No till build a soil help please 15 gallon pots

[marywanher]

My leaves looking a little funky in these 15gallon pots and 1 in a gallon pot
Shell came off jan 6th2020
Build a soil light soil and no till bundle
Water them once a day, one time all amendments
Next without plain r/0
Perfect sun 1000 light
74degrees
59 humidity

 

[2RedEyes]

Got some pics? It seems like a no till might take a while to get up to speed...I think I’d start by giving them some kinda organic tea with N...don’t overdo it though...

 

[oldfogey8]

Are you letting the soil get dry down to the 1st or second knuckle? Watering daily in 15 gallon pots sounds excessive.

 

[stinkyattic]

Pots too big for plants that young, fogey is right about the watering. Not enough plant to suck water outta all that dirt.

Also, why are you using RO water? 9 times out of ten ya see folks using it who don't need to, and not managing it correctly, leading to massive calcium deficiencies. Is your tap water over 150ppm tds?

 

[2RedEyes]

I recently bought a moisture meter because I want to experiment with some larger organic grow beds like your talkin...I’ve found that I was most likely overwatering...in a 7 gallon cloth pot I notice moisture deep down stays damp a long time...so I rarely have to water more than once every couple weeks but I’m spraying teas on the top of the soil, mulching and cover cropping...also foliar...
I think when you put together a no-till kinda thing, the point is to grow the soil microbes and organic critters that feed the plant...that all takes a while so the plants may need some available N up front unless of course you’ve already been working this soil for a while...

 

[marywanher]

Are you letting the soil get dry down to the 1st or second knuckle? Watering daily in 15 gallon pots sounds excessive.

Going to start letting the soil dry out some , I just didnt wanna let it dry out to much with worms and all ,,, man this is some great stuff from you guys and I plan on using all these tools u guys are giving me,,, u guys are my first real friends lol

 

[marywanher]

I recently bought a moisture meter because I want to experiment with some larger organic grow beds like your talkin...I’ve found that I was most likely overwatering...in a 7 gallon cloth pot I notice moisture deep down stays damp a long time...so I rarely have to water more than once every couple weeks but I’m spraying teas on the top of the soil, mulching and cover cropping...also foliar...
I think when you put together a no-till kinda thing, the point is to grow the soil microbes and organic critters that feed the plant...that all takes a while so the plants may need some available N up front unless of course you’ve already been working this soil for a while...

Pots too big for plants that young, fogey is right about the watering. Not enough plant to suck water outta all that dirt.

Also, why are you using RO water? 9 times out of ten ya see folks using it who don't need to, and not managing it correctly, leading to massive calcium deficiencies. Is your tap water over 150ppm tds?

175

 

[Lesso]

Get it tested. I used ro for a couple of years because my tap was 300 ppm. Turns out it was mostly from calcium, so i stopped ro, use very little calmag, and my plants are way more healthy these days. I did have problems with chlorine last time, so i bought an inline filter and all is good.

 

[St_Nick]

Take a sample of your water into a pet store that sells tropical fish. Or someplace that sells swimming pool supplies. They can tell you whats in it if you are concerned. Otherwise, I do organic and I reuse my soil and grow in 11 gallon totes. After a complete run I amend the soil and let it sit out the next run to replenish itself. Even when they are ready for harvesting they only need watering every other day and they can go three without harm

 

[stinkyattic]

You can cut your tap water with RO. Dilute the 175 tap down to about 100. Then you can use commercial nutes the way the label says, they assume average quality water. Of course you will keep watching your plants for hints they want more or less, but going to nothing but ro you would then want to remineralize it to 100 with calmag anyway. And in many circumstances that might be a waste of money...
Assuming you're in the us, what part? There are large areas of the country (looking at you, missouri! ) that have outrageous limestone aquifers that give very high calcium numbers coming out of the tap. This can be a bit much for total hardness but managed correctly, pot loves calcium at the right levels!
A calcium test from your local agricultural extension (tell them you're growing curcubits, and have blossom end rot problems if they ask lol) is pretty cheap. Or even just call the DPW and ask for this year's water test report. It's usually a public record and free with you know, your taxes and water bill lololol

 

[marywanher]

You can cut your tap water with RO. Dilute the 175 tap down to about 100. Then you can use commercial nutes the way the label says, they assume average quality water. Of course you will keep watching your plants for hints they want more or less, but going to nothing but ro you would then want to remineralize it to 100 with calmag anyway. And in many circumstances that might be a waste of money...
Assuming you're in the us, what part? There are large areas of the country (looking at you, missouri! ) that have outrageous limestone aquifers that give very high calcium numbers coming out of the tap. This can be a bit much for total hardness but managed correctly, pot loves calcium at the right levels!
A calcium test from your local agricultural extension (tell them you're growing curcubits, and have blossom end rot problems if they ask lol) is pretty cheap. Or even just call the DPW and ask for this year's water test report. It's usually a public record and free with you know, your taxes and water bill lololol

I'm using all build a soil amendments
Build a soil soil and all amendments

 

[stinkyattic]

Lots of variables in soil mixes, not sure what your recipe is, that's a topic for @hempgoddess who specializes in live organic soils, using known good water/nutrient solution gives you a leg up.

 

[marywanher]

@hempgoddess I summon u please lol

 

[2RedEyes]

She’ll be along no doubt...

 

[oldfogey8]

@hempgoddess I summon u please lol

@The Hemp Goddess - your expertise is requested