Reusing Soil Opinions?

Ghostin · Jan 17, 2017

Hey world,

What are your thoughts on reusing previously run soil?

I'm using Miracle Gro Nature's Care Organic Potting Soil (green bag) cut with 20-33% Vigoro Perlite and feel like I'm wasting a lot of soil by buying new bags for each run. I think the recommendation would be to buy new soil for each run but what can I do to be able to reuse the spent soil?

Is it even worth it or continue to spend about $100 per run just on soil+perlite?

I'm using PBP grow + soil bloom, liquid karma, calmag+, GH liquid kool bloom, mykos, occasionally Floralicious Plus (free sample size) and molasses.

Thanks! :tiphat:

who dat is · Jan 17, 2017

IMHO, ditch all that shitty soil and synthetic nutrients and instead pick up Roots Organics original soil blend and use organic nutrients. When you finish a crop pick up some dry organic soil amendments and reamend your soil with it. Run a search on "ROLS". I always recycle, reamend, and reuse my soil these days. No sense in buying soil again and again and again :2cents:

Ghostin · Jan 17, 2017

Yea that's what I figured. I was using Roots but the hydro store near me closed down so I'm pretty much forced to use big box store brands hence the MG. It actually does not give me probs but what if I can't get my hands on Roots? Any big box store brand recommendations?

Thanks who dat is!

who dat is · Jan 17, 2017

I don't know what's available to you where you are but I would just look over everything that is available to you and see what you turn up. Nurseries are going to be better bets than big box stores too. Just check out the ingredients listed and make sure they are all good organic inputs and not synthetic stuff.

Cannavore · Jan 17, 2017

go on your local homedepot, ace hardware, true value, lowes, ect website and see if you can order a few 3.8 cubic foot bales of sphagnum peat moss. they'll ship them for free to the store and you just go and pick them up. buildasoil.com is great for organic amendments and stuff.

FireIn.TheSky · Jan 17, 2017

Just go hydro, better yields, no mess and no soil to get rid of.

Ghostin · Jan 17, 2017

Thanks for the input!

FireIn. TheSky - One day I will but I can't right now. Have you ever had water leaks? That's my concern.

Cannavore - Thanks dude, I'll check it out!

who dat is · Jan 17, 2017

FireIn.TheSky said:
Just go hydro, better yields, no mess and no soil to get rid of.

Ghostin said:
Thanks for the input!

FireIn. TheSky - One day I will but I can't right now. Have you ever had water leaks? That's my concern.

Cannavore - Thanks dude, I'll check it out!

One more humble suggestion along these lines...

If you want to go the synthetic nutrient route then full commit and go with either hydro or coco if you are worried about water leaks.

If you want to stick with soil then fully commit and go entirely organic. You are doing yourself a disservice if you are wanting to do synthetic nutrients with a soil medium.

Ghostin · Jan 17, 2017

Yah it makes a lot of sense just to go straight organic and not have to worry about mixing multiple gallons of feed. It becomes a hassle real quick.

Is it necessary to 'cook' the soil before using or can I just mix, plant and water?
Any suggestions in regards to recipes from your experience?

Thanks who dat is!

who dat is · Jan 18, 2017

Ghostin said:
Yah it makes a lot of sense just to go straight organic and not have to worry about mixing multiple gallons of feed. It becomes a hassle real quick.

Is it necessary to 'cook' the soil before using or can I just mix, plant and water?
Any suggestions in regards to recipes from your experience?

Thanks who dat is!

Cruise through the stickies on the Indoor soil grow, outdoor, and organic sections. Pleeeeennnttyyy of good material to read and work through in there. :good:

Ghostin · Jan 18, 2017

Sounds good, thanks buddy!

Cannavore · Jan 18, 2017

i'm actually whipping up a new batch of dirt here shortly to being recycling into the forseeable future!

3cf Sphagnum Peat Moss & Coco Coir Mix (6:2 ratio)
--
3cf Coast of Maine Compost (it's cheap until i get a compost bin going)
--
3cf Rice Hulls
1/2cf Biochar
--
3cf "Coot's Mix" Nutes Kit - Buildasoil - (Crustacean Shell Meal, Neem Cake, Karanja Cake, Kelp Meal)
3cf "Coot's Mix" Mineral Kit - Buildasoil - (Basalt, Gypsum, Oyster Shell Flour)

topdressings, fermented plant extracts of nettle and yarrow, living clover mulch, seed sprout teas

all i'm missing is some good quality EWC which i should be able to get by without for a run or two

Ghostin · Jan 18, 2017

Thanks Cannavore!

Buildasoil Kit's look interesting, I'm going to check that out!

Have you ever considered farming your own EWC?

Cannavore · Jan 18, 2017

yep that's what i'm going to do, it's too expensive otherwise to keep buying it pre bagged and i can't find quality EWC locally.

i've used roughly the same mix before with different compost inputs and without the biochar and coco with excellent results. the plants basically grow themselves it's so easy.

Sunny FL Indica · Jan 19, 2017

Cannavore said:
i'm actually whipping up a new batch of dirt here shortly to being recycling into the forseeable future!

3cf Sphagnum Peat Moss & Coco Coir Mix (6:2 ratio)
--
3cf Coast of Maine Compost (it's cheap until i get a compost bin going)
--
3cf Rice Hulls
1/2cf Biochar
--
3cf "Coot's Mix" Nutes Kit - Buildasoil - (Crustacean Shell Meal, Neem Cake, Karanja Cake, Kelp Meal)
3cf "Coot's Mix" Mineral Kit - Buildasoil - (Basalt, Gypsum, Oyster Shell Flour)

topdressings, fermented plant extracts of nettle and yarrow, living clover mulch, seed sprout teas

all i'm missing is some good quality EWC which i should be able to get by without for a run or two

What's your thoughts on the rice hulls vs other options. Do you think you get a better product, or is it a cost vs return basis?

Cannavore · Jan 19, 2017

Sunny FL Indica said:
What's your thoughts on the rice hulls vs other options. Do you think you get a better product, or is it a cost vs return basis?

well i hate perlite lol. but i mainly been a perlite user since it's easy to get locally in a pinch but it's definitely not cheap and a lot of it floats to the top of the pots. 7cf bale of rice hulls from buildasoil i found was a pretty good deal ($39 plus shipping but i was placing a decent sized order already) compared to 2cf of perlite for $20 priced locally.

Ghostin · Jan 19, 2017

yeah, why the fuck is perlite so expensive? You think rice hulls is a better alternative?

Cannavore · Jan 19, 2017

first time i'll be using rice hulls, lots of people use them without problems. i think they have a small silica content and eventually break down in the soil(??) but other than that they don't float to the top like perlite.

pumice and lava rock are another good alternative to perlite and may even be cheaper depending on where you source it.

Green Squall · Feb 11, 2017

I pulled a bunch of males in preflower and decided to save the soil since it was a good amount. Its coast of maine organic soil with only neptune's harvest fish and seaweed ferts added to it. Can I transplant seedlings into this soil?

who dat is · Feb 11, 2017

Green Squall said:
I pulled a bunch of males in preflower and decided to save the soil since it was a good amount. Its coast of maine organic soil with only neptune's harvest fish and seaweed ferts added to it. Can I transplant seedlings into this soil?

I don't see why not? Especially if you didn't feed anything additional into the soil after you potted up the original plants. :2cents:

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