conducting an experiment with this by accident this summer as im using jacks 18-8-23 mix “specifically for outdoor cannabis production”, which says it is “potentially acidic and designed to keep your plant in the desired range for optimum nutrient uptake” with bumps in Mg + S.
just starting my research there (how i find you all here), just peaked my interest as rainwater seems to be the go-to explanation online and though i havent used jacks i think i can assume some integrity in their R&D/product.
can report back with readings from the nute solution etc if anyone wants.
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Hi abbreviation 
I am surprised with the higher levels of potassium in that mix it could get acidic, I would have thought any build up of nute solution would make it more alkaline.
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my first thought was the bump in sulfur making it potentially acidic just means over time with use its going to ammend the soil by acidic sulfuric acid? seems like people are on the right track that its imitating rainwater (acid rain?) but im not sure.
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Yeah the sulphur would definitely lower the PH, in my experience with elemental sulphur it takes a while to break down and get used. I have messed up my soil a couple of times using it too much, I use Gypsum now as it’s balanced between sulphur, calcium and magnesium and doesn’t affect soil ph.
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got the pH down from 8 or so to 6.3 in the garden using gypsum, bark, compost, etc and baking them in, was worried about the same thing in overdoing it. i realized a few days ago that the rocks i pulled out look suspiciously like limestone, and if thats the case im going to have to test the soil all year, every year 
my potting soil is constant 5.7pH so yea there is some fear in there that it could start dropping way too low.
i have no expectations for this yr outdoors so why not experiment.
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botb for anyone interested. dont think low alkaline is coming from my tap
will set up meters today & test everything. 1.6% sulfur though.
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We moved to our new property back last November, so just planting stuff here atm and like you, no expectations, just seeing how stuff responds. Our soil is heavy in iron, good for potatoes not sure about anything else. Iron does affect N absorption, but my weed will be grown in pots using about 3 cubic meters of composted stuff from my old worm bin that I bagged up just before we moved, I wasn’tgoing to leave that behind lol.
That mix has low sulphur, I don’t think it will cause problems, I grow using the no till organic method, I use basalt rock dust for my minerals and sulpomag which is another great addition with high potassium, sulphur and magnesium.
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using about 3 cubic meters of composted stuff from my old worm bin that I bagged up just before we moved, I wasn’tgoing to leave that behind lol.
you are braver than i, gave away everything when we moved, almost cried like a child lol.
i appreciate the guidance on S levels. been confused as to if this mix is better suited for soil or not, as the brands other lines seem to be built for soilless (or work in that medium most effectively) but it is an o.d. mix so 
all my attempts to counter your nickname for me have sounded a little too phallic, going to need some time on that one lol
I would have cried to leave it as well. 6 years of constantly building that soil, I was not going to leave under any circumstances and at that time circumstances were bad. I ruptured a couple of lower disks and tore my piriformis muscle causing severe sciatica, I could not stand for more than 10 minutes at a time without going into a cold sweat and nearly passing out.
I filled those bags on my knees and hands, and lying down, then my neighbor saw me lying there and thought I had had a heart attack lol. He kindly dragged tge bags over onto his property as we were supposed to be off the property the next day. I picked up the bags about a month ago with all my other grow gear he kept for me in his shed. We couldn’t get everything on the last removal truck.
I actually tried to use Shade, as Shade Death has been my gaming avatar name for about 25 years now, it wouldn’t let me use it saying someone else already had it. It must have got wiped since I joined, maybe after the last big server upgrade, maybe any names not used for a long while got deleted and were up for re use.
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ive lived in a lot of places where good neighbors were hard to find, where people just avoided each other. i hope your new neighbors are good people as well. not looking forward to the back stuff with age, been gliding by with only minor stuff for a decade now, can sense whats coming down the line. building up my core really did a lot to help not just with the back but overall strength, but i realize that may be the privilage of a slightly younger man.
of course id give you the handle as im completely green here, at this point that may cause more confusion but no worries here.
Thanks for the kind offer but I think that would create a lot of confusion, not sure it would be even possible.
Yeah we really did get very lucky finding this house, the neighbours are great as well, they all came and introduced themselves, and welcomed us to the neighbourhood the first couple of days we were here.
They gave us a lot of the property history which is great, as the house is 150 years old. Not much by European standards but for Nova Scotia Canada, is kind of a big deal lol.
Coming from the UK we are a bit spoilt for old buildings, dont really consider something as old, building wise, unless its 3 or 400 years or more lol.
Back in the UK we said hi, to our new neighbours when we moved into our last house there, and they ignored us until the day we left, 4 years later lol. We tried, invited them over for bbqs and stuff but they always made excuses.
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I like 6.3-6.5 but 6.8-7 still acceptable swings to and fro.
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youve done well landing in NS, you are far enough away from the chaos of ON/QC and the people there have generally always been very mild mannered and pleasant. i think when i watch trailer park boys i see something different than other people who havent spent time there, because to me it does seem oddly like a paradise even with all the chaos.
halifax also has a very big role in the history of canada, it was the most interesting part to me. ive met people from all over (europe, africa, middle east and beyond) who came through halifax.
if you ever head west youll see so much history torn down and built on top of, the suburbs outside Calgary are seemingly endless and Vancouver is full of empty condos.
thanks for the memories, the bad ones were all my fault 
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