How to "cook" soil when its winter?

[Team Microbe]

Wondering if it would be safe to cook TGA's super soil indoors right now since it's too cold to do so outside where I live.

Anyone try this? I'm ordering the charge pack

 

[StayFoolish22]

I am currently cooking soil inside and there is no problem with it. Just throw some tarps down first and you should be fine. Beyond the smell for the first week while everything breaks down, theres no issues.

 

[LyryC]

pictures! I wanna see - i might start doing this! can you cook it in a garbage can?

 

[StayFoolish22]

E-Z-P-Z

E-Z-P-Z

Keep Heat On it.

Two Tarps tacked up, turn it every 2 days.

I wet it a week ago, will add some more water in a few days maybe.

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

I recycle my soil which is loosely based on LC's recipe. I throw old root balls into a 5 gal storage container from Walmart. Eventually I crunch up all the old rootballs and add all the ammendments. I do mist it but I don't soak it. I heard where someone found mushrooms (non-magic) in his batch because he got it too wet. Anyway I have never noticed smells or it getting too hot temperature wise. I keep the storage container in the basement all year.

 

[Team Microbe]

I recycle my soil which is loosely based on LC's recipe. I throw old root balls into a 5 gal storage container from Walmart. Eventually I crunch up all the old rootballs and add all the ammendments. I do mist it but I don't soak it. I heard where someone found mushrooms (non-magic) in his batch because he got it too wet. Anyway I have never noticed smells or it getting too hot temperature wise. I keep the storage container in the basement all year.

ahhh man, you should never recycle your soil! It's worth every penny to buy new batches

 

[Team Microbe]

Keep Heat On it.

Two Tarps tacked up, turn it every 2 days.

I wet it a week ago, will add some more water in a few days maybe.

nice! the only thing I'm afraid of is health hazards from the cooking process/ammonia being released into the air... my dogs and family lives here and while they know what I'm doing idk if I wanna put them at risk, actually I know I don't.

do you know for sure that it's 100% safe?

well done btw, you kept it simple with the tacks

 

[vapor]

Had a friend get a nasty lung infection from old soil with ferts in it.can recall what they called it, he was uber sick and tough as fuck so it was strange to seem him almost dead on his feet... It can happen, never to me i cook all my soil in rubber maids inside my garage in the winter

 

[dank.frank]

ahhh man, you should never recycle your soil! It's worth every penny to buy new batches

You have so much to learn. You'd think with a name like that you'd understand a bit more about the role of microbes in the soil...but, eh...I'll just say there is NOTHING wrong with recycling your soil. Not only is it more environmentally friendly, but it also increase many beneficial aspects of the medium outside of the micro-organisms. Things such as availability rates of the nutrients, tilth, water retention, disease resistance, and much more - all improve over time as a soil is recycled and reused.

Best way I have found to COMPOST your soil mix if in an indoor setting is to set a kiddie pool on top of a couple shipping pallets and then cover the pool with a tarp...

A GOOD soil will generate it's own heat while composting...and you will know the process is in full effect as a result of condensation that forms on the underside of the tarp. BUT, you can place a light above it to generate a bit of extra heat if necessary.



dank.Frank

 

[dank.frank]

And yes...you should ALWAYS wear proper protection over your nose and mouth to prevent yourself from inhaling small particulate matter...that is just common sense...as well as avoid direct skin contact once you add all kinds of excreta and the likes to the dirt.

The same rules apply when working in ANY dirt...didn't your parents teach you about contracting worms and such from playing in the sandbox???



dank.Frank

 

[habeeb]

Had a friend get a nasty lung infection from old soil with ferts in it.can recall what they called it, he was uber sick and tough as fuck so it was strange to seem him almost dead on his feet... It can happen, never to me i cook all my soil in rubber maids inside my garage in the winter

not sure I can believe this 100%. nor should anyone reading something on the internet..

how do we know it wasn't caused by moldy bud he smoked? maybe sniffing moldy bud taking a deep inhale?

second, doctors are not the brightest bulbs, they go to school ,read from books for years on end, then look up things in books... very few out there actually writing the info in books.. go to three doctors, and they'll tell yo three different things.

maybe your friend did catch something from old soil / ferts. maybe he did. but maybe he caught it from something else involving this hobby. organic you come into contact with plenty of things to make you sick .. mold / fungus / manures / guanos / fish / silicate particles ....



if you can get some more info from him for us to know some known risk, that would be helpful, as I know of no one who wouldn't minimize risk after hearing evidence.. like what was it exactly, a fungus on the soil he inhaled or something... I would love more info, so I can search into it

 

[vapor]

lol i dont care if you believe me, I dont come online to lie to people lol. We dont smoke moldy buds lol. There is enough of the good stuff around.
He is a close friend and i watched him go through hell. I will ask him tomorrow when i see him what exactly the type of bacteria or fungus it was. When the doctor finally sussed it out. Tested for a certain type of bacteria, she asked him if he had been playing in farmers soil? Cause it was a common lung infection for farmer to get....
ps i cook soil for about 7 or 8 years so i mix my share of soil and have never been sick....But i have seen it personally....

 

[dank.frank]

You can absolutely get sick from breathing in all kinds of various things from soil...from aluminosilicates to various guanos to the list is some what endless.

IN FACT - with a certain organic soil product I gave to medical patients, I made CERTAIN to include a warning label:

"Fine particles from organic materials can be harmful to your eyes, lungs or skin. ALWAYS wear proper safety equipment and work in well ventilated areas."

I ALWAYS wear gloves and ALWAYS wear a respirator when mixing organic amendments or soil.

I usually don't worry about my eyes as much, but there are times when working with large soil batches my eyes have become itchy and irritated from the dust in general.

Better to be safe than sorry. Just my thoughts. But I've always been a member of team overkill, so take it as you will.



dank.Frank

 

[Team Microbe]

lol i dont care if you believe me, I dont come online to lie to people lol. We dont smoke moldy buds lol. There is enough of the good stuff around.
He is a close friend and i watched him go through hell. I will ask him tomorrow when i see him what exactly the type of bacteria or fungus it was. When the doctor finally sussed it out. Tested for a certain type of bacteria, she asked him if he had been playing in farmers soil? Cause it was a common lung infection for farmer to get....
ps i cook soil for about 7 or 8 years so i mix my share of soil and have never been sick....But i have seen it personally....

I know exactly what he got, it's dubbed "Farmer's Lung" but really "Aspergillus"... it's a lung infection caused from inhaling mold/fungi spores.

Farmers used to burn the moldy grain and corn they grew at the end of the season and they would inhale all the 2nd hand smoke. Some died, fungi in the lungs is a really serious situation.

Organic soil is no different since there are bacteria/fungi in it.



Here's a pretty informative article on it:

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33627

 

[Team Microbe]

You have so much to learn. You'd think with a name like that you'd understand a bit more about the role of microbes in the soil...but, eh...I'll just say there is NOTHING wrong with recycling your soil. Not only is it more environmentally friendly, but it also increase many beneficial aspects of the medium outside of the micro-organisms. Things such as availability rates of the nutrients, tilth, water retention, disease resistance, and much more - all improve over time as a soil is recycled and reused.

Best way I have found to COMPOST your soil mix if in an indoor setting is to set a kiddie pool on top of a couple shipping pallets and then cover the pool with a tarp...

A GOOD soil will generate it's own heat while composting...and you will know the process is in full effect as a result of condensation that forms on the underside of the tarp. BUT, you can place a light above it to generate a bit of extra heat if necessary.



dank.Frank

Was this a super soil mixture? If so then youre right, I thought you re-using bottle-fed soil at first and had to speak up.

 

[dank.frank]

I don't consider it a "super soil mix" in such a term - because I don't want to confuse what I do with being derived in any way from what subcool / TGA does...

It was however a fully amended organic soil in which all that is necessary is to water it...and let the plant do it's own thing.

The notion that it was a bottle fed soil never even crossed my mind to be honest...LOL...haven't bottle fed anything for many many years. I tend to forget that people even grow that way!!!



dank.Frank

 

[bigshrimp]

Ammonia is a result of anaerobic decomposition. This is your nitrogen ammendments being released in the air. If you are smelling this you should turn your pile and keep an eye on the moisture level. Not too wet.

Aerobic composting (cooking-curing) should not smell foul like that, depending on your what kind of microbes you have in your mix it will smell different, but i get a nice piney-fungal smell followed by the actinomycete soil musk. Inoculation with local soil - ewc - or high quality compost will help provide microbe diversity - which will help insure proper decomposition.

Properly curing soil should be mostly producing CO2 - which is a good reason to put it in your grow room if possible. Your soil will benefit from the added heat and your plants from the added CO2.

I would try to keep the soil warm say 70-75f , since the colder it is the longer it is going to take to break down.

 

[aridbud]

"ahhh man, you should never recycle your soil! It's worth every penny to buy new batches" Team Microbe

I agree. Use the soil for veggie garden adding blood/bone meal to it, mixing in w/ regular soil.

For indoors, best to use new soil....saves from thrip/mite invasion and other unwanted headaches indoors.

Just an opinion.......every grower does it differently. Personally, I prefer spending a little more on sterile/fresh soil, or add to soil been used. And indoor soil, use in outdoor garden, amending.

 

[vapor]

false.... been using the same reused soil 7 or 8 years, It is just getting better and better. When i get mites they are all over my morning glories outside in my yard they love those things. Or thrips or mites usually come from sharing a cutting or two from a gardener that is infected. Best to use a preventative spray program every 7-10 daze, i very rarely see mites or powderymildew if i do it is on one or two plants that are early warning system{ timewarp gets powdery fist every time}. grow from seed etc. Reusing soil build long term relations that you just can not buy.....

 

[bigshrimp]

pictures! I wanna see - i might start doing this! can you cook it in a garbage can?

You can cook it in whatever, i use 40 gallon totes. Keeping it in a bigger pile will help it preserve heat though.