Why do people "cook" their soil?

[Chong_Irie]

I've been reading about many outdoor growers letting their soil "cook". So is this only necessary when certain nutrients are added or whenever we mix nutrients into the soil we have to let it "cook". For example my mix is just sunshine and ewc, do I need to let it "cook"??

 

[burningfire]

disregard this answer

 

[montanaorganics]

I think most organic growers let their soils cook so that the microherds may further break down the nutrients added into less complex nutrient forms. This brings the ammendments to a more simple state that is more readily taken up then by the microherd and then the plant. In organics it is preferred to avoid sterilization and overcome pathogens with beneficials.
No I do not think you need to cook with just EWC. When you start adding guanos, powders, and plant materials it is of more benefit.

 

[CANNATOPIA]

I believe its ta kill pests & help fend off differet diseases etc.

 

[Leon Brooks]

what montanaorganics said

 

[supermanlives]

no. with just ewc your good to go. montana said it best ^^^^^

 

[etinarcadiaego]

I think most organic growers let their soils cook so that the microherds may further break down the nutrients added into less complex nutrient forms. This brings the ammendments to a more simple state that is more readily taken up then by the microherd and then the plant. In organics it is preferred to avoid sterilization and overcome pathogens with beneficials.
No I do not think you need to cook with just EWC. When you start adding guanos, powders, and plant materials it is of more benefit.

I'd just like to add that cooking is HIGHLY beneficial for your soil mix - by cooking I mean pre-mixed your soil and keeping it moist for a period of time before planting. A great example is dolomite lime, which is commonly added to soil in both organic and in-organic grows, which takes months to become it's most active in terms of a buffer agent and micro nutrient source.

 

[SecretGardener]

I'd just like to add that cooking is HIGHLY beneficial for your soil mix - by cooking I mean pre-mixed your soil and keeping it moist for a period of time before planting. A great example is dolomite lime, which is commonly added to soil in both organic and in-organic grows, which takes months to become it's most active in terms of a buffer agent and micro nutrient source.

I am about to mix me up LC's soiless mix (Promix HP, perlite, dolomite lime, ewc) with blood/bone/kelp meals added. So after doing this just wet it with aerated water (does it matter?) and keep it moist outside for about a month?

 

[CannaExists]

So after doing this just wet it with aerated water (does it matter?)

It doesn't need to be aerated so much as dechlorinated.

To help clear up confusion to whom it may concern, "cooking" your soil is the practice of letting a soil mix sit (and keeping it moist) for as long as possible before using it, to allow the microherd to establish themselves and assimilate nutrients. Now, some people literally COOK soil in the oven to sterilize it, but this is a completely different practice.

 

[mad librettist]

I think most organic growers let their soils cook so that the microherds may further break down the nutrients added into less complex nutrient forms. This brings the ammendments to a more simple state that is more readily taken up then by the microherd and then the plant. In organics it is preferred to avoid sterilization and overcome pathogens with beneficials.
No I do not think you need to cook with just EWC. When you start adding guanos, powders, and plant materials it is of more benefit.

well I gotta say i disagree.

Maturing your soil takes the nutrients and puts them into living creatures, actually more or less as complex as the source. Or in the case of chlorophyll N becoming the N of a protein - you made it more complex.

So the purpose of maturing your soil is about charging the batteries, not draining them!

With just EWC, you should still mature the mix for sure! And maybe feed the life in the castings. They will need time to colonize the sunshine mix.

Under a microscope, finished castings are not very interesting. Add some food source and bubble though, and it breaks out. See, everything takes time.

 

[CT Guy]

When you add organic fertilizers or foods like alfalfa meal, bone meal, blood meal, etc... you're putting in microbial foods. The microbes are going to become more active and begin reproducing at greater rates. As this occurs, the nutrients are going to be cycled into plant available forms and also be locked up in the bodies of the microbes. The reason you need to wait a little while after adding these ingredients is because the microbes can multiply so rapidly that they will heat the soil (similar to thermal composting) or lock out the plant (think of adding unfinished thermal compost to your soil if it's still hot) as the biology stops eating the exudates from the plant and just consumes the other foods in your soil mix.

 

[Chong_Irie]

well I gotta say i disagree.

Maturing your soil takes the nutrients and puts them into living creatures, actually more or less as complex as the source. Or in the case of chlorophyll N becoming the N of a protein - you made it more complex.

So the purpose of maturing your soil is about charging the batteries, not draining them!

With just EWC, you should still mature the mix for sure! And maybe feed the life in the castings. They will need time to colonize the sunshine mix.

Under a microscope, finished castings are not very interesting. Add some food source and bubble though, and it breaks out. See, everything takes time.

Thanks everyone for the help.

MadL@How would I feed the life in the castings? How long should i wait before I transplant into the mix?

 

[redneck shogun]

The reason you need to wait a little while after adding these ingredients is because the microbes can multiply so rapidly that they will heat the soil (similar to thermal composting) or lock out the plant.

Don't you know CTGuy plants get locked out because of PH! In fact every problem can be solved by PH'n your water.

 

[mad librettist]

Thanks everyone for the help.

MadL@How would I feed the life in the castings? How long should i wait before I transplant into the mix?

Chong, I think CT Guy answered that already. I would not try to top that explanation, because its better than one of mine.


redneck - actually plants do get locked out by pH. just not often in an organic grow using the common recipes. we gotta stop saying pH doesn't affect plants or fewer people will check out how to make it seem like it's true. They know plants depend on pH because science says they do. We just need to communicate that someone smarter than you can take care of it - Nature.

 

[SecretGardener]

...as the biology stops eating the exudates from the plant and just consumes the other foods in your soil mix.

This is bad because...the plant is no longer able to attract the microbes to interact near the rhizosphere...which in turns means no nematode/protozoa poop which is the actual plant food ... right?

 

[mad librettist]

secret, it's not bad or good. It's up to you and your goals to determine that.

When I harvest, I leave the stem and roots. Now the roots become some of those "other foods in the soil".

 

[JackTheGrower]

It's like a speedometer. If we supply materials and make the conditions right populations will exploit materials as fast as they can.

A pleasant soil is a relaxed soil. If the soil you have is relaxed, meaning the biology has found some equilibrium then when the plant interacts it is not competing with excessive forces IMO.

I assume that a great deal of "Charge" in biological process will be present in that soil after a composting or cooking.. I could be wrong.

I just assume that letting the microbes do the hard work lets the roots manage what's left better and if what is left is priocessed raw materials I figure it's an organic plus.
After all we want the best of chemical with the safety of natural right? If letting the microbes go crazy on a rich supply on the basics we should have what time itself would do in a much shorter time?


It doesn't hurt is my last statement.

 

[Stoned Crow]

A pleasant soil is a relaxed soil.

Don't get relaxed to the point that you shit yourself....

Find a base soil that works, then take some runs with some new amendments and see how those work. There are a lot of threads here about building and growing soil. Keep in mind that your soil continues to live and will get better the more energy you contribute to it......SC

 

[JackTheGrower]

LOL Hi I'm JacktheGrower...

 

[Stoned Crow]

LOL Hi I'm JacktheGrower...

I only quoted you Jack, the post wasn't directed at you, it was directed at the OP. I have an idea of who you are.....SC