resources for learning about how to understand and grow in LOS.