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What should I add back to re use this soil?

GeorgeSmiley

GeorgeSmiley

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So I took 100 gallons of soil from last run. Dumped it out and pulled a bunch of roots out. Then I mixed it with an additional bag of susnhine growers organiuc mix, a cu of ewc and 2 cu of organic compost I had laying around. Then turned it for an hour.

It basically looks tremendous. :D So what do I need to add back? The plants were in 4 gallon pots and used up most of the nurtrients at the end of flower.

Soil mix
5.8 cuft sunshine growers organic mix
1.5 cuft of marwest compost
1.5 cuft EWC
1cuft Pumice


25 cups of mineral mix
which is equal parts
Azomite
glacial rock dust
soft rock phosphate
NJ greensand
limestone

20 cups N guano
28 cups P guano

9 cups of 3 way lime mix
equal parts gypsum dolomite lime and oyster shell flour

2 cups Kelp Meal
2 Cups neem seed meal
Click to expand...


So looks like 80-100 gallons of the old soil.

Just guano maybe, some neem seed meal, cotton seed meal? I dont think the minerals breakdown appreciably.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Smiley
 
guest2012y

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
Smiley...Kelp meal,N. bat guano,fish bone meal,compost,EWC
Add one bag Marwest,one bag EWC...5lbs kelp meal,5 lbs fish bone meal,5 lbs N. bat guano.
If you want to add 5 lbs crab shell meal,and something like 1 lb alfalfa meal it can't hurt.
This is about what I would add on the first recycle...from there you'll use less ferts next time but the same amount of Marwest..and maybe half EWC.
 
Scrappy4

Scrappy4

senior member
Veteran
I'm on my first recycled soil grow. I re-amended the used soil at the original rates. My soil is too hot. If the plants even hear about N they their stems turn red. I mistook the slow growth to a lack of N, so I added a very small amount, and the stems got redder and purplish and red veins in the leafs. Lesson learned.

The re-amended left over soil from this run was mixed 50/50 with pro mix for future grows. Any more, the only soil amendments re-added will be EWC & fish tea just to feed the microbes.

Don't make my mistake. As long as you have live microbes in your soil, just feed them and make up for any deficiencies you may have seen..........scrappy
 
GeorgeSmiley

GeorgeSmiley

Remembers
Veteran
Capt.Cheeze1 said:
Smiley...Kelp meal,N. bat guano,fish bone meal,compost,EWC
Add one bag Marwest,one bag EWC...5lbs kelp meal,5 lbs fish bone meal,5 lbs N. bat guano.
If you want to add 5 lbs crab shell meal,and something like 1 lb alfalfa meal it can't hurt.
This is about what I would add on the first recycle...from there you'll use less ferts next time but the same amount of Marwest..and maybe half EWC.
Click to expand...

So add 1 more bag marwest and EWC? I already added 1 of each.

I have the kelp and N guano and alfalfa.

Should I grab fish bone meal or the crab meal?

Thanks a ton Cheese! I wish I wouldn't have used the first 200gal of this soil into the veggie beds but oh well.

So yeah gotta mix this today.

What about LIME?

Smiley
 
Clackamas Coot

Clackamas Coot

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GeorgeSmiley said:
Should I grab fish bone meal or the crab meal?
Click to expand...
Both if it were me.

Add about 1 cup of the crab/shrimp meal (available at both places) to 1 c.f. of potting soil.

On the fish bone meal you could consider adding about 1/2 cup to 1 c.f. of potting soil. The specific product from both places is a hydrolysate version and there is very little smell. It looks like a large salt product and is easy to achieve an equal application in an outdoor garden or lawn.

Phosphate prices have continued to increase across the board - this specific product (out of Canada) has seen an increase approaching 200% since the oil spill last spring in the Gulf. It's right around $60.00 for 50# (or was).

HTH

CC
 
GeorgeSmiley

GeorgeSmiley

Remembers
Veteran
Thanks CC

I'll see if I got enough room in the car for another 50# sack :D :D :D

It's really amazing that we have access to these materials.

Smiley

Ohh yeah, liming?
 
whodair

whodair

Active member
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yes homie, i add lime every time i recycle promix, the girls stay nice and green !!!
 
Clackamas Coot

Clackamas Coot

Active member
Veteran
GeorgeSmiley said:
Ohh yeah, liming?
Click to expand...
Heh.............

If I were to add a 'liming agent' it would be either limestone (aka agriculture lime) or oyster shell powder. Both of these are 95%+ Calcium Carbonate.

Dolomite lime is one that many folks use so you can probably get better information from others on its benefit. It isn't and wouldn't be my first choice. Or second. Or third. Or fourth.

Your call! LOL

CC

Edit: One thing to consider, perhaps, is that the crab and shrimp meal contains high levels of calcium (the 'liming agent') and soft rock phosphate contains between 20 - 25% depending on the specific mine that it's sourced from. The products sold at both places is from the Pacific Northwest comes in at the 25% calcium content level.

Earthworm castings are literally covered with Calcium Carbonate from the process of material in the worm bin passing through the worm's digestive system.

Just a couple of things to consider perhaps.
 
GeorgeSmiley

GeorgeSmiley

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Thanks Whodair ;)

Hey CC, remember I use the lime mix of equal parts dolomite/oyster shell flour/gypsum, do you still recommend this mix or something different?

Smiley
 
guest2012y

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
GeorgeSmiley said:
So add 1 more bag marwest and EWC? I already added 1 of each.

I have the kelp and N guano and alfalfa.

Should I grab fish bone meal or the crab meal?

Thanks a ton Cheese! I wish I wouldn't have used the first 200gal of this soil into the veggie beds but oh well.

So yeah gotta mix this today.

What about LIME?

Smiley
Click to expand...
Not sure what you are saying you added as far as quanities of compost/EWC....I'm saying one whole bag of each. If you already added a bag of both the compost and EWC on this FIRST recycle then you won't need anymore this remix. It will bulk up your soil a bit,but that's just extra to have around.
 
jaykush

jaykush

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im with terry the trich, id add some char to your mix. it will help the soil in the long run since you are recycling your soil anyways. you will also need to amend less and less over time. eventually only top dressings of high quality compost ( homemade ewc for example) will be needed to grow great plants.

you can mix 1 part powdered char with 1 part fresh ewc and let it sit for a little while then mix it in. or soak the char in nutrient rich liquid for a few days then amend.
 
guest2012y

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
jaykush said:
im with terry the trich, id add some char to your mix. it will help the soil in the long run since you are recycling your soil anyways. you will also need to amend less and less over time. eventually only top dressings of high quality compost ( homemade ewc for example) will be needed to grow great plants.

you can mix 1 part powdered char with 1 part fresh ewc and let it sit for a little while then mix it in. or soak the char in nutrient rich liquid for a few days then amend.
Click to expand...
That is a good idea...may as well get it in this round. It definitely makes for better soil that's easier to manage in the upcoming recycles. I didn't have any problems with mixing it in after a few recycles and immediately transplanting,now I'm glad I did.
 
GeorgeSmiley

GeorgeSmiley

Remembers
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Thanks for all the help everyone! I just got some fish bone and crab meal and have the neem, kelp meals. I also have k-mag granuals, alfalfa and awesome N guano laying around.

So 100 gallons now since adding the compost and the EWC.

So all this?
5lb N guano
5lb fish bone meal
5lb crab meal
5lb kelp meal

Sounds like a lot lol
I'm really afraid of making the soil too hot this round

I'll get on the bio char ASAP

Smiley
 
guest2012y

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
GeorgeSmiley said:
Thanks for all the help everyone! I just got some fish bone and crab meal and have the neem, kelp meals. I also have k-mag granuals, alfalfa and awesome N guano laying around.

So 100 gallons now since adding the compost and the EWC.

So all this?
5lb N guano
5lb fish bone meal
5lb crab meal
5lb kelp meal

Sounds like a lot lol
I'm really afraid of making the soil too hot this round

I'll get on the bio char ASAP

Smiley
Click to expand...
That's 100 gallons of soil.....I wouldn't worry because most of that is slow release. You'll have some instant release from the guano and fish bone...but it will take a while to break down. CC's got the right idea with proportions.
 
Microbeman

Microbeman

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Are you using true 4 gallon pots (e.g. almost as large as the 5 gal food pails) or do you have commercial 4 gallon (egg can) type planter pots? Just checking to make sure you really have 100 gallons of soil. I started working out a bin size for you with 100 gallons of soil. At 1.5 feet deep it would be 2 X 4.5 feet, not room for a lot of plants (assuming 25 is what you had)
 
GeorgeSmiley

GeorgeSmiley

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Wait, what??? lol The pots that I had are the dutch 12x12x10 square pots they say are 4.75 but I can bullshit and call it 4. But I didn't want to rely on bullshit so I did some work lol

I had some of my original mix leftover from last mixing. I took that, a bag of marwest, a bag and a half of ewc and then filled 11 #10 pots that the manufacturer says is 10.226 gallons actual capacity. That leaves 110 gallons.

Then I added half a cuft larger sized pumic than whats in it and added all the amendments. The pile is 6x10 x 1 or so. I've mixed it 7 times, prilling it out in layers with the larger grain shovel. I'm going to wet it a little more and turn the pile 10 more times. I move the pile actually in layers to another section of concrete patio.

Dont think I can mix it much better.... was thinking of sieving it but a ton of work already.

Hope that's what your post meant.... I fucked up and smoke the haze and am seeing things.

:D :D :D

Smiley
 
GeorgeSmiley

GeorgeSmiley

Remembers
Veteran
:D :D :D :D :D

A local expert stated that my ghaze was early, leading to a racy intense high that ended in open eye visuals for both of us til falling asleep.

Just sayin.

Okay mixing mixing That was 10 times in 22 minutes. :D Wassup I am all that is man

Smiley
 
Microbeman

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
GeorgeSmiley said:
Wait, what??? lol The pots that I had are the dutch 12x12x10 square pots they say are 4.75 but I can bullshit and call it 4. But I didn't want to rely on bullshit so I did some work lol

I had some of my original mix leftover from last mixing. I took that, a bag of marwest, a bag and a half of ewc and then filled 11 #10 pots that the manufacturer says is 10.226 gallons actual capacity. That leaves 110 gallons.

Then I added half a cuft larger sized pumic than whats in it and added all the amendments. The pile is 6x10 x 1 or so. I've mixed it 7 times, prilling it out in layers with the larger grain shovel. I'm going to wet it a little more and turn the pile 10 more times. I move the pile actually in layers to another section of concrete patio.

Dont think I can mix it much better.... was thinking of sieving it but a ton of work already.

Hope that's what your post meant.... I fucked up and smoke the haze and am seeing things.

:D :D :D

Smiley
Click to expand...

Somethings funny not haha. 12X12X10 = 0.83 cubic ft. right? According to online conversion that equals 6.3 US liquid gallons or 5.3 dry gallons, whatever that is. So I guess you got more soil than you thought.

Originally I was just trying to figure out a bin you could build if you want; at least 16 inches deep; so you would not need to mix soil anymore but let the bugs n' worms mix it for you and leave fungal networks intact and let the mycorrhizal on your roots sporulate.....but a lot depends on how many plants you want to grow and how close you want them together.

We did not mix soil for around 5/6 years, right up until the man shut us down.
 
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