What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Soil shelf life

Dumb question I'm sure but I'm going to ask it anyway. I am going to mix up my first soil for the first time ever using LC's Soiless mix 2 and recipe 1.

My question is how long can the soil be stored for? Provided its kept in a sealed container, kept moist and mixed periodically does it stay good forever?

Brand new to organics. Previously just bought Fox Farms Ocean Forest but want to do it myself. Will the bacteria die off after time?

Sorry for newb question. Just curious

Cheers
 

Switcher56

Comfortably numb!
Too many variables to pint point specificy. One thing for sure is that we shouldn't allow it to dry out = kills all them good living microbes and organisms. How long can we store it? I'll let someone more knowledgeable to answer that. :)
 

troutman

Seed Whore
If soil went bad I think farmers would all be out or work. :tiphat:

Bacteria populations may go down in time. But they probably form something like spores before
they die out completely so a new generation can come alive when conditions get better again.
 
R

Robrites

Forever is a long time. It is best to mix the amount you will need in the coming months.
 

BerrySeal

Member
Maybe someone could sweep the desert and collect some dry guy microbes in a dustpan for you. I haven't seen them marketed yet but credit them the success of my room that never went below 80.

They dont understand weed very well in the southwest because they use microbes made for the northwest. Desert surface is crawling with the dry guys
 

Dropped Cat

Six Gummi Bears and Some Scotch
Veteran
Best to re wet stagnant soil and scope for microbes.

If you grow living soil without a microscope, you're just waiting
for the plants to tell you if they sad or happy.

Not a bad thing, lots of living soil grows happen without
visual confirmation of the herd.
 
I have kept soil in bins (with holes in lid and side) for months without using it. But if I were to leave a storage tote or other bin for more then a 2-3 months I would open it once every two weeks to spray a little water and mix up the soil.
You don't want to much moisture because you will get anaerobic bacteria which means lack of oxygen, you can tell if it's gone bad by the smell, it will smell gross and not like fresh dirt.
 

troutman

Seed Whore
Don't store wet soil or it will stink bad eventually. I have a soil bag now that I'm keeping for later use this Fall
and I air it out often to avoid bad odors forming. If you add something organic like dry straw into your soil it
will give the bacteria something to live on for now.
 

P-NUT

Active member
Veteran
I mix hundreds of gallons at a time sometimes over a thousand gallons. I put it in 3 or 400 gallon smartpots in my backyard under an oak and cover with a tarp. Had some last 2 years before I used it and no troubles except some tree roots tried to grow up in it.
 

Ratzilla

Member
Veteran
You want it to breath,if you seal it and it has moisture your probably going to get mold.
If it gets dry i add some moisture .
Turn the pile often enough.
Some molds are not bad i just turn the soil when i see mold.
A good soil(mix) will smell so good ,earthy makes you want to taste it.
Worms will tell you much about the mix.
If they run from or too the pile?
RatZilla :tiphat:
 
Top