The re-use of our soil

[Mikey]

Reusing soil is the best thing you can do if you grow inside and have nosey neighbors.
I compost my male plants into the soil and that helps to 1 get rid of males and 2 re fortify the soil.

Also the fow farm ocean forest is hot enough and needs no ammending other than some extra perlite and your good to go for atleast a month.

I am an avid re user of soil..and some don't agree. But I have never had one problem with reusing it...other than having to add a little extra dolomite lime to adjust the pH ...There is no since in throwing out good dirt that i paid hard earned cash for.

 

[Guest]

The only time I don't reuse my medium, is if I had problems(pests, disease) with the previous grow. It's best to toss it in the compost pile outside and rejuvinate it, than take a chance on running it again indoors.

Cheers,
SH

 

[vonforne]

I have no pests or disease. I keep my grow clean and sealed. I can see your point though if you have these problems. My outside area recieves the soil from the containers that are used there but my inside soil goes in bins or is wrapped in a tarp. There are no pests and I sterilize my containers after each grow with a 5% bleach solution. Cups,1 gallons, 2 gallons and 4 gallons. I know it takes alot of work but you can never be to careful.

 

[Suby]

I have a dark secret, i never sterilize, use pest control, i even stopped neem dunking, i don't use peroxide or any pest strips either and I have never....

ever...

had a pest or bug problem.


maybe it's because i've obeyed 2 rules

i don't bring soil or plants from outdoors to MY indoor.
i have a very low RH setup wich i mist every now and again

Sub's

Edit: sratch that I'm back to neem dunking after thrips .

 

[irie-i]

rule number 3: change your clothes and shoes at the growroom door. i wear my hippiest cloths in there, in my redneck town the plants are the only ones that appreciate the outfits i cant wear out in the world

 

[Guest]

I have a dark secret, i never sterilize, use pest control, i even stopped neem dunking, i don't use peroxide or any pest strips either and I have never....

ever...

had a pest of bug problem.


maybe it's because i've obeyed 2 rules

i don't bring soil or plants from outdoors to MY indoor.
i have a very low RH setup wich i mist every now and again

Sub's

Absolutley excellent. Since I switched to compressed coco I have not had a single pest. I think my fans blowing 24/7 have a bit to do with it....but when I used promix, I got mites or aphids.

I wish I could leave you rep suby....of course this isn't the first time either.

Cheers,
SH

 

[Suby]

You know at OG I had a Karma bar, I averaged 1+ "?karma" per post but who the hell knows me know?
I used to keep my mouth shut when i disagreed sometimes just to appease the karma whores, I used to think alot of "rep" meant soemone was worth listening to...
4 years of serious growing and alot of googling, FAQ reading, e-mailing and PMing I know that alot rep does not a grower make...
I appreciate a simple ty and props as anyone would.

S

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

I can atest to the rule of not bringing soil in from outside-even if it is in a bag.

I had a bag of organic soil in the outbuilding that I used in my garden, well, at some point it became infested with springtails.

As a result of the springtails in the soil, nature provided me with an indiginous preditor mite to counter.

Unfortuantely, when I discovered the preditor mites, I freaked and I neemed, poisoned, NPS my plants to death. It was the worst weed yet to come out of my humble bud box and I never eliminated the problem until I broke the grow down and started over.

By the way, the springtails are not a significant problem nor were the predator mites. It I had left them alone and simply used new soil on the next rotation all would have been good.

Lesson learned- postitively ID your pests before acting.

I used the resouces my state has afforded me and took samples to the Dept. of Agriculture and they did it for free and mailed me the info on each insect.

minds_I

 

[Guest]

I just put it in my garden some organic things take more than 3 mo to decompose i.e. bonemeal and greensand.

 

[irie-i]

as far as i know the main soil-borne pests are sciarid (aka fungus root gnat) and thrips, both pupate in the soil. so if one is reusing his or her soil it might be a good idea to get predators for these guys, because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the dank (or something to that effect)

www.thebugfactory.ca

very cool people, they dont seem to care if you grow greenhouse veggies or jah-herb, they wont narc

i am irie

 

[supermanlives]

been recycling for a while. i add back lime,bone and blood meal,seaweed,hygrozyme,greensand,fresh wormcastings or tea and vermiculite or perlite. if i had a pest or sick plant prob i would ditch the soil. havent had any probs myself. fungas gnats and thrips are easy to whip tho

 

[3BM]

Great thread guys! Lots of constructive discussion, easy on the eyes.

Just thought I would add that bringing soil from outside is not always a problem. I reuse my soil and often bring in dirt from the garden. The key is proper composting. "Proper" composting should reach around 155F. Thermaphilic bacteria heat a well insulated pile even during freezing cold weather. At 150-160F most parasites, weed seeds, and other negative tag-alongs will perish ... while many beneficials remain to take over unimpeded. In addition, adding doses of beneficials will establish a strong colony to outcompete any negatives. I add aged compost to seed new piles, but any innoculent would work. Turning the pile regularly ensures an aerobic environment as well, another important condition for strong beneficial colonies.
Bringing in soil that has been properly composting can reinvigorate tired mixes, without any added risk of infection. I cherish the time my soil spends outside. Healthy soil outside is healthy soil inside.

3BM

 

[guanoman]

What can be added to the soil to get it heating up to 155F?

I added 1TBSP blood meal 2 TBSP bone meal to my Promix HP. I I watered it like I would if there were a plant in ti. Than let it sit for a couple weeks, but it seemed to stay at room temperature.

 

[vonforne]

3BM is talking about making your own compost. When you make your own and the organic matter (raw organic matter)is starting to break down it creates heat. Which kills the insects and the weed seeds. Now, you are talking about your soil mix "cooking" it has already been composted and will not reach that temp. When you "cook" your soil in preperation for your plants you are simply activating the microherd to begin breaking down the elements in the soil for uptake by the plants.

 

[guanoman]

Thanks for clearing that up vonforne, I was really wondering if I did something wrong.

I have another question, if someone uses Urine in their organic regimen. Will salt build up become a problem after a while if you continue to reuse the soil?

I read some great things about using Urine the free N source, but could this be a downside?

 

[vonforne]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21381&highlight=urine+fert

Here is a site here which discusses this. Hope you get your answer there.

 

[guanoman]

Thanks, but that is the thread that originally informed me of the potential to use Human Urine as fertilizers. There is no mention of re-using soil in that thread unfortunately.

Though maybe with this bit of info we can make a conclusion of some sort. Urine contains a max of 2.2% salt and a maximum 5% dissolved solids. so essentially half the content of the urin could be salt and the other half nutrients.

Would using a fertilizer that is 50% salt by dry weight, be a problem for recycling soil?

 

[vonforne]

yes, that is why we do not use anything but 100% organic fertilizers. The continued salt build up would kill the micro-organisms in the soil. In effect, it would then be dead. And nothing would grow in dead soil.

 

[guanoman]

Human Urine is 100% organic. I wonder if there is anyone out there who has tried continual re-using soil that was fertilized with Urine.

I guess I will stick with Guano and Blood Meal until I get my grow dialed in.

thanks.

 

[vonforne]

Too much salt.