Lets talk about re amending

myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Is that even a word?

I know we should go by how are plants look and what seems to be low ,but in general do we use a percent of what we used when we first mixed?

Or Is it as simple as just add back the same amount of dry food and cook again?

Ill be on my 4th round with this soil,it needs help.

What say you?
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
It’s a practice. Everyone’s will be different.
For me once I’ve used soil a few rounds I start to count my top dress as my re-amend. Basic thinking is top dressed meals are just starting to breakdown even on soil surface or under mulch layer.

so that way when I mix containers the half broken down food gets mixed globally and soil gets nourished without the need to recook or wait between rounds. Just mix in castings and perlite at recycle, about 10% I’d say rough average.
Yoi can always mix in 1/4 -1/2 of original nutrient load depending on fade, but then 3-4 week cook process again.

no minerals needed in re amendingor topdress. But once every 5 years or so.

I like to have minimal fade and no deficiencies and this method works for me
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Yes I think my last time I went with 1 cup of NPK per 5 gallon. No lime or minerals. And just eye balled some more compost. Mixed and let cook again.
So at the start I went 3 cups per 7.5 gallon. So my 1 cup per 5g is 1/2 of what I did at first. I’m also adding as the plants grow at about 6 tbls a week.
So stoner math says 6x8 weeks that’s 3 cups during a grow ish.per 10 gallon soil.
I’m thinking my dirt will explode soon lol.
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
CaseyQuinn said:
I was planning on doing similar to green machine. Just top dressing dry ammendments & EWC, etc. Like a lasagna layer. The hay I put down is already partially mixed under the soil, just after a few feeds. So seems like it works.
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Just be wary of straw in containers. It’s 100% needed in no till. But If recycling smaller containers I find much more ease with ewc thick as moisture lock. Also gives you more visual and hands on if what your soil level looks like. It’s important to focus on the soil and not the plant. If it’s covered you lose a lot of important information and also the straw is supposed to breakdown and without enough surface area the biology doesn’t really benefit from it. Good luck!
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Yes I think my last time I went with 1 cup of NPK per 5 gallon. No lime or minerals. And just eye balled some more compost. Mixed and let cook again.
So at the start I went 3 cups per 7.5 gallon. So my 1 cup per 5g is 1/2 of what I did at first. I’m also adding as the plants grow at about 6 tbls a week.
So stoner math says 6x8 weeks that’s 3 cups during a grow ish.per 10 gallon soil.
I’m thinking my dirt will explode soon lol.
Click to expand...
Careful! Too much of a good thing is bad! That’s way more toodress than I would use.
My rule of thumb is two dressings per cycle. Once pre flower @ 1 teas/ gallon.
Once again during flower stretch.
At each top dress 1/2 inch of castings over top.
Many times as organic cultivators we think doing something weekly or on a schedule is needed. IMO just keeping a baseline availability of npk and focus on soil structure/ biology/ and watering practice is where the golden ticket is. Remembering to water EVERYDAY is key to microherds ability to process raw elements into plant food. The water is life. Or gas for the tank. We get a lot farther and better mileage if tank is kept full. Running it down to E and restarting is starving plants of vital elements when the plant wants them.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
I always feel like I'm on the edge of a deficiency,that if I miss a feed ill be behind.

I dump out after each run, pull the main stem break it up,add some food,compost and perlite.Let cook until next round so 10 weeks ish.
Looking at my soil bins I currently have 80 (3rd cycle) gallons cooking and 60 inuse.
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
myke said:
I always feel like I'm on the edge of a deficiency,that if I miss a feed ill be behind.

I dump out after each run, pull the main stem break it up,add some food,compost and perlite.Let cook until next round so 10 weeks ish.
Looking at my soil bins I currently have 80 (3rd cycle) gallons cooking and 60 inuse.
Click to expand...
I definitely get it. Your using a coots style mix or what??
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
myke said:
I always feel like I'm on the edge of a deficiency,that if I miss a feed ill be behind.

I dump out after each run, pull the main stem break it up,add some food,compost and perlite.Let cook until next round so 10 weeks ish.
Looking at my soil bins I currently have 80 (3rd cycle) gallons cooking and 60 inuse.
Click to expand...
Also don’t you use sips?
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Not sure,
plain peat,compost,perlite. 40/20/40
1 cup lime / 4 cup minerals / 3 cup food,mix of frass,kelp,alfalfa gaia 444 per cuft.
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Gotchya. And you get a big fade with that much top dress? My gut says your soil is over fertilized. Not sure exactly the mechanics of top dress a sip but my common sense guess is their is less nutrient mobility than traditional top down irrigation.

I prefer A base of equal parts peat/ compost/ aeration. I think it just increases CEC that much more with the extra 10-15 percent humus material.

do you have any pics just before harvest?
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
green_machine_two9er said:
Gotchya. And you get a big fade with that much top dress? My gut says your soil is over fertilized. Not sure exactly the mechanics of top dress a sip but my common sense guess is their is less nutrient mobility than traditional top down irrigation.

I prefer A base of equal parts peat/ compost/ aeration. I think it just increases CEC that much more with the extra 10-15 percent humus material.

do you have any pics just before harvest?
Click to expand...
I normally spread out the dry food mix in 2-3 cups ewc and water over.Approx 16oz.Ill water over again daily for big plants,my idea is to get the water soluble N down and in.Sips consume about 2g of water every day so soil is moist from both directions.

I run different strains but I topdress them all the same,

Typically a N deficiency(yellow) shows first on big plants not on smaller ones.

ill get some pics.
 
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