Help I’m growing in organic super soil and am already in late stage zinc problem deficiency how can I correct this problem if I’m growing in organic super soil and only using R.O water with ph of 6.4.
How can I fix this issue organically and fastest way they are getting worse maybe foliar feed ???
OMG wish I could help sorry never did organic soil…maybe just flush good with clean water this should rebalance your soil if the deficiency is due to PH causing lock out
@Sirdabzalot if you have kelp it has zinc and you can make a tea from strawberry leafs if you ever have any on hand but it’s fall
Mike had a recipe for making a zinc additive by fermenting strawberries and watering it in. You may ask him for more details. My understanding is strawberries are rich in zinc and b vitamins.
I like wood ash, it has zinc, but also lots of calcium and magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus. So that may not Help if you need just zinc.
Strawberries are my favorite cover crop. I plant them in every inch of my raised beds once all my crops are planted in the spring. At fall, I turn them all over as green mulch into the raised beds. But first I carefully collect every runner made by the moms for next years crop of berries. I just keep them in a cold cardboard box in the garage and they stay dormant till next season. I also have some dedicated strawberry beds. It’s my kids favorite fruit. I like to plant them under my raspberries too. The blueberries grow too dense a canopy, so the under strawberries never make it.
Strawberry plants fruit 90%less fruit at year 3. The 1 and 2 year runners are the real producers. By year3 the big mama has a big enough root ball (rhizome) to reproduce more efficiently by division and runners. Like why bother to fruit. The young ones try to reproduce sexually w flowers and fruit. Commercial strawberry farmers always turn over their 3 yr old plants for baby runners.
Should I make the tea then pour into soil right away ? Foliar feed ? Or just mix in with r.o water then water normally ?
I believe he fermented the strawberries and strawberry tops and leaves in a mason jar for like a week or so. Until the smell of alcohol is present. And I believe he poured it after thrua strainer so he didn’t have the pulp. Mike checks in a lot. I’d wait a day and see what he says. Or if you wanted to try something today maybe try boiling some soft strawberries whole. And then water with that after it cools. Won’t hurt.
But the ferment and microbes probably make it more available to the plant; especially if you are doing living soil.
for quick results, boil gently and aerate for 1 day. Depending on where your plants are at (early veg, mid, late, flower) determines ability to absorb from a spray so WATER the plants with it. In a spray, it will fix the plant but not the soil. It also likes some vit c to help it absorb in foliar form