Patent ID: 8911525

Claim:
A pre-mixed, engineered cultivation medium having specific balanced amounts of the major nutrient cations calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium, the medium comprising: a soilless substrate mixture; and nutrient additives comprising: 1) major nutrient cations including calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium 2) major nutrient anions including phosphorous and sulfur; 3) minor nutrient elements including boron, iron, manganese, copper, zinc and aluminum; wherein according to Mehlich III soil extractions tests said engineered cultivation medium has a cation exchange capacity in the range of 10-15 mEq/100 g, and a base saturation percentage of the calcium is within the range of about 60% to 70% of the cation exchange capacity, a base saturation percentage of the magnesium is within the range of about 10% to 20% of the cation exchange capacity, a base saturation percentage of the potassium is within the range of about 3% to 8% of the cation exchange capacity, the base saturation percentage of the sodium less than about 3% of the cation exchange capacity and the base saturation percentage of exchangeable hydrogen is within the range of about 7% to 15% of the cation exchange capacity, the combination of the calcium and magnesium base saturation percentages does not exceed 80% of the cation exchange capacity and further wherein saturated paste tests on the engineered cultivation medium result in: calcium in the range of about 30-45 ppm, magnesium in the range of about 7-8 ppm, potassium in the range of about 15-20 ppm, and sodium less than about 3 ppm.