Bringing Bagged Soil Back to Life

[Growintreez]

From reading all your guys’ responses what I’ve gathered is that bagged soils generally skimp on the amendments compared to a super soil and therefore won’t have as many nutrients to sustain the plant until harvest. Also I imagine because bagged soils aren’t alive when you get them, there wouldn’t be enough bacteria to cool down a hot soil (like super soil before cooking) and make the nutes available. So the manufacturers wouldn’t be able to add as many nutrients.

I could feed the bagged soil’s microbiology and easily bring it to life, I would just need to add enough nutrients to actually feed the plant too lol.

I’m gonna run a few plants super soil and then run a few bagged soils with dry amendments like dr earth, giving both compost teas and see what gets me better results.

 

[Mr Jay]

Some bagged soils are alive with microbes. I'm a huge fan of the E.B. stone 420 mix, but it's not going to carry a plant to harvest. Starting with a high quality base soil and ingredients is super important. Worm poop, use it liberally in soil mixes.

Good luck on your experiments, I hope you find the right mix for you!

 

[Teddybrae]

Big pot, local soil, many worms, add what the worms like to eat best, dig in animal manure easy on the chicken shit, humates, Dolomite, charcoal ... probly forgotten something ... 3 pound plants ...

 

[Growintreez]

Also would it be a bad idea to use dried grass from my backyard as mulch?

 

[Growintreez]

3 pounds? Wow! How big of a pot? I’m gonna be doing a couple 30s and some 10s this time around, do you think the 10s will be enough for outdoor or should I up everything to 30 or even higher? Put some on my roof because it has full sun up

 

[Growintreez]

there and my yard is indirect for maybe 4 more hours than the roof. Would you guys go for a huge pot on the ground or just do as much as I can fit on the roof because of full sun?

 

[Mr Jay]

Also would it be a bad idea to use dried grass from my backyard as mulch?

If you're growing inside you could introduce pests or disease.

 

[Growintreez]

These are outdoors but I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge! Can anyone share the knowledge of how to edit posts? ??

 

[Frosty Nuggets]

These are outdoors but I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge! Can anyone share the knowledge of how to edit posts? ??

I think you need 50 posts before you can edit them.

 

['Boogieman']

These are outdoors but I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge! Can anyone share the knowledge of how to edit posts? ??

You can use grass as a mulch just don't make it too thick or it can heat up. I like to mix grass with leaves and shredded wood a couple inches thick. Also for a cheap nitrogen fertilizer, add grass half full in a bucket and fill with water for a day then water your plants with it. I highly recommend getting some comfrey plants for free mulch and fertilizer.

 

[Hastings]

Just add water and keep it moist to revive bacteria in bagged soil. I can hardly understand the question! Lol

You can even revive the bacteria in bagged retail commercial flour for human consumption by adding water and create a sourdough culture. The diversity you get in your culture is surprising. I'm pretty sure most bagged soil is even less sterile than bagged USDA flour approved for human consumption. (That's just an assumption BTW.)

You need to feed your revived bacteria to make it thrive and multiply after. That means feeding it carbohydrates, either by growing a plant in it (root exudates) or adding fresh organic material to eat. Compost doesn't work for the purpose because it's already eaten.

 

[mexweed]

there are quite a few good bagged soils, buffaloam compost was mentioned, they also make soil, it basically comes down to what kind of ingredients you want to incorporate, some are more guano and compost based like happy frog, some have a more diverse list of ingredients like ocean forest or terracraft, there is elevation organics that has neem seed meal in it

 

[troutman]

Screen the roots out if you want using stiff 1/2 inch mesh.

 

[trichrider]

living soil has biology surrounding those roots, why remove any biology that helps your plant thrive and flourish?
bagged soil will not provide nutrients long enough, read the package...you must amend after 90 days or so.


so the question is, how much to add back in and when.


peeps are focused on testing what %%%s of THC/CBD the flowers contain, when they should be focused on what levels of npk and micronutrients the plant has extracted from the soil during a grow. this would be an indication of what needs to be returned, imo.


some heads here support the suggestion that the plant determines what it needs from the soil and that it will only take what it wants/needs...supposing it is there to begin with. and in so doing will put in excess nutes with hope of supporting that notion, which makes sense to me.


i'm also of the opinion that living soil supports worm populations so that almost, imo requires mulching with something the worms will eat.


if you desire to let the soil 'cook', water in molasses to feed the biology and cover to retain moisture.

 

[exploziv]

I sometimes start with unferted potting soil from the home and garden store, the kind you use for planting and cloning. After you add some aeration, water retention and good mix of slow and fast release nutrient sources, you can actually get a good soil out of it. Then I reuse it.