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Re amending used soil strategy?

Bud Jones

Well-known member
We have a ton of leftover soil from our last indoor run . The base was coot’s mix, Happy Frog and Coots’s mineral kit .. Whats a good strategy to re ammmend it for the next run? Something to break the roots down?
 

FletchF.Fletch

Well-known member
420giveaway
Nectar of the Gods makes an Organic soil amendment to Re-condition used soil. It's called One Shot. You mix it into the soil and let things sit for a number of weeks. Haven't used it myself so I cannot speak to how well it works. I bet you could recreate your own formula.
 

troutman

Seed Whore
Maybe, throw in a good myco product. If you did that outdoors you could grow a cover crop on it.
The soil I'm using indoors now will be saved and used at my guerilla site along with new soil mixed in.
 

40degsouth

Well-known member
Hey Bud Jones,
a soil test before and after “the cook”, with whatever amendments you decide to go with, would be very insightful for yourself and the community along with just how the soil was put together in the first place, how it was fed during the runs, how many runs you did with it, before you retired it and exact amounts and types of amendments put back in.
I’ve noticed many people reaching out with questions regarding this but it’s so difficult to give any advice without knowing what’s left in the soil and what’s been taken out. No one wants to give advice that might be detrimental and harm your run in any way.
There’s a bit of a conversation over at the “Sip not Slurp” thread, a few weeks ago, where l asked a question about salt build up. Moses Wellfeet got back to me but it could be that many people are over amending after each run??
Tom Hill dropped some knowledge, years ago in the “Growing Large Plants Outdoors” thread, about his super soil and how to amend with it; it’s also a water only, for the season. He pulled his information, for his own reasons but one piece of knowledge that seems to have been lost is, the volume of soil made, 300 gallons from memory, is to amend six 300 gallon pots, not for one 300 pot.
This information pops up from time to time and l think it’s mentioned in the thread several times.
If you decide to go this way the other thing to remember is that Mr Hill foliar sprayed “Brix Mix” once every two weeks and “Cal Mag” once a month; I’d say the magnesium is to offset and balance the amount of calcium in the soil. He still says he’d take calcium over magnesium any day.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
40.
 
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Midnight Tokar

Member
Veteran
After a grow there is always plenty left in my soil to break down the remaining roots. When I need to re-amend the soil there is nothing left of the roots and only a small part of the stalk left. However the soil must remain somewhat moist otherwise it seems the mycos go dormant.
When I re-amend the soil I use approx. half the amount of the additives I used to make the original soil and then let it "cook" for at least a month. I have done this numerous times, when I start to see any issues at all (usually harvest amounts decrease) I use the soil as outdoor mulch and make a new batch.
 

flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
Midnight Tokar, are you keeping worms in your soil? I have more soil than I can fit in my tents, and was thinking of cycling it back through the wormy tubs when the run is finished. Pull out fresh, dump in the old, stir, and repeat the next time. Maybe add amendments to the used soil before dumping it and mixing it in.

How do guys who make a soil box and leave it in the tent make out?
 

Midnight Tokar

Member
Veteran
Midnight Tokar, are you keeping worms in your soil? I have more soil than I can fit in my tents, and was thinking of cycling it back through the wormy tubs when the run is finished. Pull out fresh, dump in the old, stir, and repeat the next time. Maybe add amendments to the used soil before dumping it and mixing it in.

How do guys who make a soil box and leave it in the tent make out?
No, I don't keep worms in my soil. One thing I kind of misspoke about was when I said half the amendments of original recipe, I forgot to say that I use the same amount of worm castings and compost as when I mix the new soil.
Which would be about 4 gallons worm castings (Build-a-Soil) and about 2 gallons of Oly Mountain Fish Compost, again from Build-a-Soil. That amount is to approx. 20 gallons of my soil mix. I also mix in more rice hulls as needed when they start breaking down to add aeration.
I use 30 gallon Rubbermaid tubs to hold my soil when it is cooking and to store used soil. I use the used soil to sprout my seeds in Solo cups for about 7-10 days after sprouting and then transplant into 1 gallon grow bags with new soil on bottom and sides and the old soil next to the root ball.
On the next transplant I use all new soil in what ever container they are transplanted into.
 

xerb

Member
Hey Bud,
Just keep watering the soil with your normal supplements, your micro-herd will take care of those roots in no
time. As was mentioned earlier, keep your soil moist or all the life in your soil will suffer.

I add to the soil surface a few tablespoons of each: alfalfa pellets, crustacean meal, malted barley or sprouted
seeds of any kind, neem meal, dried pot leaves from manicuring, etc.
Adding worm castings would be redundant if your soil has as many worms as mine.

If the pots are going to be fallow for any length of time, cover them so the worms can get to the surface and
pull down all these goodies you left for them.
The worms will also eat up and destroy many pathogens and bugs living near the surface, just remember to
re-mulch or start a cover crop when you start up again. Cheers, XERB
 

St. Phatty

Active member
dirt.jpg


"Almost 200 yards of soil developed some sort of soil disease. Everyone thinks that they can fix it.. maybe it's bugs maybe it's not but I'm just gonna get new soil.$2500 obo."

From Craigslist.

I would suggest flushing, but ...

speaking of used soil strategies.
 

flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
The logistics to get all that soil into trucks and moved. I think I would try to fix what is there first. Somebody had big plans.
 

TychoMonolyth

Boreal Curing
Just get it tested. Any farm store, or maybe even a garden center can help. If you don't get it tested, you're walking around blind and any fixes are going to make it worse.

Now is the time to do it anyway.
 

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