I finally remembered to do the soil test and I’ll know at this time tomorrow what the composition is. I added 4.3g of borax to the jar. Sand content is very low it appears I’m seeing it at 1/7 the volume of sand as the soil that went in. Some Perlite went to the top. Let’s see how the silt is doing
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Sand has settled mostly. It’s mixed in the silt a little, but overall the physical matter in the jar that isn’t clay has nearly filled the whole volume of soil I added already. I filled it to the 200ml line, filled the water to the max fill line, added 4.3g of borax, shook for 5 minutes straight very aggressively, and now it’s been 18 minutes since I put it down to settle.
Definitely looking like I’m dealing with mostly silt, low sand, and I’ll find out the clay content this time tomorrow.
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After an hour I see where the silt has settled
Pretty much the same as 20 minutes after tbh. Now it’s just clay settling.
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So far, the lack of sand seems to match the drainage problem you are having
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I had figured that too right away after seeing that little amount of sand. I’ll have to get some soon.
Would I be shitty if I grabbed some sea sand from a nearby beach? I can find some around the house if I ask nicely maybe, bit I’m thinking of my options rn🤔
Remember people: don’t touch a hot banger 
Good thing I had a dab ready to go. I do not like how I smell when cooked. Also I still smell burnt hair 
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I did some research and not only is it a bad consistency it’s full of too much salt. I’ll get the coarse Perlite I’m ordering tonight by tomorrow night when the soil test is finished. From what I felt handling it without the mulch is it’s very high in clay when damp. I’m getting 8 quarts of Perlite for now, but I’m sure it won’t be enough aeration on it’s own with such low sand content.
Here’s this morning’s pics
The color seems off on those pics🤔
Overhead shots
Proper close-up
Hygrometer
The leaves seem to be curling up hard. I see see bronze spots on the tips forming.
I’ll give them time to do their thing and show me what’s up.
I crushed up some eggshells and washed them with borax and soap as a test and they work pretty well as aeration amendments. I mixed up 6 organic large brown eggshells in the small pot not growing anything rn. I wanted to see how it had been drying down to the bottom. It was almost bone dry until halfway and the bottom was extremely compacted. The amount I see spread in the pot are pretty well spread and at least in that volume that many work as a temporary aeration substitute. Not sure for how long as it was a shits and giggles highdea just to see what would happen. The soil really fluffed up nicely after. I’m excited to get the fabric pots, Perlite, and mosquito bits tomorrow. When I put my finger in that soil after mixing it just moved out of the way. I mixed and evened out the soil again after that and topped with some of the mulch I had filtered out originally back on top after mixing what was left of it evenly as well.ill let it naturally compact on it’s own and I’ll come back to it later.
I’m getting tired and I have to do shit tomorrow.
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Ordered.
Here’s what I’m getting
And summit mosquito bits again
I’ll get them all tonight.
Finally slowly improving my setup
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Mail came.
Next step is to find out what I need to add if anything other than perlite. The jar seems to still be settling.
I need to find my ruler or measuring tape now.
Should I keep waiting for the clay to settle? It’s still supersaturated with clay based on the color.
I need a strong light to even see the layers. The water is almost the same color as the clay itself. My overhead LED lights couldn’t help me see it. My phone flashlight helps a little, but I still can’t see the different layers without squinting.
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I think you just mark the last layer you can see after 24 hours and use that in the calculation
MOTR marked hers at 15min, 1 hour then 24 hours
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5cm in height exactly. Sand settled on 1cm, silt settled on 4cm, and clay settled on 5cm.
The Bottom of the jar should be 6mm
That makes the sand 4mm, silt is 30mm, and clay is 10mm.
22.7272727273% clay
9.09090909% sand
68.18181818% silt
For the life of me this chart is confusing for me rn. It seems drawn backwards
The sand doesn’t start it’s lines at 10% and instead is at 100-95%
I’m testing pH now, buts it’s very unstable. 8.33 pH ATM. I’ve been testing the pH for 30 minutes now and it’s been climbing from 8.23.
I have some coffee grounds I never brewed. Should I brew them first before using as a amendment to lower pH?
Also should I use dolomite lime? It does seem like my soil is missing a pH stabilizer. That is very alkaline
8.32 pH is where it stays until the pen times out. Regardless I see that I have to work on my soil structure desperately before I grow anything else
It’s finally stable without fluctuating for the whole duration at 8.32 pH
It smells exactly like beets too. The exact alkaline range they fall in with the greens at 8-9 pH, so yeah I’ll need to do something here
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Silt/loam soil it says… use the arrows It’s in the green if you did the math right. Just add sand and you are good
You testing that same jar? You put soap in it. I’m sure that fucks with the ph. Also, did you test it with distilled water for a neutral start?
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I didn’t use soap in this other than borax. I followed the guide @MomOnTheRun posted that followed motr’s triangle.
Should I dump that water out, fill it up, and test it again?
I used my tap water at 7.3 pH. Distilled water almost always tests at about 5.5 pH for me
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The ph? Yes. I don’t know what part your tap water and borax are playing in your reading
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7.85 pH is today’s pH of my tap water.
7.85 was the starting pH and currently I see it climbing to 7.96 pH and sticking there in the jar
Not the worst pH, but I want it lower for sure. I poured the water on top off and filled it with fresh tap water, shook, and the test says 7.96 pH of the mix
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I don’t know. I always test my soil ph with distilled water for a neutral. I may be wrong, but I thought you had to compost coffee grounds as opposed to just throwing them in. That’s a GTS (google that shit) lol
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I tested my soil in august for my veggie patch. Started with distilled water, my ph was like 6.3. So I’m not sure how it works when you don’t start neutral because points of ph are exponential I believe. Even as an accountant, I don’t know what math to use.
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@Meesh will sand buffer pH at all? I have 8 quarts of coarse perlite now. Perlite doesn’t effect pH at all, so I’m thinking about my options to naturally have my soil pH without microbes at 7 max preferably in the 6.5-6.8 range.
Would gypsum be a bad amendment? Also I’ll try to get builders sand tomorrow when I’m out
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gypsum has some sulfer in it. It’s still not gonna bring it down fast. I’ve been lowering my ph on my blueberry bush for 6 weeks with sulfer and it’s only dropped 1/2 a point. It’s a very slow acting amendment. Not sure about sand buffering it. Try sand first and just test soil again. I think perlite breaks down as a sandy element eventually though, but you’d be long done growing before it did
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