Hello. Hope everybody is growing well:-) I have a question about wood chips in soil. So I had to pick up a different brand of compost that I add to my soil. And this stuff had bigger wood chips in it and chicken manure which I’m not used to. I’ve noticed in the last month I’ve had nutrient lockout twice. When I gave them a flush the water came out looking like poop water. Does anybody know if it’s the bigger wood chips causing the issue or is it the chicken manure? The bigger wood chips and the chicken manure are new to me that’s why I’m wondering. Appreciate your time
3 Likes
Many soils and amendments (especially cheaper ones) have alot of wood pieces in them and dont do any harm but are kind of a pain. I would bet the problem is in the chicken poop or maybe how much is in that soil and how it was composted
4 Likes
So the wood chips size shouldn’t cause any issues i dont believe.
But idk about the chicken poop, it is a good sorce of organic nutrients but I’ve no experience with it.
I’ve struggled through my last 8 plants trying promix rather then coco and it’s been a headache. So glad its all gone 
2 Likes
Yeah I normally don’t have any troubles unless I create the problem by Messing up. The compost I buy normally has nice size wood chips but these seem a little extra big. I was leery about the chicken manure but heard good things about chicken manure and cannabis so I thought what the heck. Because of the chicken poop I do have to go easy on the nitrogen. It’s just weird that I’m getting a lockout. Definitely will not be going with this compost again.
I looked into that Pro mix HP soil stuff couple months ago and it’s just way too expensive for me. Plus it’s too close to Coco coir. Got to have that pH on the low side 5.7 -6.2. I like soil. What’s your issues been with the pro mix?
1 Like
I would assume the extra nitrogen from the Chicken 
mixed with your existing nitrogen supplied amendments are a bit much?? Have you ever tested the TDS of your soil with a slurry test? I’m assuming you’re growing all organic with no run off 
2 Likes
@OGIncognito thats what i was getting at earlier. I think nitrogen levels are too high which will cause burn/lockout/or toxicity eventually
2 Likes
@OGIncognito @Medicineman33 that’s kind of the way I was leaning to was the chicken manure. Cuz the compost I normally use has plenty of wood chips. The only thing new to me is the chicken manure. Thank you guys for your second opinion. And yes I test my PPM and my pH going in and out when there is an issue. I mix up my own soil and I use foxfarm nutrients:-) and I water to 10% run off every time give or take
1 Like
Cool and i would shy away from cow manure compost as well for the same reasons
2 Likes
I’m hoping they will have the normal stuff I use when I go back in a month or so. With this compost being the only thing new I have been flushing the compost for last 3 days with pHed water. Hoping to get some of that excess nitrogen out of there if that was the prob. I’ve got the compost on a tarp drying. That should take care of the issue I hope:-) thanks again for your feedback I do appreciate it
No problem man
1 Like
So i didn’t use promix hp, it was this one.
I added a good amount of extra perlite to counter it being the “moisture mix” and it not having much in it to begin with…
But my issue was mostly it grows lots of life in the root zone and the outside of my grow bags.
They never looked like this when i used coco-coir.
The peatmoss breaks down faster then coco-coir i believe.
I think peatmoss starts out like coco-coir and it slowly starts breaking down and turning in to something more like soil after a few months with all the flourishing microbial life that builds up
Some may like it but im going back to a sterile system with coco-coir mixed with buddy stones with h2o2 in my nutrient solution from seed to harvest…
The promix did produce a decent product for me but I did better with coco and was alot easier cleanup and reset after harvest with the sterile coco-coir
1 Like
I’ve never seen that stuff before. But I don’t know anything about coco coir or peat moss. A lot of people believe in it. Maybe I’ll give it a shot one day. Good luck and happy growing
1 Like
Promix was the crap back in the day and i remember it being in a brown bale with black lettering and looked generic
I still use peat, but mix it into soil. Promix was discontinued locally so i have just been getting whatever brand of peat moss at the big box stores