Cheap skate: using recycled soil

[LowFalutin]

I've never used only recycled soil before, and it seems to working great! Had to buy a face mask to work with the stuff, it's just dust and perlite- reminds me high drainage desert-ish soil. I'm fertilizing with a mix of inorganics and organics. Will give a good flush every other other watering/feeding. Smart pots.
stay cheap

 

[pinecone]

Throwing away perfectly good dirt - and then buying more dirt at $13 per cubic foot (or whatever it cost) is kind of silly when you think about it.

I've been recycling for over a year perpetually. I grow in 22 gallon tote. When it comes time to harvest I just chop base the the plants, dig-cut new holes for cuttings, and re-plant. I leave the old roots and stumps in and re-amend by top dressing if necessary.

Pine

 

[redneck shogun]

Now all you need is to recycle your vegetative waste into compost and put that into your mix on your next run and you can grow for free minus the electricity.

 

[señorsloth]

Now all you need is to recycle your vegetative waste into compost and put that into your mix on your next run and you can grow for free minus the electricity.

not quite...leaf compost wouldn't be a sustainable source of balanced nutrients at all...you would still have to buy different poops and make tea's to fertalize...


i am still using the last 3 bags of happy frog i bought, 11 months ago, i have a few new bags for my next run. but thats only because i got the hemp mosaic virus from my chemdog and need to completely start over with all new beds, soil, cloner, wall coverings, everything i can afford to replace basicly...including the soil, but thats the only reason i am switching.

maybe i'm crazy, but i think i prefer my happy frog after i have washed away all the soil, worm castings or whatever, and are left with only the "soilless" parts, because then i know my soil is innert, and i can change nutrient concentrations very quickly compared to potting mix that wasn't soilless. actually i think recycled soil shouldn't be the "cheep skate" way to do it, maybe the "right" way, lol, throwing it out just seems like a waste...if your growing organic you have a living soil, might as well keep the herd...if your growing chemical, well then why bother changing soil ever?! flush it after each run and it's good as new.

there is a growing movement of organic growers who don't even turn their soil, they cut the old plants out, and put a new plant in the same, untilled soil...if they can get away with that then recycling is certainly not bad...

 

[firehound]

gotta know your used soil well....very well at that. i go 2/3 used soil add 1/3 various (fresher woody small compost),chunkier perlite...etc. just to gain a little more porosity in the final mix which is up to you. good luck. and thanks since i added my 2 cents

 

[Warped1]

Not a damned thing wrong with recycling, good for you Low

 

[Opus53]

not quite...leaf compost wouldn't be a sustainable source of balanced nutrients at all...you would still have to buy different poops and make tea's to fertalize...

adding nutes gets results lol..why do you ppl complicate life

 

[Warped1]

Lol, well these organic growers are gonna be laughing their asses off at the rest of us when all of a sudden we can't go to the hydro store..or Walmart to get nutes..it could happen

 

[señorsloth]

Lol, well these organic growers are gonna be laughing their asses off at the rest of us when all of a sudden we can't go to the hydro store..or Walmart to get nutes..it could happen
__________________

well i would be fine, 2 pounds of maxi bloom will last me like 5 years...and i just cracked it 2 grows ago...that would give me enough time to work on a more sustainable form of fertilizer...you know, in a world with no chemical ferts...although in the state the country is in, it seems more likely to me that we will run out of truly organic things before we run out of chemicals...lol

another nice thing about recycling soil...it's stealthier, especially if you have nosy neighbors or live in an apartment like me...no sense lugging huge ass bags of soil in every two months when you can use the same basic soil almost indefinitely(just like your favorite deity does)...

 

[pinecone]

there is a growing movement of organic growers who don't even turn their soil, they cut the old plants out, and put a new plant in the same, untilled soil...if they can get away with that then recycling is certainly not bad...

This practice of not tilling the soil, referred as "no-till", is used in conventional farming with synthetic fertilizers. In conventional farming no-till offers advantages associated with the reduced use of machinery, increased water infiltration and hold capacity, reduced erosion, increased microbial activity, increased organic matter in the soil, and reduced fertilizer usage (long-run)

Wiki article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming

Pine

 

[Opus53]

Lol, well these organic growers are gonna be laughing their asses off at the rest of us when all of a sudden we can't go to the hydro store..or Walmart to get nutes..it could happen

pisst...you can buy organic nutes in a bottle lol whod a thought it lol

 

[Marquis de Sod]

i am reusing my old soil too but at a 50-50 ratio to new. with extras. i like adding the pro-whateveritis cause it has new microbs. seems to be working out. adds perlite into it as well. doing this cause not all of my dairy compost got broken down by just one plant, so crumbling it up, adding some things to it like lime, bone meal etc.

god that dust is murder tho. makes me cough all day after just doing a few pots. i really got to start wearing a dust mask. it perlite bag doesnt say carcinogen on it but just that it makes you have shortness of breath. do you think they mean PERMANENTLY?

 

[LowFalutin]

Warm greetz fellow farmers-
One other thing I should add is that using recycled soil has reduced my insect problems to almost zero.
Seems there's insect eggs/larvae to be found in a lot of new packaged soils. YMMV, depending on which soil/batch you get.
Cheers

 

[firehound]

:I just got done drilling some 18gal totes for my used (veg),(bloom) soils. and little spiral of plastic are turning up after a good mix. should have gave it more thought (STONER-moment)and drill em empty. But i didnt . dont thinkit will hurt any how. as far as havin to buy new soils ....been awhile here which is nice n ez

 

[187020]

After extensive recycling, I've had some problems with high ph from dissolved minerals in my tap water built up in the dirt...know your soil! Peace

 

[budlover123]

After extensive recycling, I've had some problems with high ph from dissolved minerals in my tap water built up in the dirt...know your soil! Peace

Mix in some dolomite lime when you go to use your recycled soil, like a couple tablespoons per 3 gallons of dirt, that should help.

Pasteurizing the soil before adding the lime is a good idea, 350 F for 30 minutes, turn the soil twice every 10 minutes, use a tarp to avoid giant mess.

This would make a good sticky, people need to know about the goodness of soil recycling.

 

[thecliogeek]

I have been using recycled Pro-Mix for a couple years. I just do a good flush over a floor drain in the basement, only problem I ever had was asking my 26 year old to do it and apparently he tried to rush it the first time. Burned every thing it touched, reflushed it and no worries after that. I add some extras, but not much.

Everyone I knew thought I was an idiot, but I am in a downtown district and dragging dirt out every two to three months can be a lightning rod for attention.

I have been thinking of doing the 30 gallon totes and trying the untilled way to see if that can work for my sitation. But atm I am running DJS Blueberry and want to get that out of the way to get seeds first, then I'll try. Don't want to run expensive seeds in an environment I don't understand yet. I have read the threads on undisturbed soil and find it fasinating. I use only organics from Gen Hydro and they seen to work quite well in my situation. Only other item I add is epsom salts and blackstrap molassas.

Dumping dirt was really bumming me out, not only the costs, but I was running out of places to add it to my home flower beds.

My take on it is if it works keep doing it, more power to you!!

 

[firehound]

I boiled a pot of my city water and wow all the crap left over is amazing and f__ked up that any of that got consumed. I have been using a brita filter for yrs tho. i could see this stuff building up in my soil. experiment is due on my part. Washing of the soil with a flushing agent might do the trick and any ideas. or more of a run-off at any,and all waterings might lessen the building of these particles in my used soil

 

[Buddah Watcha]

My best grow so far has been on recycled organic soil. Just reamended with some EWC top dressed and watered a few times with EWC slurry. Had no issues at all.

I did the way Pine does, just remove the root ball and put clone in there. Soil already has the microbes doing work. You can always topdress some guanos if you feel like the plants are getting hungry.

So simple, and easy, much easier than having to remove roots and the dirt from smartpots.

Keep it smart amigos

 

[Bennyweed1]

Umm I have been growing organically before organics was a trend. Recycling soil is the only means to grow.

Let me say the it is the easiest method of growing, not confusing or complicated.

Growing organically means your not dealing with pH and EC. You grow the soil and in turn the plant takes everything it needs. Like going to a buffet, you can eat whatever you like.

The misconception is that it is difficult and that is simply a matter of changing peoples mindset. I dont see how mixing amendments into the soil ONCE and letting it sit is harder then checking pH and EC every single time you water.

Once a soil is established you simply top feed when you deem necessary.

Driving to a hydro store, talking to a middle aged adult that drifts from job to job whom is trying to give you advice, spending a considerable amount of cash, driving home, mixing the shit up just to realize your pH pen is dead because you forgot to turn it off sounds a lot more complicated to me...........Dont be foolish people, organics is simple and sustaining.

I have grown both with General Hydroponics best line up, and I have grown organically using methods that cost very little and a organically grown bud surpasses synthetic on all counts and Ill argue that until the day I die.

Who likes flushing anyways, Your starving you plants during the last critical weeks just to get rid of all the shit you dumped on them.

With organics you dont have to flush because for the most part, you have been using plain H20 and during that time the plant continues to take what it needs from the soil, continuing to get denser. Not starve because your flushing out nutrient build up, which you know is bad hence the flush in the first place.

Sorry to be the burden of bad news but bottle nutrients and packaged plant foods are for suckers that dont know any better. But people develop this notion that if they spend huge amounts of money buying the 'bestest' and 'newest' nutrients out, they will have the best grow and the is simply untrue and foolish. Just my 2 cents.