# Foul smelling soilmaster select red



## Mjproost (Nov 17, 2005)

I recently went to a Lesco dealer near my house that their website said they had Soilmaster select Charcoal in stock. When I got there they did not. But, they did have a torn bag of the soilmaster select Red that they gave me for free!

So, I have a spare 20 long and a shoplight laying around so I decided to set up a tank for my extra plants. I was going to use it capped with a Flourite gravel mixture. I have used Schultz's Clay soil conditioner before with success. I have added a nutrient liquid mixture to it in the past and has worked great. 

I filled a 5g bucket 2/3 thirds full of soilmaster, then covered it with water. Then, I added KNO3, KH2PO4, and K2SO4. I stirred as best I could. I notice a slight almost hissing sound and large bubbles coming up. Then the next morning I added Flourish and Flouyrish Fe, and stirred again. More bubbles and almost turpentine smell. Waited a hour or so and dumped off the liquid. The smell was very strong and when I dumped it into the tank, my wife noticed it from the other room. I have never notice this with Schultz's. Also the water I poured off was very red. Also, something I have never noticed with schultz's. The only thing I did differently was not mixxing the nutreint water mixture seperately before dumping it into the substrate. 

Should I still use this stuff? Should I be worried?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I sure wouldn't use it. Soilmaster Pro Select doesn't have a smell, and the charcoal color washes up pretty easily, giving brownish dirty water until it is clean, but never smelling. I wonder if that opened bag had been altered by having some organic liquid poured in it so it could be tried as sweeping compound, for example. The new stuff is so cheap that trying to save money by using an opened bag that stinks just isn't the way to go.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

I got a free bag of "Red" the same way. It was not obviously altered in any way. When I rinsed it, it took about three good rinses to get it clean...and never had a noticeable odor.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Since your bag was open and probably stored in a wharehouse for a while, it is hard to say what could have made it's way into the bag. I probably wouldn't use it especially if it had a turpentine odor to it. Who knows why it was opened and it could have been a return from a customer who actually used it to saok up turpentine! One never knows with opened products.


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## Mjproost (Nov 17, 2005)

Yeah, I am not going to use it. Its intersting though, the dry stuff does not smell, just after I put the nutrient solution on it. Unfortunately, none of the dealers in my area have unopened bags in stock. I ma going to go looking for some schultz's. Thanks!


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

This time of year most WalMarts have Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil (SAPS) in stock. It is a bit pricier at about $8 per 10lb bag. If you do some shopping around, you may be able to find 50lb bags of Profile (the maker of SAPS) or Turface for much cheaper. The only down side to SAPS and Turface is the orange-red color. There is of course a Turface Black but it seems to be as difficult to find as Soilmaster Charcoal.

Good luck with the SAPS search


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I'm curious about your nutrient mix/soak...

Is this really effective? I mean as far as I know, Flourite is not absorbent anyway (I've not used the soilmaster so don't know about that one). So I think you end up with a wet layer of nutrient mix on the outside of the gravel/substrate "grains" which would just go straight into the water column as soon as you fill the tank...

Unless I'm missing something and Flourite is absorbent  .


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## Mjproost (Nov 17, 2005)

> Unless I'm missing something and Flourite is absorbent .


You are right, I do not believe Flourite absorbent, either. What I was soaking was the soilmaster. I was going to add the flourite on top of the schultz's in the tankIt seemed to me to be similar to Schultz's. From my very unscientific experience, Schultz's is absorbant or hydroscopic. Others have said that soilmaster is also. So the theory is if you soak the product in a nutrient rich solution before you put plants in it, you will give the plants a little jumpstart because there are nutreints available in the substrate. I have not, nor would not know how to prove this scientifically. But, it has worked well for me in the past with schultz's.


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## Mjproost (Nov 17, 2005)

Yeah!!! Found Schultz's clay soil conditioner for $19.99 for a 40# bag locally. Not bad.



> The only down side to SAPS and Turface is the orange-red color.


Yeah, I know i have used it one several tanks before. It is also very light at first. I am going to cap it with a Flourite gravel mix from another tank I am tearing down. This will help hold the plants down, and hopefully add some beneficial bacteria to the tank. Since it is a growout tank, color is not that important.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Mjproost said:


> ...Schultz's is absorbant or hydroscopic. Others have said that soilmaster is also. So the theory is if you soak the product in a nutrient rich solution before you put plants in it, you will give the plants a little jumpstart because there are nutreints available in the substrate. ...


Ah ok now I see. I don't know why I was fixated only on your mention of Flourite.


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