Avi's Fresh Start

[Avinash.miles]

mixing more organic soil today, since temps have risen above freezing i figured i better knock out the work when i can....

eso, you almost have me convinced on that concrete mixer....

 

[paint4420]

After trying to mix 4 trash can I was even thinking about one. Even a rental would have saved me a few hours of manual labor. In a commercial setting? U bet your ass haha!

 

[Avinash.miles]

it would be much easier if my bails of peat were not partially frozen solid.... i imagine the cement mixer wouldn't help with that either, tho.

 

[Eureka Springs Organics]

Cement mixer all day my friend. Fuck back pain.

Maybe in my 20's

 

[Eureka Springs Organics]

paint mixer and a drill works for mixing smaller batches . Concrete mixer is a big piece of equipment to have to keep in storage .

Once you go cement mixer you never go back.

Clearly if you live in an apartment it will not work, but for $180 at Harbor Freight tools it is hard to go wrong. You also get a much more even mix than doing it by hand.

Evenly mixing 2 cu. ft. of soil at a time in 5 minutes with little to no effort? Yes please.

 

[Avinash.miles]

seriously tho, how often am i gonna use the cement mixer? especially if at some point in the future i go no-till (not sayin i will, just a possiblity) then i really won't need it, and even if i never no till, will only use about 4 times per year, maybe 5 or six if i mix for outdoor or friends.... or expansion....
ok shit now it's sounding more reasonable to just get one, but my shit is all mixed up now and I'm happy that's over.... glad i don't need the cement mixer for the time being...

 

[Mister_D]

I'll toss in another vote for the cement mixer. Once you have one, you'll find yourself wondering why you didn't get one sooner

 

[Avinash.miles]

ok
point taken, cement mixer ftw.

 

[bugman52]

AVI u mix enough soil to justify a cheep mixer lol
+ I can come buy & get my soil mixed LOL

 

[Avinash.miles]

AVI u mix enough soil to justify a cheep mixer lol

still not 100% sure... I've mixed 4 x 3cu. ft. bails of peat so far.... only 1 left....
If i were starting over, sure I'd go cement mixer... biggest issue with it is that it's one more piece of equipment in my life, trying to keep things minimalist... no cement mixer. (YET!)
just me and a buncha plants and grow stuff; a laptop & cheap camera
bottom line is i guess im pretty cheap.

 

[indianajones]

a corded drill with a 2' long auger takes up a lot less space than a cement mixer.
I just mix in the same 50 gallon tote I would normally use if hand mixing.

 

[OvergrowDaWorld]

I just mix 1 bag at a time in a 3mil black trash bag. I pour the bag into the other bag, add chunky perlite, flip it around the floor a few times and its mixed. Sure would love to use a cement mixer if I didnt have nosey neighbors.
Im having trouble getting rid of all my old soil. I have over 50 trshbags full of it waiting to get used for this years outdoor grows.

 

[indianajones]

I just mix 1 bag at a time in a 3mil black trash bag. I pour the bag into the other bag, add chunky perlite, flip it around the floor a few times and its mixed. Sure would love to use a cement mixer if I didnt have nosey neighbors.
Im having trouble getting rid of all my old soil. I have over 50 trshbags full of it waiting to get used for this years outdoor grows.

if you save the bag the soil comes in, you can use spent soil to make an outdoor
raised bed veggie garden. every time you finish with soil, put it back in the bag it
came from and dump it in the raised bed. looks like a fresh bag of soil being dumped
into a raised bed project to the neighbors.

we built 500ish sq ft of raised beds, our setup could accommodate almost 2000g
of spent soil/compost. what we couldn't fill with spent soil we made up with composted
cow/horse manure from other local farms.

that method worked for me running 4kw when the neighbor was in the police academy.
gave him a few vegetables in the summer months to further legitimize it.

 

[silver hawaiian]

I just mix 1 bag at a time in a 3mil black trash bag. I pour the bag into the other bag, add chunky perlite, flip it around the floor a few times and its mixed. Sure would love to use a cement mixer if I didnt have nosey neighbors.
Im having trouble getting rid of all my old soil. I have over 50 trshbags full of it waiting to get used for this years outdoor grows.

Old soil - there is such a thing?

 

[Avinash.miles]

Old soil - there is such a thing?

exactly
I've done the whole "down-cycled" soil thing before, from indoor ganja garden soil to outdoor veggie /flower soil...

I'd like to just recycle my organic soil by re-amending it and planting back into it.
and
beds might just be in my future, pots for now still.

 

[silver hawaiian]

exactly
I've done the whole "down-cycled" soil thing before, from indoor ganja garden soil to outdoor veggie /flower soil...

I'd like to just recycle my organic soil by re-amending it and planting back into it.
and
beds might just be in my future, pots for now still.

I don't even bother - I use it all for my reefer garden!

I'm with you - still in containers. ..But the past few runs, I've just transplanted back into the same containers that were just harvested from.

Some might call it snooty - I call it easy!

Why do you say "I'd like to?" (As in, you're not already re-using for the reefer plants?)

 

[Avinash.miles]

Why do you say "I'd like to?" (As in, you're not already re-using for the reefer plants?)

now that i've switched to an amended organic soil that i feel good about i can start that cycle of re-use and REALLY get myself off of "new soil"
up until now i was only mixing in re-used soil to fresh as needed, sometimes used re-used soil for clones.

 

[silver hawaiian]

NOW let the lazy begin! I wouldn't (and don't!) even bother dumping it out/re-mixing/re-amending/re-cooking after use.

You oughtta be able to chop a plant out of it and transplant a new one right in its place in the same container. If you end up having full [of soil] containers with no plants, just keep the soil watered as you'd do normally.

As long as you keep it "fresh" (my dumb layman's term, the gurus probably call that "living"), you're good to go. The re-amending/re-mixing between uses is solved by the application of teas and top dressings as needed.

(I'm sure I just wasted a bunch of hot air telling you what you already know)

Definitely diggin' the thread per usu avi, and always diggin' the frickin' SPACE!

 

[Avinash.miles]

thanks silver! updates coming soon.

 

[silver hawaiian]

PS back to this cement mixer thing, if it's been solved or passed by..

If you do this organic thing & reuse/recycle, you won't need to keep mixing subsequent batches..

..which means you could do it all up front and just rent a cement mixer..?