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Back to bags, no more soil recycling

FireIn.TheSky

Active member
So for the last 5 years or so I have been making and recycling my soil grow after grow.

I finally have to admit, I give up and will be going back to bagged soil.

It has gotten to be such a tremendous pain in the ass to be perpetually mixing soil. As time goes on the recycled soil becomes harder and harder to manage.

When it is good it produces excellent bud, but at the same time it produces some real trash. I am basically to the point now where problems cause me to throw away atleast half of my harvest pretty consistently as half of my plants will be great the other half trash.

It is to hard to account for what is left in the soil, what needs to be added back and the potential build up of salts and minerals.


So yeah, I gave it a good run of a staunch organic soil mixer but I have just had enough.

Contrary to popular thought soil mixing still requires, lots of space, a considerable amount of time and it certainly isnt cheap when you factor in shipping on exotic amendments.
 

yesum

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I am recycling last grow soil with added ewc and a bloom mix. After this second run it will go into the vegetable garden. If I were to keep recycling it I would feel I have to put several more things in. Like you ^^ are doing. Easier to just get another bag.
 

FireIn.TheSky

Active member
Have you seen Lapides Recycled/Reused/Reammended/Reloaded thread? https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=267388
Nobody gets so much with so little work as that fella.

Yes, different animal entirely he does no til. I do not have the space for no til. Plus at this point it would take quite a while to figure that whole thing out. I got on recycling itself because I knew what I was putting back in time after time. And I will say when it works right it produces excellent bud but at this point in my life I do not have the time to dedicate to it.

I will do one run fresh from the bag, possibly reamending once then then out to the garden.





Test your soil before amending it.

I don't have the time nor the cash to spend on soil recycling tests. Id be sending tests out every few weeks, no feasible it's easier to just have someone else worry about that shit.

I buy a few bags of soil someone else has already done ph'ing and all that shit.

Pit it this way, amendmens aren't cheap especially when you factor in buying hundreds of lbs of ewc, compost etc... it probably already costs more than buying it ar that point.

There is no advantage tonite really. I won't say quality was any better than it was years ago when I used bag soil.

It became fashionable so organo Nazis could have one more thing to feel pious about.
 

growingcrazy

Well-known member
I have been doing recycled/no-till for over 8 years because of the ease of doing so.

Out of the methods I have tried, recycled soil requires the least amount of man hours per run.

Do you run bagged soil in your veggie garden?

No other way to put this, the soil isn't your issue...
 

FireIn.TheSky

Active member
The over flow of spent soil gets dumped in the garden beds.

However out door garden beds are a little easier to maintain
For starters hundred of gallons of rain water gets ran thru them each year so minerals and salts don't build up like they do in indoor potted gardens where run off is minimal.

2 it is much easier to grow vegetables, growing for resin qulaity is much more difficult.

Imbalances in minerals, ph etc.. have a drastic effect on resin.

If you are growing tomatos you want them to be firm, red and taste good, those qualities are easy to control. Realistically we are concerned more for a bi product of cannabis cultivation which is the resin.

Plants with sub par resin go in the trash, I am not happy with medicore, some people mediocre is all they know and they are happy with that.

Aslo, not saying it doesn't work, I've been doing it for 5 years straight, yest it works, at this point I have many other obligations and do not have the time to dedicate to something that and I have been throwing away atleast half a harvest for a yeat, the other half is excellent which tells me quality ebbs and flows with each batch of soil.

Fact is it does not save time, it does not save money and it takes a little more guess work to get right.

Soil seems to hit a wall after so many years with the addition of lime, and minerals, without testing you can't account for these leftovers
 

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
...I don't have the time nor the cash to spend on soil recycling tests. Id be sending tests out every few weeks, no feasible it's easier to just have someone else worry about that shit...

Home test kit is what I use...simple and cheap. To confirm new changes, I would send it out to the lab--but not always.

IMO, most "reclaimed" (as opposed to "recycle") soil issues are not "nutrient" related but more about "porosity" (as in compaction and absorbancy issues) which does not need a lab test--a simple "bench test" will tell the tale.
 

FireIn.TheSky

Active member
Densite definitely becomes an issue as does sandiness.

It becomes hard to maintan that loamy quality as materials break down.

Really good quality bagged compost is hard to find and isn't cheap. At that rate between adding more pumus, ewc and compost you are basically at the expense of bagged soil.

I recently bought a large bag of coast of maine compost, tons of gnats which really sucker because I have been gnat free for quite some time.

No til beds would work better if you have the space for that sort of thing.
 

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
Yep...to increase porosity--adding perlite, vermiculite, bark and compost works for me. The porosity bench test is easy--and the results can be surprising. To increase absorbancy, things like calcined clay, diatomaceous earth and vermiculite, bark work for me.

I discovered testing the exact same soil in different sized containers yielded different porosity results--requiring a little tweaking for half gallon containers--as opposed to 5 gallon size.

Home testing the soil (NPK & pH) after harvest also tells me how much goodness is left behind (allowing me to adjust feeding in flower). Hate to waste money!
 

moses wellfleet

Well-known member
Moderator
Veteran
Densite definitely becomes an issue as does sandiness.

It becomes hard to maintan that loamy quality as materials break down.

Really good quality bagged compost is hard to find and isn't cheap. At that rate between adding more pumus, ewc and compost you are basically at the expense of bagged soil.

I recently bought a large bag of coast of maine compost, tons of gnats which really sucker because I have been gnat free for quite some time.

No til beds would work better if you have the space for that sort of thing.
Brother you don't need extra space for no till. Are you referring to container size?

The problems you mention re density and maintaining good loamy texture are eliminated when you have earthworms in your containers!

I can give you a no till recipe, you throw in a handful of worms and you won't look back! Promise!
 

growingcrazy

Well-known member
Densite definitely becomes an issue as does sandiness.

It becomes hard to maintan that loamy quality as materials break down.

Really good quality bagged compost is hard to find and isn't cheap. At that rate between adding more pumus, ewc and compost you are basically at the expense of bagged soil.

I recently bought a large bag of coast of maine compost, tons of gnats which really sucker because I have been gnat free for quite some time.

No til beds would work better if you have the space for that sort of thing.

I agree that if you have to purchase every item to make a batch of soil, it would be cheaper and easier to just buy a bag, for the first batch.

30 oz of EWC, 1/2 gallon perlite and 1 cup of amendments sets me back about $1.80 per cuft of soil mix for a reamend. This will get me through 1 round untouched.

I am just not a big fan of renting my soil.
 

MJPassion

Observer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Testing your mix shouldnt be that difficult or expensive. Lab tests are only needed every few cycles through the reammended/recycled soil when you notice a degradation of quality in your finished product.

Anyway, I'm not trying to change your mind. I completely understand that mixing soil takes a lot of space, time & energy.

Have you considered purchasing a bulk soil mixed to your specs? There are a few places that do this now.
 

I wood

Well-known member
I had some soggy overwatered plants about a year into reusing soil due to rice hull in too large a proportion, worms fixed everything in my situation.
Moses is correct on the worms adding aeration, beats the hell out of remixing.
The first year was back breaking but after so many pots were full I'm done with the hard part for a while.
These days I have up to ten large pots waiting for clones to go in them.
Try worms in a few pots before you give up completely, or don't, you got to do what works for you.
 

FireIn.TheSky

Active member
Notill soil can be done in a 5 gallon container. It couldn't get any easier.

Yeah I know it works well for some, however I don't just use 5 gollons.

I use 4", 6", 1 gal, 3 gal, 5 gal, 7 gal. I do not have the room to maintain no til I'm such a variety of pots. Beds are the way to go but I do not have the space for those either.

Again not discrediting the methodology, I am simply saying it's a pain in the ass and no longer works for ME. Also I don't want to invest anymore money into a failing system at this point. Bagged soul I can spend a few hundred and atleast get some plants growing right for a while. Not to say I won't return to soil recycling at some point but I won't try to run 5 years with same substrate. It will get tossed once a year at the very least. Long duration recycling is what causes problems. Then you add a little new peat or coco to it and you are right hack at square one with buying shit

If it works for you guys that's great, I quiiiit! Lol
 

moses wellfleet

Well-known member
Moderator
Veteran
100 billion worms across the planet are screaming their offer of assistance to you, all you need to do is listen!
 

MileHighGlass

Senior Member
Yeah I know it works well for some, however I don't just use 5 gollons.

I use 4", 6", 1 gal, 3 gal, 5 gal, 7 gal. I do not have the room to maintain no til I'm such a variety of pots. Beds are the way to go but I do not have the space for those either.

Again not discrediting the methodology, I am simply saying it's a pain in the ass and no longer works for ME. Also I don't want to invest anymore money into a failing system at this point. Bagged soul I can spend a few hundred and atleast get some plants growing right for a while. Not to say I won't return to soil recycling at some point but I won't try to run 5 years with same substrate. It will get tossed once a year at the very least. Long duration recycling is what causes problems. Then you add a little new peat or coco to it and you are right hack at square one with buying shit

If it works for you guys that's great, I quiiiit! Lol

Give notill a chance with some help from some of us on here, and then after two runs if you don't like it write a thread about how bad notill sucks.

Let's get started. I'm sure moses is in as well. Who else wants to help?
 

St. Phatty

Active member
So for the last 5 years or so I have been making and recycling my soil grow after grow.
...
Contrary to popular thought soil mixing still requires, lots of space, a considerable amount of time and it certainly isnt cheap when you factor in shipping on exotic amendments.

Wasn't sure if you were growing indoors.


A REALLY GOOD vacuum cleaner is sort of a must-have, it seems - at least for me.
 

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