Recycling soil from last grow?

[LordCaliban]

Hey guys, I had tried growing from 3 bag seeds and currently I had 1 male, 1 hermie, and still one female left over. I've been using FoxFarms Ocean Floor soil in 5 gallon SmartPots. With the 2 plants that have been destroyed, can I shake free the soil from those two pots to reuse again if I decide to try another grow?

Thanks!

 

[trichomes]

Re: Recycling Soil from last grow?!?

I heard it is not a good idea, all the good nutes are used by previous plant.

 

[FuzzyGreen]

Re: Recycling Soil from last grow?!?

You shouldn't have a problem reusing soil. Keep in mind it wont be the same.... nutrients were used so I'd say mix in more soil and some extra perlite. Mix well, used soil tends compact easier.

 

[waknbak88]

Re: Recycling Soil from last grow?!?

I reuse if the plant wasn't in there long I just mix in a couple handfuls of earthworm castings some bat guano some perlite mix it them I water with some molasses and maxi crop just to make a little more nutritious but have done it with out doing any of this.good luck

 

[J189RFC]

Re: Recycling Soil from last grow?!?

Either you can toss it back into the earth pile, slightly diluting your medium, or you can toss it into the compost bin. If you are only doing very small batches, add some vigor to it and go ahead. Some people even flush first.

 

[Icemud]

Re: Recycling Soil from last grow?!?

I've re-used my soil and find that like mentioned above, If you add some worm casings to it you should be fine as long as the soil is in good health. Best way to tell is to get a good scoop of the soil in your hand and give it a smell. It should smell very earthy and sweet and not sour or stale. It also should be very loose and not crumbly or gritty. I find that without adding in extra fresh soil and lots of amendments, you can get about 3 grows out of the same soil before you need to mix it in with new soil and amendments.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: Recycling Soil from last grow?!?

If you plants have suffered with a disease / virus than i would suggest binning the soil/compost !

Fungus gnat etc can be controlled via an appropriate insecticide or soil drench... or sterilization by heat either from oven baking a very smelly process or use of suitable hortic grade equipment warming the soil to a set temperature to kill pests/disease's



How ever if following the organic method & nutrients the reuse of soil/compost is beneficial as over time the soil/compost population of beneficial microbes/microorganism have increased aiding plant growth/health

But if soil/compost was preloaded with nutrients these would of been used up... a trace value residue may be left tho !

If reusing soil/compost you may wish to dispose of 25% & replace with 25% fresh soil/compost...

If soil amendments are used a lower ratio may well be required to bolster mix of soil/compost depending on average life span of amendment being fast/medium or slow release nutrients...

 

[NCDude]

I just finished a grow with some 'old' soil. It did well. I mixed 1/2 old with 1/2 new Ocean Forest. I mixed in some Ancient Forest compost and good ole' earth worm castings….

 

[Joe Hemp]

After a bunch of research I've been learning that when using "organic" nutrients it's important to add beneficial bacteria and enzymes that will make the nutrients more available to the plant and to break down residual, leftover, nutrients. Brewing your own earthworm castings/guano/compost tea is the best way to go but for convenience you can buy powdered products that do the same thing without the extra work. I've been using Recharge to add beneficials to the soil. SLF-100 helps with breaking down the nutrient residuals and keeps the roots looking pearly white. I had a situation where I had overfertilized and tried the recommended SLF-100 "flush", applying 3 times the normal use amount for three days. Side by side with some plants I had flushed with copious amounts of water the SLF-100 plants bounced back and began new growth much sooner than the water flushed plants. The water flushed plants did okay but the SLF plants made them look like runts. As for the Recharge, their website claimed you would see a noticeable improvement in your plants in two days or your money back. I didn't do a side by side comparison but at week three with two different runs I swear to God the buds DOUBLED IN SIZE in both instances. That's good enough for me.

Also, back to flushing, if you want to reuse your growing medium there's no need to flush when you're using organics. Just add Cannazym or Hygrozyme for the last two weeks to help break down old, dead roots. Then after you harvest immediately dump your soil on the floor in your basement or garage and remove the root balls. Saturate with Cannazym water and cover with a tarp to keep it moist and let it set for a few days, turning it with a hoe or rake every day. Then uncover it and put some fans on it and dry it for a couple of days turning it with a rake so it dries evenly. Rebag it when it's about as dry/moist as any ol bag of potting soil.

But reusing soil is bad, right?

This one was started in the recycled soil from a clone as a test. As you can see, it's doing just fine.

Here she is, second from left, with her three other Oregon Diesel sisters from the same batch of clones which I transplanted into the recycled soil two weeks ago. In case you're wondering about the largest of the four, that one is growing in fresh Roots Organic with 20% Perlite.

Six different strains growing in recycled Sunshine Mix #4 with 20% Perlite.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[Joe Hemp]

If you want to reuse your growing medium there's no need to flush when you're using organics. Just add Cannazym or Hygrozyme for the last two weeks to help break down old, dead roots. Then after you harvest immediately dump your soil on the floor in your basement or garage and remove the root balls. Saturate with Cannazym water and cover with a tarp to keep it moist and let it set for a few days, turning it with a hoe or rake every day. Then uncover it and put some fans on it and dry it for a couple of days turning it with a rake so it dries evenly. Rebag it when it's about as dry/moist as any ol bag of potting soil.

But reusing soil is bad, right?

This one was started in the recycled soil from a clone as a test. As you can see, it's doing just fine.

Here she is, second from left, with her three other Oregon Diesel sisters from the same batch of clones which I transplanted into the recycled soil two weeks ago. In case you're wondering about the largest of the four, that one is growing in fresh Roots Organic with 20% Perlite.

Six different strains growing in recycled Sunshine Mix #4 with 20% Perlite.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[MadScience]

I reuse all my soils since the stuff is expensive. However I don't reuse the same soil for every grow, I let the soil from a garden rest for a period of about a year in large tubs I keep in the garage. I also add pete cups, stems and leaves from harvested plants and males to the resting tubs to inject nutrients back into the soil through composting. Before I store a tub, I always add a gallon of purified water so the soil stays moist during the resting period.

 

[Emeraldo]

If you want to reuse your growing medium there's no need to flush when you're using organics. Just add Cannazym or Hygrozyme for the last two weeks to help break down old, dead roots. Then after you harvest immediately dump your soil on the floor in your basement or garage and remove the root balls. Saturate with Cannazym water and cover with a tarp to keep it moist and let it set for a few days, turning it with a hoe or rake every day. Then uncover it and put some fans on it and dry it for a couple of days turning it with a rake so it dries evenly. Rebag it when it's about as dry/moist as any ol bag of potting soil.

But reusing soil is bad, right?

This one was started in the recycled soil from a clone as a test. As you can see, it's doing just fine.

Here she is, second from left, with her three other Oregon Diesel sisters from the same batch of clones which I transplanted into the recycled soil two weeks ago. In case you're wondering about the largest of the four, that one is growing in fresh Roots Organic with 20% Perlite.

Six different strains growing in recycled Sunshine Mix #4 with 20% Perlite.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Looks like a beautiful grow in recycled soil, Joe!

Cannazym is said by the manufacturer to speed up the breakdown and decay of dead roots in order to create a healthier soil medium for the new or the existing plant. Its enzymes are billed as strengthening growth of new strong healthy roots. Imho, growing healthy cannabis plants is firstly about growing the roots. That includes adding real nutrition to the soil, adding myccorhizae and beneficial bacteria, and Cannazym is a good product. Glad you mentioned that.