Lightweight Peat's Mucky Muck soil testing

[biggreg]

First off, I would say screen it lightly to separate out all the stuff that would otherwise be ground. Regardless of what lab you send it to.

Agreed. The sample is meant to represent the average of your soil. So pick out anything big and/or heavy that is abnormal and get rid of roots or big chunks of organic matter.

They use heavy duty grinders and grind rocks and all.

If you pick out all the perlite and vermiculite or whatever, your sample will not represent your actual mix. Per gram it would test higher for the extractable elements. You would be inflating your test results.

 

[biggreg]

Back to the rabbit hole for a minute:



Do y'all realize how hard it is to measure volume accurately?

Take a measuring cup. They all are cheap and usually do not measure what they say +/- 6 % i recall on one review.

Then could have any one of these at +/-6% each:

US customary cups =236.5ml
US legal cup =240ml
Imperial cup = 284ml
Canadian cup = 227.3ml
Japanese cup = 200ml
Australian cup= 250ml
So how do we check the accuracy of our volume measuring cup?

Most accurate would be a volumetric flask, you can fill those down to the exact drop.









Pour out of the flask into your cup, scoop, or container and mark it. Use a 1000ml flask to build a 1 liter measuring cup out of something.

A graduated cylinder works well enough too.

 

[biggreg]

I know what you're thinking, biggreg has his nuts twisted. It's slap rediculious to want to be that precise in such an imprecise science.

Y'all probably right but

Removing variables when studying a complex system can't hurt and the extra precision isn't really isn't that much more work or money. This is the chemistry side of growing and the plan is to work it like a chemistry problem.

Being in containers allows and I believe, demands more precision. Why not?

If i get my precision down, I want to run fully scalable and defineable small batch soil mixes for side by side trials.

 

[biggreg]

We could recreate that base ratio side by side soil / thc test from the 70s that SlowN posted.

But with well defined, measured and tested soil and clones instead of seed.

 

[biggreg]

 

[acespicoli]

You have no real big K source in that mix. Use SlowN's recommendations on the langbienite if you need mg too or sulfate of potash if you don't need mg too. Or wood ash maybe? Never tried that one.

I have used wood ash in the outside garden, apparently 10% of hardwood ash is usable potassium.

Wood Ash: The original source of “potash” fertilizers, hardwood ashes can be
used directly as a fertilizer (about a 5-gallon bucket per 1000 square feet)
or added to your compost pile to increase the potassium content.
Wood ash also raises soil pH, so be sure to do regular soil testing to make sure it stays balanced.

In a low ph soil it could be a very good addition?


This langbeinite has a PH 7

 

[acespicoli]

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=70606&pictureid=1690859&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

biggreg as you said above

Did you notice the soluble concentration per litre that is possible?
Anyone have a CRC handbook handy?

How much potassium you can dissolve in a litre of water?

 

[biggreg]

In a low ph soil it could be a very good addition?

What is your soil ph now?

I'm not really the one to ask about which ingredients are the best. Better to ask that from the guys with more experience.

My advice is don't add anything without a Mehlich 3 at least. Flying blind only works so long

 

[acespicoli]

What is your soil ph now?

I'm not really the one to ask about which ingredients are the best. Better to ask that from the guys with more experience.

My advice is don't add anything without a Mehlich 3 at least. Flying blind only works so long

6.0 :/

 

[acespicoli]

actually I think im happy with the soil PH now ... it was lower so I added lime to raise it

 

[biggreg]

Anyone have a CRC handbook handy?

We don't got 2 git 2 fancy.

All I'm proposing is some jr high chem lab weighing and measuring skills, ph,EC,and other field meter skills mixed with some 5th grade math stuff.

The lab SERA lab manual and the USDA lab manuals are good to read up on each test, what they are for, the procedures and the interferences possible.

 

[acespicoli]

i, eh, ace
i= insoluble

The Solubility Rules
1. The nitrates, chlorates, and acetates of all metals are soluble in water. Silver
acetate is sparingly soluble.
2. All sodium, potassium, and ammonium salts are soluble in water.
3. The chlorides, bromides, and iodides of all metals except lead, silver, and
mercury(I) are soluble in water. HgI2 is insoluble in water. PbCl2, PbBr2, and PbI2
are soluble in hot water. The water-insoluble chlorides, bromides, and iodides are
also insoluble in dilute acids.
4. The sulfates of all metals except lead, mercury (I), barium, and calcium are
soluble in water. Silver sulfate is slightly soluble. The water-insoluble sulfates are
also insoluble in dilute acids.
5. The carbonates, phosphates, borates, sulfites, chromates, and arsenates of all
metals except sodium, potassium, and ammonium are insoluble in water but soluble
in dilute acids. MgCrO4 is soluble in water; MgSO3 is slightly soluble in water.
6. The sulfides of all metals except barium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium,
and ammonium are insoluble in water. BaS, CaS, and MgS are sparingly soluble.
7. The hydroxides of sodium, potassium, and ammonium are very soluble in water.
The hydroxides of calcium and barium are moderately soluble. The oxides and
hydroxides of all other metals are insoluble.

 

[acespicoli]

I just answered many questions I had, I agree keep it simple

 

[biggreg]

We growers are all physicists, chemists and biologists every crop.

 

[biggreg]

My apologies for that last meme.

 

[biggreg]

Biggreg has a simple dream. He dreams that he and everyone on icmag are getting soil tests in which the data is generated by the correct measurement of sample mass and then reported in relevant units.

So simple of a desire.

 

[biggreg]

"Standard" density mineral soil tests come with an accurately measured sample mass. ( scoop works great for what it was designed for)

"Standard" density mineral soil tests come with per mass results converted to per volume with an accurate bulk density (1g/1cm3).

"Standard" density mineral soil tests are reported in relevant volumetric units, mass/volume ( lbs/acre slice).


Why can't a lightweight get the same?

Give us an accurately measured sample mass.

Give us a per mass to per volume conversion with an accurate bulk density.

Report to us in relevant volumetric units!

It's just the way it should be done.

 

[biggreg]

If your lab is using a "standard" mineral soil calibrated mass approximating weighing scoop to measure the mass of lighter weight density soil sample, these awesome little bonuses come with your bastardized, befouled corruption of a so called "soil-test":

"Lightweight" soil tests come with a mystery sample mass. ( I love mysteries, don't you?)

"Lightweight" soil tests come with a standard , embarrassingly inaccurate bulk density assumption.
( always awesome!)

"Lightweight" soil tests come with an added double bonus of a mystery dilution ratio AND a mystery mass of soil!!. ( does wonders for the micros!)

How else could a lab fuck this test up?

Oh yeah, they could give you all that and throw in a special 1/2 scoop/ 1/2 solution for the same price bonus! Woot!!

 

[biggreg]

 

[biggreg]