SubCool Supersoil In SIPs With EWC, CBD Autos For Aspergers

[CBDMed]

No clue on recipes but I do recall that @ReservoirDog (hope he's okay) uses 40% perlite specifically for SIPS.

Ahh, ok, 40%.
Someone else was saying that he was recommending 50%, but that just seemed like way too much to me. So I dialed it back to 45%. But if 40% is better, then that's good.
Gracias.


Edit: I am hoping to hear from @cbdhemp808 about supersoil, as I think he mixes his own custom blend.

 

[CBDMed]

I've got like a couple of hours right now I can mix soil. And if I do not do it right now, then I have to wait at least a week. So I think I better take advantage and jump on it right now.

EDIT: I think I'm just going to add JUST UNDER the normal amount of nutrients (so everything runs out and I have to supplement), and then put around 10% rice hulls (no salt) and shoot for 35% Perlite when I put it in SIPs.
And take good notes, and see how we do.

 

[CBDMed]

OK, I hit a stall point.
I remembered I was supposed to use the calcium refractometer to measure the calcium in the soil, but I'm not sure how to use it.

They want me to calibrate it with a drop of distilled water, and I have some demineralized water here (and that is probably the best I can do).

But then in about the middle of the page, it says to "place a few drops of the sample to be tested" on the refractometer, and I'm not sure what they're talking about.
Can anyone help me to understand what I'm supposed to do here?
Thank you.
(Sorry the thing is sideways. I'm not sure how to fix it.)

I think I probably need to wait until I know how to use the calcium refractometer before I mix.

I'm also thinking to add the normal amount of nitrogen, and reduce the rest of the nutrients, because I'm always running out of nitrogen, and with a bunch of big photos I want to make sure I don't run out.

Can anyone help me to know how to use the refractometer?
Thank you.

 

[Azimuth]

So, maybe say instead of a cup and a half of bloodmeal, I would use one and a quarter cups, or something like that.

10 oz of blood meal is 1 1/4 cups (not 1 1/2) so you're already a bit stronge there.

 

[CBDMed]

10 oz of blood meal is 1 1/4 cups (not 1 1/2) so you're already a bit stronge there.

Ahh, thank you very much, Azi!!
Did you check all of the numbers, or just that one? (Haha, I have been wanting to check the numbers for a long time now... )

 

[Azimuth]

That's the one that stood out to me.

 

[CBDMed]

That's the one that stood out to me.

 

[CBDMed]

OK, I hit a stall point.
I remembered I was supposed to use the calcium refractometer to measure the calcium in the soil, but I'm not sure how to use it.

They want me to calibrate it with a drop of distilled water, and I have some demineralized water here (and that is probably the best I can do).

But then in about the middle of the page, it says to "place a few drops of the sample to be tested" on the refractometer, and I'm not sure what they're talking about.
Can anyone help me to understand what I'm supposed to do here?
Thank you.
(Sorry the thing is sideways. I'm not sure how to fix it.)

I think I probably need to wait until I know how to use the calcium refractometer before I mix.

I'm also thinking to add the normal amount of nitrogen, and reduce the rest of the nutrients, because I'm always running out of nitrogen, and with a bunch of big photos I want to make sure I don't run out.

Can anyone help me to know how to use the refractometer?
Thank you.

Hi all.
Does anyone know how to use that refractometer with regards to super soil? Or should I just hit a Google search?

@cbdhemp808 , do you measure your calcium or magnesium levels with the refractometer before you recondition your super soil?

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Azimuth]

Hi all.
Does anyone know how to use that refractometer with regards to super soil? Or should I just hit a Google search?

@cbdhemp808 , do you measure your calcium or magnesium levels with the refractometer before you recondition your super soil?

Thanks, everyone!

The refractometer is used to measure plant sugars dissolved in the sap.

Here are a couple of good intros: Brix Meter and High Brix How-to

 

[CBDMed]

The refractometer is used to measure plant sugars dissolved in the sap.

Here are a couple of good intros: Brix Meter and High Brix How-to

 

[cbdhemp808]

@cbdhemp808 , do you measure your calcium or magnesium levels with the refractometer before you recondition your super soil?

I just guestimate. I figure the used soil is very depleted, so I add in my usual approx. amounts of everything. Lately I've also been adding new compost soil (i.e. real dirt) from a mound I have out on the land, which I sift using 1/4" mesh to get the bigger rocks out. I also top up the perlite. Sometimes I add more coir as well, but the soil tends to be fluffy with coir already. Lasty, I add a 2-gal bucket of fresh worm castings. I recycle a manageable wheelbarrow full of soil. One that I can turn with my hand shovel.

 

[CBDMed]

I just guestimate. I figure the used soil is very depleted, so I add in my usual approx. amounts of everything. Lately I've also been adding new compost soil (i.e. real dirt) from a mound I have out on the land, which I sift using 1/4" mesh to get the bigger rocks out. I also top up the perlite. Sometimes I add more coir as well, but the soil tends to be fluffy with coir already. Lasty, I add a 2-gal bucket of fresh worm castings. I recycle a manageable wheelbarrow full of soil. One that I can turn with my hand shovel.

And you do not have any issues? That is very good to know, thank you.

I sincerely doubt that these auto girls ate their whole cups, but I'm sure that once I switch to photos, they will eat everything. So probably I should just go a bit light on reconditioning auto batches, but recondition as normal on photo runs.


And you just use the standard calmag dosages?

 

[cbdhemp808]

And you do not have any issues? That is very good to know, thank you.

I sincerely doubt that these auto girls ate their whole cups, but I'm sure that once I switch to photos, they will eat everything. So probably I should just go a bit light on reconditioning auto batches, but recondition as normal on photo runs.


And you just use the standard calmag dosages?

You can gauge things by the root mass, so if the pot is chock full of roots, then this pretty much implies the soil is all depleted.

I am not using CalMag (product). I use various Down to Earth organic ferts (powders). For calcium I use mainly oyster shell. I ran out of dolomite lime and greensand. I'm using Langbeinite now, both solution-grade and normal granules, for K, Mg, S. For iron (Fe) I use kelp granules. For silicon (Si) I use fine quartz powder.

• bat guano (N)
• seabird guano (Ca, P)
• dolomite lime (Ca, Mg)
• oyster shell powder (Ca)
• greensand (K, Fe, Si)
• gypsum (Ca, S)
• potassium sulfate (K, S).

 

[CBDMed]

You can gauge things by the root mass, so if the pot is chock full of roots, then this pretty much implies the soil is all depleted.

Thank you, CBD.
These roots have dried, so they are much less visible than when the pot was just dumped. However, it never did look like what I would think of as a "thick root mass".
EDIT: I have seen some Roodt balls that look almost solid.
(I am not knocking autos, I just don't think they eat the whole cup, because I used to grow five or 6 foot tall bushes from a 5 gallon fabric that was only half full I was super soil, and the autos are much smaller.
EDIT: I am guessing that it is about half of the yield, so I'm guessing maybe @ half of the nutrients are left???

I am not using CalMag (product). I use various Down to Earth organic ferts (powders). For calcium I use mainly oyster shell. I ran out of dolomite lime and greensand. I'm using Langbeinite now, both solution-grade and normal granules, for K, Mg, S. For iron (Fe) I use kelp granules. For silicon (Si) I use fine quartz powder.

• bat guano (N)
• seabird guano (Ca, P)
• dolomite lime (Ca, Mg)
• oyster shell powder (Ca)
• greensand (K, Fe, Si)
• gypsum (Ca, S)
• potassium sulfate (K, S).

OK, you're way over my head at this point. I bookmarked this, and I hope to come back to it later. Thank you.

EDIT: I think I will go 1/2 - 2/3 strength with this recycle of auto-grow soil, and then in the future when we run photos I can go back to recycling at full strength.

 

[cbdhemp808]

These roots have dried, so they are much less visible than when the pot was just dumped. However, it never did look like what I would think of as a "thick root mass":
(I am not knocking autos, I just don't think they eat the whole cup, because I used to grow five or 6 foot tall bushes from a 5 gallon fabric that was only half full I was super soil, and the autos are much smaller.)

Yeah, when I think of "packed with roots" I think of pulling the stem out and the whole thing comes out as a mass. In other words, it's hard to break up and even recover any soil from, and what you get is soil with a lot of dried up dead roots in it. This is what my last recycle looked like.

So if it's looser, then yeah, there may be some nutrients still in it. It depends. If you had to fertigate those plants, then... the soil was more-or-less used up.

I think I will just go late with this recycle of auto-grow soil, and then in the future when we run photos I can go back to doing it full strength.

I think you mean "go light" with the nutes.

 

[CBDMed]

Yeah, when I think of "packed with roots" I think of pulling the stem out and the whole thing comes out as a mass. In other words, it's hard to break up and even recover any soil from, and what you get is soil with a lot of dried up dead roots in it. This is what my last recycle looked like.

I did not see the picture, but I get the idea.

So if it's looser, then yeah, there may be some nutrients still in it. It depends. If you had to fertigate those plants, then... the soil was more-or-less used up.


I think you mean "go light" with the nutes.

Yeah, haha, Voice Dictation nails me many times a day , thanks.

But just as a question, what happens if there's somehow 50% Nutrients left in the recycle, and then I add a full fresh 100% to it? Is that too hot for photos?

 

[cbdhemp808]

But just as a question, what happens if there's somehow 50% Nutrients left in the recycle, and then I add a full fresh 100% to it? Is that too hot for photos?

I think recycling a supersoil is tricky business. If you have doubts, best to start over with fresh soil. Keep it simple.

You could also just use a test kit and check the used soil for N, P, K.

Regarding photos vs. autos... the consideration here is plant size, and therefore also pot size. So, the question is really about plant size. Some strains/phenos grown from seed are just small, while others grow huge.

With a supersoil, we want the soil itself to support the plant well into flowering, so then you need a big enough pot to support the plant size.

 

[CBDMed]

I think recycling a supersoil is tricky business. If you have doubts, best to start over with fresh soil. Keep it simple.

Oy.
Well, I am sure that would probably be much better, but that would represent several hundred dollars for fresh imported base soil, which I don't really have at this time. (I think we're going to make it, but we are deep into our buffer and it is emergency expenditures only). I know this medical, but $300-400 USD for fresh base soil at this point is not really an option. Everything has to come out of existing stores at this time.

For full disclosure, I even thought about just mixing the same supersoil back up, and sticking it back in the same SIP buckets, and growing another round of autos (just to deplete the soil). And the reality is that I could do that if need be. (I want to switch to Photos, but it would not hurt me to run autos one more time, just to deplete the soil.)

I'm sorry, but I just do not see this is being all used up! I broke the main route into a few pieces, but it was not a huge main root.
When they open plant buckets in my regular garden, I can tell when it is packed with roots – and this is not.

You could also just use a test kit and check the used soil for N, P, K.

That is an excellent idea! Now, why didn't I think of that?

Great idea. I still have that kit from before. I think they said the shelflife is about 18 months only, so, maybe it is still good?
I have a busy morning but hopefully I can Test come afternoon. That's a very good idea, thank you for it. (That could save a lot of work.)

Regarding photos vs. autos... the consideration here is plant size, and therefore also pot size. So, the question is really about plant size. Some strains/phenos grown from seed are just small, while others grow huge.

Right.
One thing I could never understand is that one particular breeder (TopTao) showers you with these "auto seed mixes". I suppose that could be helpful if I was growing outdoors in ground, and I had a summer, and I wanted to harvest some short ones early, and some medium ones midterm, and then still have some kind of harvest at the end of summer with big girls. "But if you grow them in pots indoors, how do you know how big of a pot to give it???
I think I would have the same problem, the small plants would not eat their whole cup, and then how do you know how to recondition the soil?? (But I am sure he's probably targeting that for people who are growing outdoors in ground.)

With a supersoil, we want the soil itself to support the plant well into flowering, so then you need a big enough pot to support the plant size.

Right.

When I was researching autos before, they were recommending anywhere between a two and a 4 gallon pot size, with most recommending a 3 gallon. That sounds more like it.
By the time you get all through with the 1G air cavity and a 1 inch layer of earthworm castings on top, I'm guessing there are probably about 3.75 gallons for supersoil in the 5 gallon SIP buckets that I have (GroTech).

All I have to compare to is that years ago (when I was still completely new) I used to grow big five or 6 foot tall bushes in 5 or 7 gallon fabric pots. In fact the only reason I bumped up from a 5 gallon to a 7 gallon pot was because the girls would run out of water water in the middle of summer (rather than running out of Nutrients).

So that was like 3.5 gallons of super soil growing these big five or 6 foot tall bushes – that is just a shade less super soil than I have in these 3.75 gallon SIP buckets here. So I realistically think I could probably run autos one more time without doing anything.
So I will try to use that test kit this afternoon afternoon. Thanks.

 

[CBDMed]

For example, this is a couple of the 5 gallon SIP buckets that I have not yet broke open. These were both SDAC (Swiss Dream Auto CBD), which got pretty big for an auto, but probably maybe half the yield of a photo. I did not see your root ball picture, but I imagine the stem trunks you are pulling out are a lot bigger than these.

(This one is a little moldy!)

 

[CBDMed]

You could also just use a test kit and check the used soil for N, P, K.

Oy.
The "new" kit was bad. I guess the P got some moisture on it also.

I did not get good readings.
I suppose I could wait two or three weeks for another test kit ...

What happens if I just add a regular load of Nutrients, and let's say it still has maybe 50% left?
Will 150% strength super soil burn my little plants?
Or how do I work that out?