Reusing Soil... Please read, then advise.

[gnarly]

Ok guys, i'm in the first month of my first grow, it is straight FFOF with an inch of hydroton in the bottom of 5 gal pots (for drainage). We are going light on the nutes because we would rather underfeed than overfeed, but i'm sure we'll give them plenty.

At the end of this grow, I'd hate to lose 120-130 gallons of soil. I'm not gonna pick it off the rootball, but whats left in the pots should be ok...

Anyway... I was thinking for the next grow to use 50/50 coco/used-FFOF. Maybe put a bit of perilite in there, but the coco will definitely breathe nice.

Can I reuse the FFOF to mix in with coco? I'm specifically considering Basement Mix, but I might look at FF-LightWarrior. Are there any concerns I should look for? Please let me know what ya'll think!

Gnar.

 

[dkmonk]

In short the answer is no. This can cause disease and fungus. From every grow video/book and from anything else i have read they always say not to re-use soil. Whether it will actually hurt your plants or not idk, because i havent done it but you could save half your soil and see if it works out fine and plant half in new soil and run comparisons.

 

[libby]

In short the answer is no. This can cause disease and fungus. From every grow video/book and from anything else i have read they always say not to re-use soil. Whether it will actually hurt your plants or not idk, because i havent done it but you could save half your soil and see if it works out fine and plant half in new soil and run comparisons.

Sorry, have to disagree with this one, i have done it and had no probs, iv'e actually got a couple of cuttings in re-used at the moment, where, in just vermiculite,i lost some.

But, to mix with coco,i would say not, never actually tried it, but the coco is soooo free draining, i'd say it would wash the soil to the bottom of the pot, these are my thoughts ONLY ....! but, personally, it sounds about right.

 

[Queso45]

Even if re-using the soil doesn't cause disease and fungus.... wouldn't you need to supplement it with nutrients because the previous plant used up all of the nutrients in the soil?

I would think the new plant's roots would have less room to grow if the soil is already full of them from another fully grown plant. Maybe you can successfully pull off a grow with used soil... but I would bet the plant would be better if it had fresh soil.

 

[facelift]

I've been reusing my soil for 3+ year. Yes, I've added new soil to the mix, but for all purposes, it's reused soil. I have never had a problem with mold, fungus, or insects.

 

[blynx]

I've been re-using my soil for a year now and it's better than ever.

I remove the excess soil from the rootball and run it through a 1/2" hardware cloth screen, then pitch the main root mass. This breaks up some of the roots into small pieces adding organic matter back to the soil. I also add nutrients back into the soil; guano, blood/bone meal, alfalfa meal, lime, greensand, etc. I moisten and turn the soil every couple days, then use when needed.

 

[dkmonk]

I'm just going by what all the marijuana experts tell me and that is no. Like i said im sure there wouldn't be a problem if you did but it isn't recomended. Maybe ask Sam he will know the right answer for sure.

 

[Microwido]

I guess in an ideal world I would want to replace my soil. But I prefer to re-mix what I have. I do it like this:

New -

1 50lb bag of Miracle grow soil 3 month
2 50bl bags of Advanced grow 9 month
1 25lb bag of sand
2 25lb bags of perlite

(can find that all at walmart)

Mix each pot evenly, yes its time consuming but I think worth it.

Then on the remix I will hand air rate (mix) each pot and add in 1 25lb Miracle grow 3 month and some sand. I think it is very important to thoroughly air rate the soil so there are no chunks.

 

[Tactical Farmer]

Re-Use thread from Organic section: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=35452