Used Soil

[anon333]

What do you guys do with your used soil? It's my assumption that once you harvest, out goes the soil. I never re-use soil as I believe all the nutrients have been sucked dry. Could be wrong but that's my thought.

 

I've been using the leftover soil in my vegetable garden and compost pile, but any other insightful uses for leftover soil?

[S_C]

I shake out the roots, toss the roots in the compost pile and the soil goes either goes on my lawn or i toss it in with my yard waste pile.. leafs small branches and such.

[MightyMightyMezz]

What do you guys do with your used soil? It's my assumption that once you harvest, out goes the soil. I never re-use soil as I believe all the nutrients have been sucked dry. Could be wrong but that's my thought.

 

I've been using the leftover soil in my vegetable garden and compost pile, but any other insightful uses for leftover soil?

 

You can add it to your compost bin and reuse it. Add lime and worm castings and other amendments and it should be better than before.

[Kingdiamond]

I have a nice sinkhole behind my garden shed and i have been slowly but surely filling it in if your going to reuse fox farm soils remember that you will likely need to add some grow nutes because they are long gone after one full 9-12 week growing cycle.

[David Son]

There is a great article about this by the breeder known as Soma. He says to absolutely re-use the soil. I think the soil gets better with age in that compounds are still breaking down and creating a living medium...if anything mix in some fresh ocean forest earthworm casting etc. and monitor for need of food. Most soil is "soil-less" anyways, its a medium. To me throwing out hundreds of dollars of soil seems wasteful and yet another man-ipulation, not trusting nature and the simplicity of cultivation.

[Phil78]

fortify it with nutrients and use it again

[anon333]

Great info all, thanks! I'm gonna try to rejuvenate some used soil with nutrients in the "lab" on one plant. I'll see how it goes and report back my results in a few months! Worth giving it a shot once.

 

My biggest reason for this is because I'm a big eco-friendly tree hugger. There's really a nominal impact to the environment by disposing of my used soil in the garden or compost. The bigger issue is the cost, materials, and resources put into new soil that I have to buy.

 

Again, appreciate the info!

[herb green]

Here's some great ways to make up your own soil...then your have what you need to add back..or use it anywhere ...

 

BURN ONE ORGANICS THREAD PAGE 1

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=53792

[David Son]

Herb thats some good info from the link you posted.

 

I would add every single thing mentioned there to my pots, why not mix it all together!!

 

I use pro- mix bx, metro mix, ocean forest, perlite,red lava rocks, bat guanos, "just right" (which contains coco coir rare earth and silica this potting soil is amazing but expensive), perlite, minnesota pipestone dust, and most importantly MICHIGAN BACKYARD DIRT!!!! Guys if you're not adding our precious and blessed dirt to the mix you are missing out! One additive that is so great but I haven't seen here in MI is "yum-yum" mix. It contains alfalfa, kelp and cottonseed meal with humates and greensand. You can add hanfulls of this stuff and not burn the plants.

 

Also I wish to say no-one should underestimate the ancient and simple methods/resources from places where Europe got its genetics...Brazil, Africa, Asia etc. They have very simple ferilizers like fish heads, blood, urine and animal fesces etc grown in good ol dirt.

[flowerspice420]

fact toid.. the reason you want to recycle your old soil?

in the old days they used a steam pasturization :steaming:

at high temperture to make the soil clean of soil pathogens

bad soil microbes.. making it sterile. and starting over

with new microbes nutes to save money...bottom line...

if you miss or miss call the sterile process you will

risk of soil infection through out your crop as well as all

equipment used in your grow process.I worry less about a few

mites i might buy in through cuttings or plants..but i worry

alot about recieving and passing infections from someone who

knows less then i do about growing and processes.

In other words its a flat no no! the damage control is beyond

beliefe!

[HerbanLegendSeeds]

I would not re use soil for an indoor crop, especially if using certain types of fertilizers, some of the flowering hormones are leftover in the soil and trying to re use it will cause your vegging plants to be stunted in growth. Another reason not to re use it is salt buildup. Your ph will not be stable unless you add the rights things (lime). Putting it outside in a compost pile before using it in your outdoor garden is the best use for used soil.

Why risk losing an entire crop when you can buy a entire bale of promix for $40.

[Grow Thread]

Great info all, thanks! I'm gonna try to rejuvenate some used soil with nutrients in the "lab" on one plant. I'll see how it goes and report back my results in a few months! Worth giving it a shot once.

 

My biggest reason for this is because I'm a big eco-friendly tree hugger. There's really a nominal impact to the environment by disposing of my used soil in the garden or compost. The bigger issue is the cost, materials, and resources put into new soil that I have to buy.

 

Again, appreciate the info!

 

 

I would not re use soil for an indoor crop, especially if using certain types of fertilizers

Why risk losing an entire crop when you can buy a entire bale of promix for $40.

 

i know that my 2 cents when it comes to dirt is worth dirt around here

 

but i gotta go with herban on this one. i understand the eco-friendly thing..... but its dirt man its not the rain-forest clearing operation.

 

you mentioned the cost, resources and materials involved in getting new soil every time? i think there is much MUCH more time, energy, resources, and materials wrapped up into collecting all the different additives.... then you gotta mix it all up..... then wait.... then mix again.... then add some more... then mix.... then wait....

 

or you could spend 2 mins placing an order and have a bail delivered and ready-to-use.

 

and you are 100% sure its good and proper because its straight out of the bag and not something you been cooking in a pile in your back yard.

 

not saying that soil cannot be reused..... just not worth the tedious efforts IMO.

[BudJones]

I have been re-using my soiless mix and my perlite/coco hempy bucket mix for about a year and a half.

 

I use Sensizme in my nutrient schedule and it cleans up all the old root matter.

 

I noticed no ill effects in my dirt runs, and the Hempy mix seemed to improve with use. I get nice little white balls on the roots in my Hempy mix, and every run they get bigger!

 

I shake out the root balls after harvest and then store the growing medium in 50 gallon totes. I add a bag of Miracle Grow Organic mix and two bags of worm casting to the 50 gallon tote of medium and reuse in about a month. Oh yeah, the original soil was FF Ocean Forest with added chunky perlite.

 

I use the Technaflora line of nutrients along with Liquid Karma and the Sensizme and have not seen any funky growth in veg. I only feed at 2/3 recommended levels and water only the last 2-3 weeks.

 

I just keep watching the ladies, and they have not complained yet.

[Dragonsblood]

I personally dont reuse soil but i have a buddy that removes roots , washes soil with a biodegradable dish soap , rinses and reuses and he has better grows than i do.......

[MrShpongle]

To my mind, whether to re-use soil depends on whether you are growing organically or not. If you're using chemicals, the soil will have a buildup of salts, and I don't think its worth trying to rehabilitate dirt in that condition. Take that stuff and throw it in the backyard. If you're growing organically, though, absolutely re-use it! You've already established a microherd of beneficial organisms that would take a while to re-establish with new soil. Add some amendments (which are *pardon the pun* dirt cheap in bulk - although not necessarily so if you buy them from your hydro store), use the occasional organic tea, and you're in great shape.

 

I would also disagree with the statement that by using commercially prepared soil "you are 100% sure its good and proper because its straight out of the bag and not something you been cooking in a pile in your back yard." Read any of the many discussions about Fox Farms Ocean Forest. The quality of their soil has changed radically over the last two years. Even their distributors admit it! But you won't see any changes in the labeling - heck, the price has actually skyrocketed while the quality has dropped. I don't know of any industry watchdog or governmental agency that actually measures soil quality, so you are at the mercy of the manufacturer.

[gettyelee]

What do you guys do with your used soil? It's my assumption that once you harvest, out goes the soil. I never re-use soil as I believe all the nutrients have been sucked dry. Could be wrong but that's my thought.

 

I've been using the leftover soil in my vegetable garden and compost pile, but any other insightful uses for leftover soil?

 

I am a medical marijuana consultant. I specialize in efficient and sustainable organics. Reusing soil is just one of 1000 ways to be both more sustainable and cost effective.

 

You CAN and should reuse soil. do a salt flush( like you would with a hydro system) while the soil is still in containers then remove the roots as well as you can.

Soak soil in a 1% peroxide solution to kill any disease or pest, It helps turn around time if you have a flood and drain (ebb and flow) table to drain it off. but if not just let it evaporate. after an hour the peroxide will degrade into water and oxygen. You can then add powdered soil conditioners like EB stone organics starter mix. it contains all the vital soil cultures in suspended animation just add water to reanimate.

 

I hope this is helpful