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mnmdat
Stranger
Registered: 02/07/06
Posts: 30
Last seen: 8 years, 17 days
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Coir/Oystershell?
#5395188 - 03/13/06 01:01 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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I just went out and purchased some material to do a casing. I have tried cakes several times with good results but am ready to move up to casing. I tried casing once before with poor results, mainly due to not keeping casing moist enough and too large of a container for the amount of sub straight. I have researched a great deal of the archives but just want to make sure that I bought the right kind of coir and oystershell. I bought the oystershell at a pet store, boy is this stuff hard to find anyway it says it contains oystershell crushed plus trace elements, should I be concerned about these trace elements that are not listed? Second I went to a hydroponics store and bought a brick that I think is coir. On the package it says it expands 5 times package size,increases water capacity,excellent aeration. Its called coco tek organic growning medium. Is this coir? Thank you for the help. I want this casing to do better than the last one.
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DIRTYMAN
Jesusdon'tcomethrough thecotton.
Registered: 11/18/05
Posts: 18,558
Loc: CZ NIGGUH
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Re: Coir/Oystershell? [Re: mnmdat]
#5395399 - 03/13/06 02:31 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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The oystershell should be alright, make sure it's ground to a fine powder or it won't work too good. The trace elements more than likely won't hurt anything. Your coir sounds perfect as well.
-------------------- I'm racist. http://k-k-k.com/
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cappa
Nerd
Registered: 02/12/06
Posts: 854
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Re: Coir/Oystershell? [Re: DIRTYMAN]
#5395445 - 03/13/06 02:45 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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I'm not sure the pH buffer is neaded with coir. I believe that it is mainly used to 'tone down' the acidity of peat.
Sigh.. Gimme a minute.. I'll go use my new pH meter on some coir I have hydrating.
-------------------- Their are 10 types of people. Those that understand binary, and those who don't. ~Cappa.
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cappa
Nerd
Registered: 02/12/06
Posts: 854
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Re: Coir/Oystershell? [Re: cappa]
#5395485 - 03/13/06 02:56 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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Looks like I was wrong again..that's been happening frequently these last few days.
Anyways, according to my meter, moist(with my tap water) coco coir (bed-a-beast) has a pH of 5.2 This is far too acidic from the optimal 7.5 recommended pH. Now that I think of it, give me another minute to figure out the relative acidity of my tap water.
-------------------- Their are 10 types of people. Those that understand binary, and those who don't. ~Cappa.
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mnmdat
Stranger
Registered: 02/07/06
Posts: 30
Last seen: 8 years, 17 days
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Re: Coir/Oystershell? [Re: cappa]
#5395567 - 03/13/06 03:18 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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Dirtyman- Thank you for the reply. Im glad I found the right stuff, oystershells have been so hard to find. Oh ya if any one is looking for oystershells I bought them at Petsmart.
Cappa- Thanks for the reply. When I was floating through the archives I read that adding oystershell isnt necessary but it seems like most people are using so I figured I would try it out. Also I have peat that I will attempt to case with some day but I cant seem to find hydrated lime locally, but Im sure that will change once the garden supply stores open. If the coir has a ph of 5.2 will the shells help to bring it up to 7.5?
Thanks folks for your help. This site has been exceedlying helpful!
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cappa
Nerd
Registered: 02/12/06
Posts: 854
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Re: Coir/Oystershell? [Re: cappa]
#5395615 - 03/13/06 03:30 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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Okay, I tested 4 cups of my yard soil(its moist, about perfect for garden soil). It had a pH of 6.9-7. Then I moistened it with my tap water, squeezed out the moisture, and took a reading from that sample. It read pH 5.5.
I then did a series of experiments to determine the pH of my water with this electro-mechanic pH meter.
Conclusion: Inconclusive. My tap water is either acidic or the device I'm using to measure pH reads incorrectly when too much moisture is present in the sample being measured. Looks like I'll be going to the pet store and purchasing some litmus strips to determine the ph of my water.
At this point, I have no evidence that coir is any more or less acidic than my yard soil. The soil reads a pH of 6.9-7 when moistened with rain water, but reads ~5.5 when moistened with tap water. That is only a few tenths away from the reading I took on the coir. Results are inconclusive, but if I was to estimate I'd say the coir has a pH of around 6.7.
-------------------- Their are 10 types of people. Those that understand binary, and those who don't. ~Cappa.
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cappa
Nerd
Registered: 02/12/06
Posts: 854
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Re: Coir/Oystershell? [Re: cappa]
#5395628 - 03/13/06 03:33 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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To answer your question, yes your oyster stuff should work if it is ground into a fine enough powder. It's pretty hard to mess up using finely ground oyster shell from what I have read. I'd throw some in, just for shits and giggles.
-------------------- Their are 10 types of people. Those that understand binary, and those who don't. ~Cappa.
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: Coir/Oystershell? [Re: cappa]
#5395702 - 03/13/06 03:59 PM (18 years, 20 days ago) |
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Chances are it's only crushed oyster shell if it came from a pet store. You want calcium carbonate powder or hydrated lime. You can also get oyster shell flour, which will help raise ph where crushed oyster shell is mostly only going to help with the texture. Here's a link you can get it in bulk. http://www.concentratesnw.com/meal_pricelist.htm RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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mnmdat
Stranger
Registered: 02/07/06
Posts: 30
Last seen: 8 years, 17 days
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Thanks for the input, hopefully this casing will do better.
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