Thanks. I'm still in info collection mode.
I get it. From here it looks like you are collecting information and making plans. You seem like you are in Inventor mode.
Some might criticize inventor mode, and it has its pitfalls, but it also often has great spinoffs.
That seems like a huge amount of perlite to me.
Me, too!!! it seems like too much!
And still...
I mean, I made 15 gal of super soil, and added 1 gal of perlite. Or maybe it was 1.5 gal. Anyway, 40% would be 6 gal of perlite. That would displace a lot of nutrient-dense super soil. (I think it would displace 25% of the compost soil + worm castings). I don't know, maybe I will increase the perlite... maybe to 3 gal. I have just never used so much perlite... it's a foreign concept to me.
I know exactly what you are talking about!
It occurred to me that I was effectively making just slightly over half strength super soil, because I was diluting everything by 40 or 45%! ("so how is that super??")
So then I was thinking about the forum where they roll things up. There are plenty of people there who do recondition super soil. And everyone over there is saying that they feel fine to mix super soil double or even triple strength no problem, they are saying that you just want to let it cook for longer (like three months).
I do not necessarily understand why cooking for three months is better than cooking for one or two months, because I think one month is plenty of time for stuff like bloodmeal to cook!, But that is what the experienced super soil reconditioner people are saying on a forum where they roll things up.
I understand it's a big shift in thinking. It's still freaks a little bit, and I am already growing in it!
My present batch of super soil is exactly original formula Subcool, exactly original strength. I am diluting by 40 or 45% with the Perlite.
This is my first test experiment with photos to see how we do.
it occurs to me that it will be different when I go to recondition this soil, because it already has 40–45% Perlite in it!
That being the case, instead of mixing original strength and then cutting it down by 40–45%, when I recondition this soil, it will already have the perlite in it, so when I re-add the nutrients it should come back to the original Strength. Does that make sense?
My new soil mix is 1/3 coir... that's a lot of coir, which is also full of air.
Ahhh.... with coco coir it might be different if it handles air differently. I am not the expert and I'm not the person to ask, but maybe you might need somewhat less perlite, if your coir already adds aeration??
(Sorry, I am not sure and do not know.)
From my test above, I calculate that the coir is 66% air. That's damp coir that was then completely saturated in water, meaning the water largely filled the air space of the coir. That was my test... put damp coir in the bottom 5" of the bucket and add a gallon of water to the tube.
Ok. Sorry, but I have zero experience with coir. I have never used it as a substrate, so I can not advise you in this area.
(Apple voice dictation is giving me trouble this morning.)
The way I think of it is this... a super soil that is 1 part coir, 1 part compost soil, 1 part worm castings, and 2 parts perlite (i.e. 40%) is basically not super soil anymore—it's 60% not soil. It's starting to feel almost like a soil-less medium, meaning dependent on fertigation.
I can understand why you would feel that way.
If this is helpful, does it change your thinking if you add the Perlite before you add Nutrients?
Or not so much?
My sense of an organic, living super soil is where you create a happy medium (pun intended) that serves as a matrix for nutrients, water, and biological activity in the root zone. In other words, a coherent substrate that's ideal for the roots and the microbes. There's an ideal amount of air needed in that space, and an ideal amount of water.
I am far from an expert, I am just learning myself, but I see you analyzing things, and trying to figure things out, so I think you are on it, gro.
I understand your desire to want to analyze things, so that you're not just "following a formula" but that you are aware of what parameters you are modifying for your grow environment.
I was looking for a forum where they use both super soil and SIP or SWICK. I could not find that anywhere else, so I think to stay here on 420 because the people are very knowledgeable and helpful. (Maybe it is just one man's opinion, but it seems like a much nicer environment than the forum where they roll things up.)
Sorry, I hope something in there is helpful.
zzzz
It was 3:30am and I was turning into a keyboard zombie... needed to sleep. Thanks for your input.
