22 Gorilla Gelato

July 31: added second round of Power Bloom and malt as top dressing. Soluble wood ash is being added to water for potassium. Mixing fresh wood ash from the fire pit into RO water and then lowering pH with vinegar. Using a 1.5 L container, I mix in 6-8 spoonfuls of ash which gives a pH way over 10. Add vinegar to get pH near 6 and the TDS will be at about 1600 ppm. When this is mixed into 1000 L tank it raises TDS by 10-20 mg/L. Repeat as needed. Wood ash is mostly calcium carbonate but that is less soluble than potassium which is the next most common element at about 4%. So the part that dissolves quickly is mostly K and any extra soluble Ca and P is a bonus. Wood ash is typically added to soil or compost but solubilizing it works and fits the nutrient program. Online people suggest letting it steep as a tea but the K is what I want and it’s highly soluble so there’s no need to wait for it to dissolve (or steep as a tea). Aug 1: at scale, about 2 kg of ash (about 10 cm layer) in bottom of a 20 L (5 gallon) pail is mixed with RO water to nearly fill the pail. Stirred and then about 500 mL of vinegar is needed to lower pH to near 6. Any ash that floats or sinks is composted. The TDS of the dissolved ash solution is about 1500-1800 ppm and this is then added to 1000 L tank. Starting with 2 kg of ash at 4% K (40,000 mg/kg) this would provide a maximum of 80 g of K. So, in 20 L that is 4,000 mg/L, and in 1000 L it is 80 mg/L of K. Sounds about right, but might want to repeat to raise K further if desired. Once dissolved everything seems to stay in solution and I have not seen any precipitates forming in the main tank, nor would I expect any as this should be highly soluble.