Can we please start MEASURING amendments

DarthFader1 · Nov 13, 2015

It really fuqqing annoys me when somebody says they add a half cup of something to their soil mix.

Can we please have an ounce of professionalism (pun intended) and give exact measurements in some form of recognizable denomination. Eg: 60g / per 30L soil or whatever.

If i have to hear one more cup of this and that i will literally spontaneously combust in pure rage flames

Please discuss..

darth :joint:

Only Ornamental · Nov 23, 2015

DarthFader1 said:
...exact measurements in some form of recognizable denomination...

It's called metric system and SI units

.
I really don't get how someone can use imperial measures especially when one doesn't know which of the many... A teaspoon is a more precise measure as there's a strict definition how many ml which sort of spoon etc. contains.

Ziggaro · Nov 23, 2015

I get what you're saying OO, but I can take 3 different teaspoons and get three different measurements. Cups seem to be even worse.
Even the syringes I get from the drug store vary a little bit.
Is your experience different? Am I missing something? Is adhesion skewing my results? Maybe..but I don't think it could make some of the huge differences I've seen.

stoned-trout · Nov 23, 2015

don't post metric as then I have to get a conversion calculator...us americans don't do metric...yeehaw...yup

Azure · Nov 23, 2015

Ziggaro said:
I get what you're saying OO, but I can take 3 different teaspoons and get three different measurements. Cups seem to be even worse.
Even the syringes I get from the drug store vary a little bit.
Is your experience different? Am I missing something? Is adhesion skewing my results? Maybe..but I don't think it could make some of the huge differences I've seen.

What you need is measured cup and teaspoon set.

eastcoastjoe · Nov 23, 2015

DarthFader1 said:
It really fuqqing annoys me when somebody says they add a half cup of something to their soil mix.

Can we please have an ounce of professionalism (pun intended) and give exact measurements in some form of recognizable denomination. Eg: 60g / per 30L soil or whatever.

If i have to hear one more cup of this and that i will literally spontaneously combust in pure rage flames

Please discuss..

darth

I don't understand what is UNPROFESSIONAL about saying I use 1/2 cup kelp per cu ft or 1 cup of bone meal per cu ft ? In the US, dry cups is an actual measurement, it's not everyone's job to break it down for you in every measurement unit known to man just so you understand it. A simple google search and basic math skills will help you figure it out on your own. If you can't then maybe you should stick to your own recipes or buy bagged soil

http://www.onlineconversion.com/

Piff Rhys Jones · Nov 23, 2015

Nah it's when people say a cup of this to a bag of that... what's a bag?

Peace

Granger2 · Nov 23, 2015

http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm
Choose what you want to convert to what.

But you can't use kitchen ware to get a tsp, TBL, cup or whatever. You have to use sho nuff measuring spoons, cups, etc. I'm bilingual on metric and English. I use to go to a chinese place that had a big menu on the wall. Dish-qty.-price. The had the price for a Qt, and the price for a pint. They had to change the pint to 1/2 quart cuz so many people kept asking about it cuz they didn't know that a pint is a half qt. I have little sympathy with people who bitch about the metric system since so many won't know what's what, no matter which system we use. -granger

BOMBAYCAT · Nov 23, 2015

I am sorry but I don't use measurements that much unless I am starting a new batch of soilless from a base mix that needs some amendments. Otherwise if I am just recycling I just throw in amounts of the various amendments that it needs. You sort of get a feel for it by how the last set of plants reacted and grew. I guess it would be like cooking where you throw in a pinch of this and some of that. I have never killed plants except when I first started. I used a hot bag of soil to start some seeds and the plants turned totally almost black

Mikell · Nov 23, 2015

I use cups when measuring soil amendments

Bag as a unit of measurement reminds me of the "capful". Which I also don't use....

My generation in Canada was raised with both systems, at home and in school. As a result, most of us know shit about either.

Prefer metric myself but work construction and have to know Imperial. I get a real kick out of minute Imperial measurements. What the fuck is 0.00023 of an inch? Why do they even get to use decimals?

A "Prepare to be assimilated" meme would be great right about now. Hopefully you all have good imaginations. Eventually even the US will break and convert.

Only Ornamental · Nov 24, 2015

Reminded me of that particular joke I can't quite remember... found this when searching for it: http://www.chruler.com/

Lester Beans · Nov 24, 2015

Omg people get educated, this is basic math. Units and measures. Google it!

Coughie · Nov 24, 2015

Did the OP burst into flames?

1/2 cup per cu. ft., is pretty much close enough.
I can see where 'a bag of this or that,' could get annoying.

But, just assuming here, that we're talking organic soil..
It sounds like you're approaching it from a hydro/chemical standpoint

"I gotta know my ph, I gotta know my EC, I gotta know my temps, I gotta know my RH, I gotta..."

You gotta let go, a little lol.

Does it really matter after you've ran some soil for a year, whether you added 59 or 60 grams of crab meal, or kelp meal.. Are you gonna stress it, and add the extra missing gram when you top-dress later?

To the point of the matter, do you think the soil cares about how many grams you added?
Or do 'ballparks' - if that's what you wanna call cups - work just fine?

I could go weigh out a half-cup worth of each amendment..
But you're still gonna need a half-cup worth to get close to the number I'd give you.

So besides me cracking those bags open, making a mess of a scale, and putting it all back - what purpose does it really serve? I make a mess, you get a particular number, and you still need a measuring cup to get there.

I'd just relax a little, take a toke and let life roll lol

Only Ornamental · Nov 24, 2015

True, there's really no real need for precision with organic gardening because bat guano doesn't equal bat guano and as roughly 0% of the users here run soil mineral analyses prior to adding a broad variety of poorly defined amendments...
A bit more precision and a standard measure would still be welcome but more as a principle than a necessity. Regarding the mentioned EC: though this one is usually expressed in SI units, most convert it to ppm (or rather their instrument does so) using a conversion factor they seldom know, let alone communicate. And that's just one of many things, pH would be another... Meaning, even those who think they do it right and precise are often as accurate as that cup per bag.

who dat is · Nov 24, 2015

Haha, I feel like there is way more important stuff to get hung up on and stress over. That's the beauty of organics, you don't have to be anal about specific mL or grams of liquid or salts and shit. Get it in the ballpark and let the dirt do the work :yes:

Agronomist · Jan 8, 2016

Who can clarify something for me?
Why don't they use the metric system in the US?

Mikell · Jan 9, 2016

They're so in love with a kings foot they couldn't imagine using anything else.

Bit of kink if you think about it.

hush · Jan 9, 2016

Agronomist said:
Why don't they use the metric system in the US?

Because we are the most stubborn dumdums on the planet.

In regards to the OP, I don't see why you need to micro manage other people's posts. Just type "cup to ml" in Google and figure it out, what's the big deal?

glow · Jan 9, 2016

Agronomist said:
Who can clarify something for me?
Why don't they use the metric system in the US?

Safe to say US chemists use the metric system. Perhaps it's because Americans like the Brit Royal family more than the Brits do and they are determined to hang on to a highly flawed and antiquated system of measurement (imperial) when just about every other country on the planet binned it in the sixties and seventies. Love the way US growers use ml per US gallon. Uh hang on what does that mean in terms of ppm (mg/L)? equals metric then imperial then metric equals aghhh!!!... are you freaking kidding me>> :tiphat:

Mikell · Jan 9, 2016

hush said:
Because we are the most stubborn dumdums on the planet.

In regards to the OP, I don't see why you need to micro manage other people's posts. Just type "cup to ml" in Google and figure it out, what's the big deal?

If you look at it in the light of the whole EC vs three types of PPM argument it's easier to see the logic. Microsiemens has popped up recently. Not that it's an issue to convert back, but again, more conversion.

ml/g, as glow mentioned. The bastard offspring of an illegitimate dual system.

There are a range of measurements used to mix medium, from gallon to bag to bale to cubic foot to blah blah blah. And that's just for pots. Field culture with gallons and pounds per acre, soil ppm, ad nausea as above.

Science speaks one language, growers have how many?

Can we please start MEASURING amendments

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