Growing Organic in Non-Organic Soil

[eagletooth]

i've been looking into growing organic and was wondering if i could make the switch using the soil i have, which has been used on only one non-organic harvest. i'm worried that because i was using hygrozyme that it would make it hard to bring in beneficial bacteria and fungi. any thoughts? i'm doing planter beds (which have worked out great!) but after about $650 worth of sunshine #4 i'd hate to have to replace it all. thanks in advance.

 

[Wingman420]

Can't offer advice on that one but I do know I recycle my soil outside in about a 5yd pile that gets snowed on and everything a New England winter can throw at it. I only re-use this as a buffer or fill with new soil the ratio can be as much as 1:1 with mature plants. I would think if left outside to get drenched all non organic material would break down and you should be good. But I am not OMRI and some folks are sticklers for all organic.

Great Question +Rep

 

[Dipez]

I'm sure if you flush your soil out really well with lots of water you wont have any issue getting beneficial bacteria to grow. You could add a couple bags of mushroom compost and some earthworm castings to help getting that bacteria growing faster.

If you haven't found a good beneficial bacteria mix check out blue planet nutrients Root Magic. Just add some to your soil in the hole you dug to transplant a new plant into. Or you can mix a bunch into the whole soil.


check it out here Helping Professional Growers Succeed - Blue Planet Nutrients

 

[Vapedogg223]

i've been looking into growing organic and was wondering if i could make the switch using the soil i have, which has been used on only one non-organic harvest. i'm worried that because i was using hygrozyme that it would make it hard to bring in beneficial bacteria and fungi. any thoughts? i'm doing planter beds (which have worked out great!) but after about $650 worth of sunshine #4 i'd hate to have to replace it all. thanks in advance.

I think you can get beneficials into any soil! I'v been reading up on organics myself, I built an AACT brewer, and bought two books: Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis, and Compost Tea Making by Marc Remillard. I'm about half way through the books, and I'm pretty much sold.

Try searching for compost tea, AACT, etc. this came up here: Tea brewing

I also use Hygrozyme, it's supposed to prevent the formation of pythium and algae, speed up the degradation of dead organic matter, and facilitate the uptake of chemical nutrients. It is organic, and it will not harm beneficial microbes.

 

[eagletooth]

thanks guys for the great feedback! i'm thinking i'll use GH's FloraKleen to do a thorough flush or two and start my new crop with GH's Subculture M (mycorrhiza fungi) & Subculture B (probiotic microorganisms) to inoculate the soil. i've gotta work fast because i have a 4 crop rotation going with only 2-3 days of downtime between transitions (i'm growing about 4 lb. per month). i'll keep you all posted as to how well the switch goes.

 

[WebHydro]

We're having a sale on our Hygrozyme 1 and 4 Liter. Cheapest online! Orders over $100 - free shipping. Just in case you need some more