The re-use of our soil

[dazednconfused]

ok cool thx guys,

should this be done shortly after harvest or can it be left over winter, still in the grow bags?

plan on putting straw or something similar on top of the soil, so it doesnt dry out as fast (like mulch). would this protect the soil somewhat from the harsh winter?
[e.g 26-28 gals of soil per 30 gal bag,topped off with straw/hay.]

 

[Owl Mirror]

Hello everybody, I'm still new and am still looking to find a recipe I can afford and follow.
Living in a small town, I don't have many options unless I buy from the Internet. I've looked and it seems the shipping charges are almost equal to the price of the product so, I haven't gone that route.
Any easy to make, inexpensive recipes will be most appreciated.
I also thought about recycling the soil because it costs so much.
Would you recommend a compost pile and allow it to sit for some period.
I imagine that would require a rotation of soils.

I also had a thought, of course this might only apply to the various states that have Medical Marijuana laws in place but, has anyone thought of a Compost collective?
Somewhere that people could drop off their old soil to be composted and in return pick up a new batch of equal weight/volume ?

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

I don't think I would add too much used soil to the compost pile because it will slow it down. A fast reacting pile with lots of N and a turn or two can be done in a few short weeks and then you can mix them.

There are many alternative ways to make compost. I used to do it in black plastic garbage bags on my fire escape in NYC. Now, I collect it in a 5g bucket for a few weeks and bury it directly into the ground in my back yard. While it's in the bucket, it starts heating up, so I keep opening the bucket (for air) and shaking the contents, which speeds it up even more. I'm sure someone could easily modify this method to finish the compost in the bucket, no problem. If there's enough air, it doesn't even smell bad after a day or two of heating up.

 

[maryjohn]

greengenes, have you considered bokashi? sounds like it would work well with your method.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

maryjohn, my first attempts were quite like bokashi, but now I've gotten lazy! I guess I should make an excuse and say I simplified it, that sounds more scientific, eh?

 

[floralheart]

I wonder what people who don't ever re-use their soil end up doing with all that substrate. Maybe pile it in the backyard and tell the neighbors your property has really, really big ants.

It lays down where you tell it to.

And

It blends in well to its natural environment.

 

[Eliyaz]

what about grow bags? what method is recommended to re-use the soil inside a bag once harvest has been completed?

what came to mind was: remove the root ball/remaining stem, dump soil on a tarp, remix and repot...guerilla style

what is a tarp?

 

[maryjohn]

Eliyaz, a tarp is a large sheet of fabric, plastic or otherwise, that is used to cover the ground or sometimes tied to a frame to provide shelter.

 

[Hans Blix]

Tarp = tarpaulin. Presenning in Danish and Swedish.

 

[KnuckleHedd]

If I had the space/facilities to recycle my soil, I'd sure as hell do so. Replenish the "consumables" and boost the microbial population and it's good to go. Without the facilities I'd expect to see Gnats and such, which would make the whole thing counterproductive. I don't enjoy throwing my expensive ffof.

 

[phr3d0m2gr0]

KnuckleHedd: How large is your grow? You really don't need much space unless you have some sort of huge commercial grow. A the very least you could reuse some of the soil and add a little bit of it to your new soil each time just to get the microbial's going, ya know a quick boost for free.

 

[otherwhitemeat]

Many thanks to Clackamas Coot for hooking me up with this thread, I read it pretty much all the way through.

Curious for those using LC mix or similar---are you adding the amendments at full strength from the B1/LC recipe, or is it necessary to knock down the concentrations a bit when recycling?

Do I assume that all the blood/bone, kelp, and EWC have been consumed in the first run and add these at full strength? Any ideas?

 

[IE2KS_KUSH]

Good thread here. More info than I can comprehend. I have over a hundred gallons of FFOF, used from my previous grows, I trucked it cross country w/ the intent to figure out how to re-use it. But after reading this thread, I realize that I am shit outta luck, I used PBP Bloom, LK, CM, and Hydroplex in all my grows, from what I gather, my soil won't be re-usable due to this. That sucks, wish I would have read this before hand, oh well. Any hope for me, or should I just chuck it into an outdoor garden. For some reason I thought that I could keep it and add some amendments and be ok but from what I read, as I understand it, that's not gonna work? Am I wrong? I don't have a compost bin at the moment, and not likely to have one anytime soon. Is it a total loss?

 

[otherwhitemeat]

Good thread here. More info than I can comprehend. I have over a hundred gallons of FFOF, used from my previous grows, I trucked it cross country w/ the intent to figure out how to re-use it. But after reading this thread, I realize that I am shit outta luck, I used PBP Bloom, LK, CM, and Hydroplex in all my grows, from what I gather, my soil won't be re-usable due to this. That sucks, wish I would have read this before hand, oh well. Any hope for me, or should I just chuck it into an outdoor garden. For some reason I thought that I could keep it and add some amendments and be ok but from what I read, as I understand it, that's not gonna work? Am I wrong? I don't have a compost bin at the moment, and not likely to have one anytime soon. Is it a total loss?

Since no one answered I figured I'd bump.... Why couldn't you just flush it real good with some water and let it drain (punch some holes in the tubs, etc) doing this a few times over a few weeks? Then add some amendments and try regrowing a test plant or two. Some will say that PBP ferted soil shouldn't be recycled, but I've done it successfully. The shit is mostly organic, even if not 100%.

I would advise keeping soil recycling projects in a garage or other similar protected space. Any of the soil I've kept outside in the compost bin or pots of soil I've neglected seemed to have some bugs in it. The shit I've been recycling in my garage doesn't have the same issues.

I love this thread and have read it about 20 times--it's given me some great general info but what I've realized now is that there is not one single answer to 'how do I recycle my soil' There are perhaps as many answers as there are growers. Also, never underestimate a soil's ability to change over time.

 

[jaykush]

IE2KS_KUSH of course you already know its not the best option, but i would still re use the soil. throwing it out and buying more is a waste of soil and money imo. even though you might have used things that are not 100% organic, that doesn't mean it should stop you. some people have to recover land from years of chemical abuse(me being one of them). and they turn it into a healthy soil given some time, you should have a much better head start with your ffof base.

first off you should change your mindset if you want to re use soil, when doing this you pretty much want to focus on building soil ( i.e. a very healthy soil with a diversity of everything) i would start by adding lots of compost, organic matter and some sand instead of perlite( start working your way away from the peat based FFOF mix ). then water with some plain ol compost tea, let it sit and let the microbes do their job while you turn it every now and then to aerate it. you can amend with soil amendments before or after you let it sit from recycling, if you added them after, its best to let it sit another few weeks to a month before planting for best results. this is why its good to have soil "curing" while some is being used to grow plants, then switch so you have fresh mature soil to plant in and you can refresh the used soil. and no waiting.

just because you used something non organic or even chemical doesn't mean the soil is ruined, it just means you have to work a little harder to get it back to a healthy state.

 

[maryjohn]

Hey man, if you are reclaiming land used for chem growing, it's best not to dig.

But in containers how do you pull that off?

On the other hand you only did one grow? How much damage could you have done? In your place I would reuse it and not overthink it.

All that soil would be great for burying bokashi. Maybe check out a bokashi system?

 

[otherwhitemeat]

So, I just figured I'd add an update. I had some bad mojo a few months ago and tried to flower out some Mums, they got rootbound, were overvegged, underfed and just looked like sheeat.

There were 6 in a combo of LC and FFOF. I decided on a complete cabinet reset, pulled the plants, chopped them roots and all, into one foot sections then layered them in rubbermaid bins (3 inches of soil, layer of veg material). I turned the container once in the past 5-6 weeks since I made it. Yesterday, I was cleaning up my garage and turned everything again. Leaves are GONE, root masses are broken down into smaller pieces, I can't see any fibrous root structure any longer, and the stems and branches are all brown and snap very easily, almost like balsa wood.

I am going to try reusing this soil in my next run and will report back on my results. All I can say is WOW, I didn't think they would break down this fast!!! It should be soil again in a month if outdoor temps hold a bit.

 

[vonforne]

Good thread here. More info than I can comprehend. I have over a hundred gallons of FFOF, used from my previous grows, I trucked it cross country w/ the intent to figure out how to re-use it. But after reading this thread, I realize that I am shit outta luck, I used PBP Bloom, LK, CM, and Hydroplex in all my grows, from what I gather, my soil won't be re-usable due to this. That sucks, wish I would have read this before hand, oh well. Any hope for me, or should I just chuck it into an outdoor garden. For some reason I thought that I could keep it and add some amendments and be ok but from what I read, as I understand it, that's not gonna work? Am I wrong? I don't have a compost bin at the moment, and not likely to have one anytime soon. Is it a total loss?

Mother Nature always wins my man. Box up that soil and add some composting material and a fresh batch of BB tea and let nature do its work. In a few months it will be ready to use. Buy a 55 gallon rubbermaid container......or larger. It will be just fine.

A good flush before you start would be good and then you are off. In nture nothing is wasted so why should we?



V-man

 

[IE2KS_KUSH]

This is all good stuff, thanks folks. Already got 4 or 5 huge ass 50ish gallon containers, right now it's all just sitting in storage. I will make an attempt to save it, been reading a bit on the organic soil thread as well, just wish I could start working it now, then it would be ready by the time I actually need to use it. It will be a project for me, it's not going anywhere.
I read some on the um, oh what was it called, the Japanese compost method, that's interesting. Not sure how to apply that to the used soil, it looks like it is geared to garden beds but I think it could be done don't get me wrong. I need to find some powdered dolomite lime, EWC, and a few other odds and ends, I will try rejuvenating that used stuff and give it a go, probably not right away, but once I get set up and rolling again, slowly experiment w/ it w/ just a few clones at first to be safe, then if I see that it is working, I can just make the switch over to it. Should be a fun project, worse case scenario, I do plan to do a regular veggie garden as well outdoors in the backyard, so it can always end up there if need be. But after reading alot, I am getting more confident about recycliing. I would love to get to the point where I don't have to use anything but water, but I will take it slow in the mean time.

 

[otherwhitemeat]

The first rule of soil experimentation is: don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

If trying something different, try it out on one or two plants first. That way, if it doesn't work out, you still have some sort of harvest.