Help with soil test results

[Dudeabides420]

Hi guys- I just got the results of my soil test back from the local university (17 bucks and right down the road beats logan labs and the mail lol). I'm wondering if I could get some help interpreting them as I'm fairly new to this and have quite a bit to learn yet.
This sample was taken from a coot's mix with the Build-A-Soil take n bake nutrient kit for a 4x4 bed.

The first thing to stand out for me was the surprisingly high PH of 7.6... I was under the assumption that PH imbalances in living soil are rare, especially if you are only using organic amendments. Similarly, the sodium seems very high for all organics...

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Bill284]

Welcome to 420Magazine my friend
I'm not a soil guy so no help sorry
I'm sure someone will be along shortly and give you some answers.
How is your garden doing? Any pics?
If you want to say Hi and meet everyone here is a link.
Happy Growing.

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Stay safe
Bill284

 

[Dudeabides420]

Hello and thanks!
I won't lie I'm worried about my garden lol. I'm on my second indoor run, and while my first run was actually pretty good (about a pound dry of B+ quality bud on my high bar scale), this round has been struggling, which prompted the soil test. I will say, despite the fairly stunted size of the plants this time around, the buds look quite good for day 55 from soil break (autoflowers).

 

[Dudeabides420]

Here is my previous grow (and first in this bed).

 

[Bill284]

They healthy but are starting to get hungry.
Flowering requires a lot of nutrients.
Your soil is probably spent.
Are you feeding them anything?
I'm talking about the first set of pics.


Stay safe
Bill284

 

[Dudeabides420]

I haven't used any bottled neuts- organics only. On that front I've not done much other than what is included in the original mix (which is supposedly enough for water-only for at least a few grows). However, I did add some Cal/phos, some Epsom salts, some worm castings, bloom amendment and compost tea. Originally I thought I had some sort of neut deficiency but I think it's my high PH/salt/sulfur messing with things? I'm not sure how that happened given the inputs I used to create the soil.

 

[budnoob3]

Hello and thanks!
I won't lie I'm worried about my garden lol. I'm on my second indoor run, and while my first run was actually pretty good (about a pound dry of B+ quality bud on my high bar scale), this round has been struggling, which prompted the soil test. I will say, despite the fairly stunted size of the plants this time around, the buds look quite good for day 55 from soil break (autoflowers).

What is your water source?

 

[Dudeabides420]

What is your water source?

Town water run through a Hydroviv filter.

Here are the results of a town water test (before filtration):

 

[budnoob3]

does your filtration include use of water softer? Hard water and/or using the bags of water softening salt are not your friends for the long term. Yes, you’ll probably be ok for 1 run or maybe 2 but you’ll need to replace soil mix often in my experience when I was dealing with that briefly down south. Wherever possible I recommend collecting rain water, stream water or fresh clean lake water. Aside from that also make sure your soil has enough drainage and aeration, I add worms to everything and at least 30% perlite to my soil mix.

 

[budnoob3]

Oh, and another option I’ve seen work well is adding at least an under sink RO filter as an alternative, but still prefer rain water best.

 

[Dudeabides420]

I don’t believe my filter has any softener. It’s also got really low levels of dissolved solids, and although the ph measures 7.5, from what I’ve read, due to the alkalinity of the water being low that high PH shouldn’t impact the soil too much (but I’m just parroting what I think I remember on that one).

Worms are in there along with 33% coarse perlite (grade 4). I think the soil drains well but there is definitely something up with the sulphur/ph/sodium

 

[budnoob3]

I would tend to agree there, hence why I mention rain water or RO or even a combo of both.

 

[SmokingWings]

All things considered at this time it is not looking as bad as you are making it sound. A couple of questions because the more info you can give the quicker suggestions will show up.

I will say, despite the fairly stunted size of the plants this time around, the buds look quite good for day 55 from soil break (autoflowers).

Was your first grow also auto-flower?

I did add some Cal/phos

Calcium and Phospate/Phosphorous? Or did you mean some Cal-Mag (Calcium-Magnesium) and a separate bag/box of some Phosphate/Phosphorous?

Your soil test has a warning about the Phosphorous level as being excessive. Too much Phosphorous can have an adverse effect on the Calcium and on Potassium.

Having the right amount of Calcium seems to be a must for indoor Cannabis gardens especially with LED lights if those are being used. On top of that the relationship between Calcium and Magnesium is an interesting one. With a safe ratio those two nutrients play well with each other. But, if one or the other gets too high they are not going to be happy together.

The Potassium is necessary for overall plant health and especially useful for flowering and fruiting plants.

The pH of the soil is high but I do not know off the top of my head; just a bit too tired to start researching. Getting the pH of the water down some should help counter the higher soil pH but that will take time to make a significant change.

Consider contacting Build-A-Soil with some of your questions if you are wary of contacting the local universality--unless the university is the one that has the state's agricultural college.

 

[Dudeabides420]

All things considered at this time it is not looking as bad as you are making it sound

I was so hoping someone would say that lol.

My first grow was also auto, yes.
I used CowCal from build-a-soil which is a mix of calcium and phosphorus.
So I could absolutely be wrong about this, but my *guess* is the excessive phos comment was made with industrial standards in mind. Excessive Phos runoff from farms is a big problem here in VT and I think farming is generally the context in which soil samples are being submitted to the UVM ag department.

 

[seaofgreen18]

All things considered at this time it is not looking as bad as you are making it sound. A couple of questions because the more info you can give the quicker suggestions will show up.


Was your first grow also auto-flower?


Calcium and Phospate/Phosphorous? Or did you mean some Cal-Mag (Calcium-Magnesium) and a separate bag/box of some Phosphate/Phosphorous?

Your soil test has a warning about the Phosphorous level as being excessive. Too much Phosphorous can have an adverse effect on the Calcium and on Potassium.

Having the right amount of Calcium seems to be a must for indoor Cannabis gardens especially with LED lights if those are being used. On top of that the relationship between Calcium and Magnesium is an interesting one. With a safe ratio those two nutrients play well with each other. But, if one or the other gets too high they are not going to be happy together.

The Potassium is necessary for overall plant health and especially useful for flowering and fruiting plants.

The pH of the soil is high but I do not know off the top of my head; just a bit too tired to start researching. Getting the pH of the water down some should help counter the higher soil pH but that will take time to make a significant change.

Consider contacting Build-A-Soil with some of your questions if you are wary of contacting the local universality--unless the university is the one that has the state's agricultural college.

Howdy I first start off getting your ph to or around 6.8 with ag or domelite lime depending on your CA/MG needs and and MG is the bully Ciation itll mess with more than just CA if overdone so go in lite handed with MG when adding if you top dressed or added amendment that will throw off ph whilst its breaking down. That's the first thing id do other than water with ph'd water

 

[SmokingWings]

I took another look at the photos of the current grow and it still does not look like any disaster about to happen. Finish it out and while waiting for harvest contact Build-A-Soil and see what they have to say. Their phone number is part of their logo and the eMail address is on the Contact page.

If I remember right a soil bed built with their product is supposed to last for several grows so it is unlikely it is worn out yet. Possible that something really simple was overlooked during the time between the first grow and the start of the second.

In the meantime drop the water pH with a pH Down additive. Keep a pH Up around just in case the water drops a bit more than wanted and using a bit of Up can be a lot easier than starting all over again. It could be a week or two before any changes would start to show up.

I was wondering how a grower would go around recycling the plant material after harvest. Seems that the organic garden would have to have that as part of the program.

 

[seaofgreen18]

I took another look at the photos of the current grow and it still does not look like any disaster about to happen. Finish it out and while waiting for harvest contact Build-A-Soil and see what they have to say. Their phone number is part of their logo and the eMail address is on the Contact page.

If I remember right a soil bed built with their product is supposed to last for several grows so it is unlikely it is worn out yet. Possible that something really simple was overlooked during the time between the first grow and the start of the second.

In the meantime drop the water pH with a pH Down additive. Keep a pH Up around just in case the water drops a bit more than wanted and using a bit of Up can be a lot easier than starting all over again. It could be a week or two before any changes would start to show up.

I was wondering how a grower would go around recycling the plant material after harvest. Seems that the organic garden would have to have that as part of the program.

Pull out the stalk and main root ball and leave the rest to break down, till ,get test and add compost and or amendment, mix well let sit for a week then test again if unsure but usually you should be good to go after soil analysis
Ag lime or domelite lime or walsonite for soil up and baking soda for water up then for down sulfur for ph down in soil and citric acid for down for the water

 

[Dudeabides420]

I took another look at the photos of the current grow and it still does not look like any disaster about to happen.

Yeah although the plants are quite small they are producing some really good looking buds, so I'm not exactly freaking out or anything but at the same time I do want to continually improve my soil and my understanding of everything that goes along with that.

 

[bluter]

looks like decent autos in soil that wasn't recharged. should have no problems finishing if they are autos. i'd only get worried if they were photos that were going to run a lot longer.

recharging or replenishing the soil between grows will keep you gold for anything going forward. you look like you have a real good handle on things. exceptional for a newer grower even.

you'll finish this fantastic.