Ill tell ya in my opinion the bark mulch on top of planters is every bit as important as anything else I use in my soil. The zone between soil and bark is so active you wont believe it.
2 Likes
Have a quick question if you dont mind. Just started first indoir grow uding earth dust living soil. I read dont have to worry about ph in watering. My tap water is about 8.5. After i filter it it jumps to 9.4. Should i worry.
What are the PPMs before and after filtering? If it’s below 100ppms, then whatever pH you get doesn’t matter - there’s not enough of anything in the water to affect pH in a meaningful way (pure water is true neutral at 7.0). Pure water is the best way to ensure you aren’t adding anything that shouldn’t be in there, or harming your microbial life in the soil.
Both were well below 100
1 Like
Ah, that explains it then. Both readings are false, then. Water with PPMs below 100 is essentially always neutral, so treat it as if the pH is 7.0. If you need a pH’d solution, you have to add minerals back in (calcium, magnesium, silica are fairly low-stakes additions) before you could pH it properly. I don’t foresee a reason to need to pH, though, since in a living soil with truly pure water, it should be buffered and self-correcting. Just like rain water outside in nature. 
1 Like
Ok thanx
1 Like
Myself i have a reverse osmosis water filter and i never have to even think about PH anymore. It sure simplyfies life when you dont have to worry about something that if ya get wrong can really mess a grow up and most meters are really inacurate.
2 Likes
My local stores dont have fir. Mostly pine & synthetics, rubber etc… to affraid to bring anything in from the yard… mites are out there lol
Pine will work fine. Dont use any synthetic crap at all any bark other than cedar and redwood is ok
2 Likes
Well the girls are happy and wanted to strut there stuff a bit today.
Pics in order are
Cherry Pie
Bergmans gold leaf
Rusty haze
Gobstopper
Candy kush
4 Likes
Tomorrow will be day 1 of week five since the flip. they all got a nice tea this morning and all is going right as planned, This living soil thing is so much fun for me im just fascinated by what is really going on all around us that we never pay any attention to. Life will find a way…
2 Likes
What tea mix do you make them now during flower? Ive never made a tea in flower, only veg
1 Like
Here are the 2 flower tea mixes I use. There both made in 1 gallon water to cook then I add 1 to 1.5 gallon water before using. Please use good water too your trying to develop a ton of microbial life in these teas and chlorinated tap water is no good. I have a reverse osmosis filter I use and i love it
2 Likes
Cherry pie
Bergmans gold leaf
Candy kush in order
Very interested! I found this interesting about roots putting out for the microbes. A college textbook from UK published online… here’s a piece from about halfway down the page…
“the surface area for absorption of mineral nutrients is hugely greater if the plant supports the fungal network with plant sugars and gains at least some benefit from the mineral nutrients absorbed by this fungal system. It is a costly process for the plant. Perhaps as much as 30% of the sugars produced by the plant through photosynthesis is used to maintain the mycorrhizal fungi (see References).”
I thought it amazing that the plant makes that much effort for the soil.
http://archive.bio.ed.ac.uk/jdeacon/FungalBiology/mycorhiz.htm
1 Like
