Re-using holes the next year

Treevly · Jun 26, 2020

Does anyone here do that? I have a situation where it would be much easier to do that, just top dress some compost or maybe dig a little compost in with a hand shovel. Is that an acceptable idea? By the way, I have a neighbour who has won several awards for her flowers gardens, which include hanging baskets. I complimented her on her work and asked what soil mix she used for her baskets and stone planters. She replied: "It was some mix I bought once, and I take it out in November, put it in a bin, and put it back next year with some fertilizer." Well, duh.....

thedudefresco · Jun 26, 2020

I'd recommend reusing the holes. Amend it with compost and other goodies.

You can also plant nitrogen fixing legumes like beans or clover as a cover crop during the off season and then till them into the soil in prep for spring grow.

You want your soil to have something growing in it at all times if you are going for optimal soil health.

Personally, I have not had issues with diseases but one caveat would be if you have a season where the cannabis gets a blight like infection, the following season you might want to plant a different crop in the hole. The reason for this is that some diseases can "overwinter" and infect the crop the following year. I haven't done this with cannabis, but I have had to do it with tomatoes before.

EDIT: I've found this site to be pretty useful when it comes to scoping out amendments and how long they take to break down in soil. That being said, the main thing you will want to add is compost. https://www.grow-it-organically.com/organic-nitrogen-fertilizer.html

Tynehead Tom · Jun 26, 2020

yes, I reuse the soil in my holes but I remove as much as I can onto a tarp and mix in fresh ammendments.
This year I decided to double my soil so added the old to new and doubled up the ammendments. mixed it all really well and then watered it all and mixed again. Then I cover it up with a tarp and let it cook for couple weeks before i use it in my holes.
When I pulled my old soil from the 2 60 gallon holes it felt really nice with very little root matter left from last year.
One thing I do though is I water in with 5 to 7.5 ml per gallon Crosby's Black Strap Molasses and Hygrozyme and I also use a bottled product called Sea Storm. This adds beneficial bacteria/microbes that turns old root matter into food and the molasses feeds all those bacterias so they flourish.
My additives are manure (sheep), crushed oyster shell, gypsum, dolomite, bonemeal and more perlite (if needed)
My plan is to pull the old soil and mix with new every season.

Treevly · Jun 27, 2020

The only additions I'm thinking of are "compost with sheep manure" and "compost with worm castings, the latter which I won't buy again for reasons of conscience about the dew worm industry. I'm wondering how much of the contents of the hole I can replace with those products with it being too much. I don't want to burn.

Organilush · Jun 27, 2020

Treevly said:
Does anyone here do that? I have a situation where it would be much easier to do that, just top dress some compost or maybe dig a little compost in with a hand shovel. Is that an acceptable idea? .....

Absolutely...That's the way it should be done IMO.

How and why would one want to do it any other way? Digging out a new hole and amending it every year?

This is the first year that I'm growing a few plants directly in the ground, I've only grown in fabric pots outdoors the past few years, but this is the 3rd year using the same exact soil in my fabric pots from over 3 years ago and I haven't had a single issue of any sort. My plants that are in it right now are looking 100% healthy....

...Unless the soil has a pathogen of some sort develop I'll continue to use that same soil year after year. Treated right and it only gets better with time.

If one is a soil/organic grower they should be re-using the same soil/hole/plot every year....A bit of top dressings and compost (ideally from one's area) and some teas here & there during spring and summer along with some cover crops during the winter can go a long way in making some great soil. I suppose it depends on the quality of the soil one is working with from the beginning, but a quality soil takes time/years to form.

There are a lot of "Sticky" threads at the top of this forum that are all about organic growing and re-using & building up good soil>>> https://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=65536

.

Donald Mallard · Jun 27, 2020

you can make improvements every year and your grow spot gets better and better ,
it takes a few years to perfect the soil in a garden ,
its the same in your cannabis plant patch ...

absolutely use it again , and again and again

, treat it like you would your vege garden ...

St. Phatty · Jun 27, 2020

DEFINITELY !!!

takes so much work to dig them.

one of the holes I put 3 Cannabis seedlings in, was originally dug by gold miners. It's called "pocket gold".

now i have a nice place to plant plants, AND they're mostly protected from deer.

dufous · Jun 27, 2020

I use the same swamp tubes every year, topping them up with new compost.

Tynehead Tom · Jun 27, 2020

gypsum, bonemeal and dolomite.... essential as far as I'm concerned and the crushed oyster shell so there is lots left over to break down in the off season. Composted sheep manure rarely burns the plants.
I'm no pro with organics , I am simply following the tom hill recipe for it's simplicity. I'm also at 52N , western canada so my season is short and I need a mix the plants will thrive in. Seems to be working well for me and I darn near hit the 1 pound plant from one of my holes. It was an Old grandpa scratch (karma), cured to 15 ounces that I took down 1st week of november..... it was -14 and snowing outside the greenhouse if I recall

other than one good soaking with alaska fish emulsion when it was put in the hole she was fed well water only for the entire grow, no teas , sprays or any other ammendments

St. Phatty · Jun 27, 2020

3 plants in a Gold Pocket. :rtfo:

hopefully ready for 3 months of heat. AND SUN.

NEXT STEP ... spread the leaves around so the sun doesn't dry out the soil so much.

Treevly · Jun 29, 2020

Thanks for all those.

Bud Green · Jun 29, 2020

This is what happens when you re-use your holes...

They just keep getting better every year...

this picture of a super silver haze was taken 3 days ago...

...

anoydas 666 · Jun 29, 2020

nothing like a used hole bud.

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Re-using holes the next year

Treevly

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thedudefresco

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Organilush

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Treevly

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