Old Reviews Amending pro mix

[DubV]

Mainemedical not to go off topic here but I have experienced the same problem with promix and ph perfect nutes. If you want to not ammend an organic soil go with sunshine advanced # 4. Its dry ph is 6.5 so you wont have the rising ph issue plus its way easier to water in aipots than promix. I really have taken a liking to the coco texture and my plants love it

 

[Muddy]

I agree, Sunshine #4 is a good mix. Unfortunately I can't get it in my area. Smashed also uses it and has always gotten good results.

 

[The Squid]

I agree, Sunshine #4 is a good mix. Unfortunately I can't get it in my area. Smashed also uses it and has always gotten good results.

I'm gonna assume I can't get it either then...I am interested in the Cottonseed Meal, though.

 

[Mainemedical]

Mainemedical not to go off topic here but I have experienced the same problem with promix and ph perfect nutes. If you want to not ammend an organic soil go with sunshine advanced # 4. Its dry ph is 6.5 so you wont have the rising ph issue plus its way easier to water in aipots than promix. I really have taken a liking to the coco texture and my plants love it

Not off topic at all, I actually saw on your thread that you were having the same problem and that's what got me thinking about amending my pro mix. I've heard great things about sunshine #4 but I have a brand new bale of pro mix I wanna use before I switch.

 

[The Squid]

Mainemedical not to go off topic here but I have experienced the same problem with promix and ph perfect nutes. If you want to not ammend an organic soil go with sunshine advanced # 4. Its dry ph is 6.5 so you wont have the rising ph issue plus its way easier to water in aipots than promix. I really have taken a liking to the coco texture and my plants love it

Is the peat in Sunshine just a different texture than Promix? The ingredients seem very similar. I guess not as much lime, so the Ph is a bit lower.

 

[phreedom_man1]

I've had the same issues with Pro Mix and have been experimenting with some different things to lower the pH. So far, aluminum sulfate has worked best. Sulfur does work but it takes too long to become effective. I've got some seedlings going now where I added cottonseed meal to the mix. I've found that the starter nutes in Pro Mix either aren't sufficient for autos, or are just not the right ones. By about 14-15 days I was seeing a lack of N in the plants and slowed growth. Besides lowering the pH, cottonseed meal also adds some N to the mix. These seedlings are only 8 days old but are looking much better than in the past. I've also started feeding earlier. I've giving 1/8 strength at the first feeding, usually day 6 or 7, then upping it to 1/4 on the second feeding.

Muddy as always is correct.

Aluminum sulfate is the nursery and greenhouse standard. They use it all the time in the industry. It lasts a long time, usually a growing season or longer. Doesn't leach.
When you see a blue hydrangea in wal-mart, lowes, home depot, or your favorite local nursery, remember they used aluminum sulfate to make those flowers blue, other wise at a neutral ph the flowers would be pink.

 

[Muddy]

Thanks Phree. The aluminum sulfate lowers the pH faster than sulfur but still not as fast as I'd like. I buy directly from a green house supply house and the guy there is very knowledgeable. He's about my age and we've talked concerts we've been to and such, so even though we've never discussed it, I'm sure he knows what I'm up to. We were discussing how best to lower the pH and he suggested the cottonseed meal. A 3 lb. bag was less than $5 so I picked one up, came home and did some research. I like that it adds a bit of N, so we'll see how it works out over the course of this grow.

 

[phreedom_man1]

Hey Muddy ask you guy at the local green house supply about Sul-Po-Mag.

For soils with a pH above 7, many gardeners use Sul-Po-Mag (22 percent sulfur, 22 percent potassium, 11 percent magnesium) to increase magnesium.

 

[phreedom_man1]

I re-read my post, and can see where it could be taken out of context.
Let me elaborate.

I have never used Sul-Po-Mag, but I think it might help the people that are having the ph swings.

But some of the product-marketing, claim it does create an acidic condition in the soil and others say it doesn’t affect ph.

So we need somebody with experience with Sul-Po-Mag, perhaps the guy from the green house supply store?

Or people can purchase Sul-Po-Mag in small quantities and do some testing.

 

[Muddy]

I've never seen it there, but I made a note to ask the next time I go. But given how long I've seen it takes sulfur to become active I would think it would need to be added to the mix before hand and left to bake for about 2 months before use.