What do y'all reckon?

[Cajafiesta]

3 hours ago, darXound said:

must have watered at around 5 or below

That'll do it.  I generally shoot for low 6s for my water before any nutritional input.  Just how I do it and what seems to be a stable approach for me. 

 

3 hours ago, darXound said:

If bad ph in the water can cause such a lockout in the first place, it stands to reason that aiming for the right ph in your water is a good thing, even if the soil is supposedly buffered

 agreed.   To be fair, Dave isn't incorrect.  Photos of his grows are always real nice.  But I believe his no till pot is on the larger side of small.  Maybe something like 15 gallons or so?  Anyhow, this was my experience.  If high water ph can lock my shit out and cause total havoc, I have no choice but to assume input water ph in small pots matters. 

 

3 hours ago, darXound said:

mix up my nutes, leave it overnight then check again and amend.

This seems to be the "correct" way.  Some of my nutes are actually produced my an Agronomist.  He goes as far as to vary instructions by product.  " ONLY MIX WITH PH ADJUSTED WATER"  or " DO NOT ADJUST PH OF STARTING WATER, ADJUST AFTER ADDING TO WATER" etc.  

 

 

Anyhow, don't discount Calcium.  I'm learning that it is maybe the biggest input to consider with regard to overall root and plant tissue health.  And if you ain't got good roots, you ain't got a good plant. 

[darXound]

1 minute ago, Cajafiesta said:

Anyhow, don't discount Calcium

I've got plenty of calcium in my soil as it's mixed with wollastonite. As another guy pointed out in a different thread, it's the magnesium ratio the may need some scrutiny but everything is going well so far 

 

2 minutes ago, Cajafiesta said:

Dave isn't incorrect

No doubt, but different situations have different problems. Plus if he's not adding stuff like rhizo, his ph is likely to be lower than 8, which is a world away from 10. His post definitely made me look in the right direction. 

[Cajafiesta]

3 hours ago, darXound said:

I've got plenty of calcium in my soil

Keep an eye on it is all I'm saying.  

 

I add 8 cups of Craft Blend to a 15 gallon soil batch.  Craft blend is loaded with rock dust and shell meals.  Lots of calcium.  The right plant will clobber the calcium in a 1/2 gallon pot in a week, in my environment.  

 

 

The agronomist I referenced is prescribing TONS and TONS of gypsum/acre for some of his avocado and asparagus customers with great results.  I'm just developing the opinion that they'll take and appreciate WAY more calcium ( kept in balance with MAG, of course) than we think they will.  It also depends on the form of calcium and how it's available to the plant yadda yadda etc. 

 

 

Anyhow, best of luck!