Built Soil Grow - Salvageable Substrate?

Hello!

I have had success with bottled nutrients for a couple grow cycles now, but since reading about living soils, had wanted to built a medium that would provide the needed conditions for my plants to prosper.



I built a mix, & the plants all looked healthy during the vegetative lightcycle (a couple issues: slight Ca Def, leaves closer to lime-green than forest-green), but when I switched to flowering, 2 out of 3 plants hermied within 3 weeks, and the remaining plant's leaves started taking on various deficiency/excess characteristics that I've been having trouble pinning down (I know that the plant looks in seriously rough shape ).


My question is: do y'all think that this soil salvageable, or should I start over? Furthermore, if it is salvageable, what may be some routes I can take to troubleshoot for healthier plants in flower? & if it isn't, what should I change/pay careful attention to for the new mix?



My soil mix for 4 cu. ft. is:


Base Soil:

1/3 peat moss
1/6 compost
1/6 EWC
1/3 perlite (want to start using pumice moving forward)


Amendments:

4 cups pulverized Dolomite Lime
3 cups Kelp Meal
2 cups Alfalfa Meal
2 cups Mixed Neem/Karanja Meal

12 cups Glacial Rock Dust


Water pH'd to 6.5 via Citric Acid



There were a couple leaf indicators of nutrition maladjustment in veg: signs of a slight Ca Deficiency that I supplemented with Coconut Water, & a lighter overall color.

What is the Ph of the soil? I am trying to use the buildasoil process. It also involves microbes and enzymes. When I had a week or two of roots, I started with the supplements and also adding some bacteria, and the reaction at first was to yellow the little leafs, then a fan leaf. Seems to have grown out of it now, and will be transplanted into bigger soil bag soon.



They have a whole list of supplements on their schedule... But I think the innoculation with the rootwise microbe complete is the real magic.

https://buildasoil.com/pages/the-complete-system

Ahh, good call; I don't know the pH of the soil.. perhaps buying a Soil pH Meter is something I should consider, but the pH of the runoff does seem too high at ~7.8. I have read about the climbing of the pH back to where it was initially with Citric Acid, but it didn't seem that the common organic/organically-derived alternatives (i.e. white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice) were all that much more buffering in that regard. Perhaps I should add some more Dolo Lime?

Neat, I'll have to look into that process. I sprinkled some mycorrhizal fungi with each transplant around the roots of each plant, but haven't looked into adding enzymes.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bAZyBp6yJsU

[YOUTUBEIF]https://youtube.com/watch?v=bAZyBp6yJsU[/YOUTUBEIF]

In order to grow pot you need a baseline that works, for soil, light etc.

All those plant nutrients would be welcome in your garden or somewhere in your neighborhood.

This is why people use Foxfarm Ocean Forest, diluted.

My Ph meter has acted funny since I added oyster shell to the soil. The meter initially goes over 7, then settled down to 6.5 to 6.8. Before it would only go down, and settled at 6.0, and I think this neutral is better. I really don't know though.

The gainexpress meter I have is a very handy tool, because it also will measure moisture. The tip can be placed at the level you want to check.

Thank you all for the replies!


I'll be watching that video on organic biostimulants soon, CrustyCruz.

Yeah, St. Phatty, but FFOF is essentially a Coot's Mix Light, as according to FF's Website, its main ingredients are Peat Moss, EWC, (assuming some aeration/water retention agent such as perlite, vermiculite, rice hulls), & amendments of bat crap, fish emulsion, & crab meal. I'm trying to go for a solid non-animal-product mix, but I think that my ingredient list is a bit off for flowering.

flylow, cool, I'll have to check out a gainexpress meter - it looks like it'd be handy for checking how much Citric Acid I need to add over time for the soil pH to still be within the range of 6-7 as I do tend to be lazy & mix a few days worth of water at a time haha