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Frankenstein-19 Water Only Organic Super Soil Recipe

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WhatAboutBob
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Re: Frankenstein-19 Water Only Organic Super Soil Recipe

Post by WhatAboutBob »

Scott from The Crescive Method shared some math from the book Ideal Soil 2.0. It uses the bulk density of the media instead of the standard 2,000,000 lbs per acre furrow slice that is used in field calculations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZzYwV5weA&t=897s

I have not tested the accuracy of this, but have used it for some trace mineral applications. I can go back and see how if the test data shows what the calculations say they should. For example, comparing K levels before and after a K sulfate addition. And for what it is worth, the Soil Doctor said he doesn't really use the bulk density in his calculations.

Media Density (or bulk density) is reported as grams / cubic cm
We want to convert that to kilograms / cubic yard

((Media Density * 764,555) / 454) / 2.2

764,555 cubic cm per cubic yard
454 grams per pound
2.2 pounds per kilogram

If media density is 0.30 grams per cubic cm

((0.30 * 764,555) / 454) / 2.2 =
(229,366.5 / 454) / 2.2 =
505.2 / 2.2 =
229.64 kilograms per cubic yard
____________________________________________________________________________________
Now for an application...

Goal to increase Ca by 100 ppm using Oyster Shell

Remember that 1ppm = 0.001g/kg

(100ppm / 1000) * 229.64 kg/yd^3
0.1 * 229.64 =
22.96 grams of elemental Calcium should be added per cubic yard to increase Ca by 100 ppm

Oyster Shell is 36% Calcium by weight
22.96 / 0.36 =
63.78 grams of Oyster Shell should be added per cubic yard to increase the Ca by 100 ppm

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now lets try to increase Boron by 1.5 ppm using Borax (asssume 10% Boron in Borax for this calc)

(1.5 / 1000) * 229.64 =
0.34 grams of elemental Boron per cubic yard

0.34 / 0.10 =
3.44 grams of Borax (10%) should be added per cubic yard to increase Boron by 1.5 ppm

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Increase Mn by 8 ppm using Manganese Sufate (32% Mn)

(8 / 1000) * 229.64 =
1.83 grams of elemental Manganese per cubic yard

1.83 / 0.32 = 5.74 grams of Manganese Sulfate (32%) should be added per cubic yard to increase Mn by 8 ppm

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Happy Gardening.
Bob

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Re: Frankenstein-19 Water Only Organic Super Soil Recipe

Post by WhatAboutBob »

I'm about to plant into the VEG MIX. I wanted to bump the trace minerals a bit before I do so. I actually DO use the math above for these trace applications (even though I'm not sure the accuracy as shown on a soil test).

Fe was about 150ppm and almost 0.5ppm in solution. I was OK with that.
Mn was down to 12 pmm and only 0.08 ppm in solution. I want to increase this. The last test showed 0.7 ppm in the soil solution.
Boron was below 1 ppm and 0.36 ppm in solution. I want to increase this a bit. I have a lot of Ca, so I don't want to be too low on Boron.
Zn was only 6 ppm and barely shows up in solution. I want to increase this on the standard test. Was told Zn always reads low in the soil solution.
Cu was 3.5 ppm and barely shows up in solution. I want to increase this a bit on the standard test. Was told Cu also always reads low in the soil solution.

Using the math above.
0.29 media density.
0.29 * 764.555 = 222 kg/yd^3
___________________________________________________________________________________
Increase Boron 1.35 ppm on standard test
(1.35 / 1000) * 222 = 0.3 grams of elemental Boron per yd^3
I use 11.5% Boron for my Borax product.
0.3 / 0.115 = 2.6 grams BORAX per cubic yard
2.6 / 202.5 = 0.013 grams BORAX per gallon

I was only amending 9 gallons of soil, so I only needed to add about 0.12 grams of BORAX.
My scale only works accurately to about 0.6 grams.
So I dissolved 0.6 grams of BORAX in 10 oz of RO water.
2 oz of this solution contains 0.12 grams of BORAX and was added to a spray tank.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Increase Manganese 10 ppm.
(10 / 1000 ) * 222 = 2.22 grams of elemental Manganese per yd^3
I use 32% Mn for my Mn Sulfate product.
2.37 / 0.32 = 6.94 grams Manganese Sulfate per cubic yard
0.034 grams Manganese Sulfate per gallon.

0.3 grams Manganese Sulfate to amend 9 gallons of media (to raise 10.67 ppm)
I dissolved 0.6 grams of Mn Sulfate in 4 oz of RO water.
2 oz of this solution contains 0.3 grams of Manganese Sulfate and was added to the spray tank.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Increase Zn by 4.3 ppm.
(4.3 / 1000) * 222 = 0.955 grams of elemental Zinc per yd^3
I use 35.5% Zn for my Zinc Sulfate product
0.955 / 0.355 = 2.7 grams Zinc Sulfate per cubic yard
0.0133 grams Zinc Sulfate per gallon

0.12 grams of Zinc Sulfate to amend 9 gallons of media (to raise 4.3 ppm)
I dissolved 0.6 grams of Zinc Sulfate in 10 oz of RO water.
2 oz of this solution contains 0.12 grams Zinc Sulfate and was added to the spray tank.

_______________________________________________________________________________________
Increase Cu by 1.5 ppm.
(1.5 / 1000) * 222 = 0.333 grams of elemental Copper per yd^3
I use 25% Cu for my Copper Sulfate product
0.333 / 0.25 = 1.33 grams of Copper Sulfate per cubic yard
0.0066 grams of Copper Sulfate per gallon

0.06 grams of Copper Sulfate to amend 9 gallons of media (to raise 1.5 ppm)
I dissolved 0.6 grams of Copper Sulfate in 10 oz of RO water.
1 oz of this solution contains 0.06 grams of Copper Sulfate and was added to the spray tank.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The 7oz of trace minerals solutions were added to a spray tank with an additional 9oz of RO water. The tank's entire content was sprayed onto the soil for even distribution and then tilled in by hand.
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Re: Frankenstein-19 Water Only Organic Super Soil Recipe

Post by WhatAboutBob »

Once in mid-flower (after the stretch), I want to increase K to 20% "Cation Base Saturation" on the saturated paste test. This post is just math. It shows how to calculate the ppm in solution needed to reach that 20% mark. Then it shows how I might go about increasing my 13% K to 20% K.

The Saturated Paste "Cation Base Saturation" also uses the "Soil Base Saturation" equivalency numbers that are used when dealing with Cation Exchange Capacity on a standard soil test.
These meq / 100g numbers are constants....

Ca 200 milliequivalent / 100g soil
Mg 120 milliequivalent / 100g soil
K 390 milliequivalent / 100g soil
Na 230 milliequivalent / 100g soil

Flower Mix showed ppm values of the following Cations on the saturated paste test.
272.40 ppm Ca
53.35 ppm Mg
108.5 ppm K
25.52 ppm Na

To figure out "% "Cation Base Saturation in Solution" - we need to use the ppm values (saturated paste) and the "milliequivalent / 100g soil" constants for each element above.'

272.40 /200 + 53.35 / 120 + 108.5 / 390 + 25.52 / 230 =
1.362 + 0.444 + 0.278 + 0.111 =

2.195


%Ca =
([Ca ppm] /200) / 2.195) *100 =
((272.4 / 200) / 2.195) *100 =
(1.362 / 2.195 ) *100 =
0.6205 * 100 =
62.05%

%Mg =
(0.4446 / 2.195) * 100 =
20.25%

%K =
(0.278 / 2.195) *100 =
12.67%

%Na =
(0.111 / 2.195) *100=
5.06%



We want K at 20% once in mid-flower So we want to add K. I will use Potassium Sulfate, so I can assume Ca, Mg, and Na levels do not change

([K ppm] / 390) / (1.352 + 0.4446 + ([K ppm] / 390) + 0.111) ) *100 = 20

Allow the following substitution...
([K ppm] / 390) = x

(x / (1.362 + 0.4446 + x + 0.111) ) *100 = 20
(x / (x + 1.918)) *100 = 20
(x / (x + 1.918)) = 0.20
x = 0.20x + 0.3835
0.8x = 0.3835
x = 0.4794

Use our previous substitution...
x = ([K ppm] / 390)
x = 0.4794
0.4794 = [K ppm] / 390
[K ppm] = 0.4794 * 390
[K ppm} = 187

We need to get K to 187 ppm in solution (as shown on the saturated paste test) to get to 20% Cation Base Saturation in Solution.

187 / 390 = 0.4794

1.362 + 0.4446 + 0.4794 + 0.111 =
2.397

%K = (({K ppm] / 390) / 2.397) *100 =
((187 / 390) / 2.397) *100=
(0.4795 / 2.397) *100 =
20.00% K

How will this change %Ca?
Ca ppm doesn't change.

272.4 ppm Ca
272.4 / 200 = 1.362

(1.362 / 2.397) *100 =
56.82% Ca


So in order to get K to 20% (up from 13%) we need to get K to 187 ppm in solution (up from 109 ppm).
I want this to happen after the stretch. So I might apply this potassium sulfate at start of week 4 in bloom.
This might require 0.75 lbs of potassium sulfate per cubic yard. That scales down to 25 grams of potassium sulfate per 15 gallons of media. I may spread that out over a few weeks.

8 grams of K sulfate week 4 of flower.
8 grams of K sulfate week 5 of flower.
8 grams of K sulfate week 6 of flower.

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Re: Frankenstein-19 Water Only Organic Super Soil Recipe

Post by WhatAboutBob »

The Green Papers-

I made a series of soil samples. Each sample used the same basic recipe but had varying amounts of Seed Meal for Nitrogen, High P Bat Guano for Phosphorus, and Potassium Sulfate for Potassium. I also varied the amounts of Borax, Fe Sulfate, Mn Sulfate, Zn Sulfate, and Cu Sulfate.

BASE MIX:
20% by volume Earth Worm Castings
33% by volume Perlite
47% by volume Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss

(Added per cubic yard base mix to each sample)
Kelp Meal 2.50 lbs
Alfalfa Meal 7.50 lbs
Crab Meal 1.25 lbs
Poultry Manure 1.00 lbs
Bone Meal 6.25 lbs
Soft Rock Phosphate 9.00 lbs
Malted Barley 1.25 lbs
Azomite 5.00 lbs
Glacier Rock Dust 2.50 lbs
Basalt Rock Dust 15.00 lbs
Gypsum 15.50 lbs
Oyster Shell Powder 5.00 lbs
Wollastonite 5.00 lbs

(6 - 1.5 - 1.5) Seed Meal
Sample 1: 0 lbs
Sample 2: 3 lbs
Sample 3: 6 lbs
Sample 4: 9 lbs

(0 - 7 - 0) Bat Guano
Sample 1: 4.67 lbs
Sample 2: 6.00 lbs
Sample 3: 4.00 lbs
Sample 4: 5.33 lbs

(0 - 0 - 54) Potassium Sulfate
Sample 1: 2.00 lbs
Sample 2: 2.50 lbs
Sample 3: 1.50 lbs
Sample 4: 1.00 lbs

Fe Sulfate
Sample 1: 35 grams
Sample 2: 30 grams
Sample 3: 25 grams
Sample 4: 20 grams

Mn Sulfate
Sample 1: 25 grams
Sample 2: 15 grams
Sample 3: 30 grams
Sample 4: 20 grams

Borax
Sample 1: 10 grams
Sample 2: 20 grams
Sample 3: 5 grams
Sample 4: 15 grams

Zn Sulfate
Sample 1: 7.5 grams
Sample 2: 12.5 grams
Sample 3: 17.5 grams
Sample 4: 22.5 grams

Cu Sulfate
Sample 1: 15 grams
Sample 2: 20 grams
Sample 3: 25 grams
Sample 4: 10 grams

Nitrogen -
There was a linear relationship between the amount of Seed Meal added to the recipe and the Nitrate ppm measured 4 weeks after mixing.

Phosphorus -
The guano barely moved the needle on the M3 Phosphate test and didn't do anything on the saturated paste test either. I suspect there is very little if any Phosphorus at all in the Kelp4Less product. I will be replacing that guano with Super Phos Bat Guano from Roots Organics and see how it goes. I do not consider the P numbers from this test to meaningful other than telling me the product is trash.

Potassium -
There was a linear relationship between the amount of Potassium Sulfate added to the recipe and the Potassium concentrations measured on both the Standard Test and the Saturated Paste Test.

Iron -
Iron concentrations did not show a linear relationship with the amount of Fe Sulfate added to the recipe. I suspect I needed to use larger than 5 gram increments. I may have observed a linear relationship if I used 20, 40, 60, and 80 grams per yard of Fe Sulfate for this test.

Manganese -
Manganese concentration on the Standard Test did show a linear relationship with the amount of Mn Sulfate added per cubic yard. The saturated paste test did not show the same linear relationship.

Boron -
Boron concentrations on both the Standard and Saturated Paste Tests showed a linear relationship with the amount of Borax added per cubic yard.

Zinc -
Zinc concentration on the Standard Test did show a linear relationship with the amount of Zn Sulfate added per cubic yard. Zn does not show up significantly on the Logan Saturated Paste Test.

Copper -
Copper concentration on the Standard Test did show a linear relationship with the amount of Cu Sulfate added per cubic yard. Cu does not show up significantly on the Logan Saturated Paste Test.

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