[acespicoli]

biggreg, what do you do buddy soil testing?

[biggreg]

Just looking at mg/kg numbers doesn't tell us anything about our element levels unless we convert with a bulk density. This isn't done with mineral soils that all weigh close to 1g/cm3. The mg/kg number on the test is equal to mg/L in mineral soils. In organic soils, it's all relative that bulk density.

Plants grow in a volume ( mg/L), not in a mass ( mg/kg)

[biggreg]

Originally Posted by acespicoli

biggreg, what do you do buddy soil testing?

No.my background is HVAC. I grow medically for a family member.

just got into this soil testing last march. It's been a frustrating road and I don't want anyone else to go through what i have scratching their heads, staying up late, even waking up with nightmares about soil tests. I'm angry that labs take our money without any clue as to what the hell they are doing. I'm just a regular idiot and I figured out they are full of BS. I've called about every damn lab in the country. I've raised hell with the NAPT. I'm fighting with them and sharing what I've found with our community to get growers and labs on the same page so we can advance our understanding of this little slice of gardening. If we are going to use these tests as a tool, let's use the right damn tool.

[biggreg]

And you want to know what ain't the right damn tool?





You can't weigh our soils with a SPOON! What the hell?

[biggreg]

No one is really commenting on this thread.

Am i preaching what evryone but me already knew? Is this useful new info? Anyone else run into this yet? This is all stuff I wish someone would have told me last march.

[acespicoli]

You know I'm no expert, I just grow organic. I compost.... I have wondered the same things you do about soil compositions and minerals nutrients etc... I'm kinda ocd and my friends alla cc use me of speaking Chinese cause I go off on a tangent and I lose them with the details. I find your thread on here interesting.

[acespicoli]

So far I looked at this.

This is in accordance with Liebig's law of the minimum.[1] There are 14 essential plant nutrients. Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air, while other nutrients including water are typically obtained from the soil (exceptions include some parasitic or carnivorous plants). Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients from the growing media:[2]
2
the primary macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K)
3
the three secondary macronutrients: calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg)
4
the micronutrients/trace minerals: boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni)

[biggreg]

Originally Posted by acespicoli

You know I'm no expert, I just grow organic. I compost.... I have wondered the same things you do about soil compositions and minerals nutrients etc... I'm kinda ocd and my friends alla cc use me of speaking Chinese cause I go off on a tangent and I lose them with the details. I find your thread on here interesting.

I've been growing with recycled container soil for 6 years. Always organic. I've had success guessing and I've had failures. I branched out into this world of testing to up my skills and have another tool in the box.

My poor wifey gets what your friends are going through. She has listened to hours of scoop related rants.

[biggreg]

Originally Posted by acespicoli

So far I looked at this.

This is in accordance with Liebig's law of the minimum.[1] There are 14 essential plant nutrients. Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air, while other nutrients including water are typically obtained from the soil (exceptions include some parasitic or carnivorous plants). Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients from the growing media:[2]
2
the primary macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K)
3
the three secondary macronutrients: calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg)
4
the micronutrients/trace minerals: boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni)

Those are the elements that affect yield ( maybe a few more) Plants can uptake many more elements than those. Many other elements may not have effects on yield but are essential to human and animal health. Selenium, silicon, iodine just for starts. If plants don't uptake those in our food or our animals food, we get sick.

Organic soils are usually naturally low in micro and trace elements.

[acespicoli]

I get where your going, I have seen all different kinda soil compositions.
Sandy loam
Clay soils
Straight compost
Peat/humus
Etc

All of the weights are going to be different by volume
Then you come down to what does the plant have? Root volume?

How are nutes from the soil in organics or hydroponics absorbed ?
As far as I know it seemed like the need to be hcl or water soluble salts of the minerals?
That's why the volume to water soluble tests are valuable it gives us what is available to our plants where the roots can reach them?

I wonder what kinda volume the plants roots need?
Or outdoor soil here is in layers that look different.
So there are a lot of variables? Am I getting it?