Can FF soil be reused from one grow to the next?
- Thread starter RandyL
- Start date
I like how old threads pop up like this. The base FF soil is excellent stuff. I would add some basic stuff back with some added drainage and call it a day.
irocu88
Well-Known Member
I usually get about 4 pots filled out of a big bag of FFHF, and make up the last 1 or 2 pots with old sifted soil and a little perlite added with no issues......saves a little.
The Old Guy says always use fresh. Everyone has a slightly different take and a different situation. FF soils are amended soils they take care in blending so we all have the same starting point when we chose one of their fine products. I like to blend their Happy Frog with Ocean Forest. From here I might add other things like perlite, vermiculite, peat, composted manure and others, to achieve my preferred tilth. I worked hard to achieve just the right soil mix for me and my situation, my style of growing and my personality. This winds up being all mine and more than likely no one is doing the same thing. Nothing new, just different. (use more silica in your soil - I add lots of vermiculite).
If you use your soil from your last grow at least consider where you ended. Did you flush away the good with the bad as they say. Conversely they used to say, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." Every one has a different take away to meet their needs. I use fresh. Actually I have a tote with plenty of extra soil mix ready to go. Kept moist for the microbes. If I open the lid and see those little hairs growing I will be very happy. Maybe next I'll add some sort of mushroom spore just because I gotta be me. Don't do this at home.
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
@thehiker there is nothing wrong with reusing a good strong soil like anything in the Fox Farm line. I made supersoil out of some FFOF and ended up reusing that soil over and over again, for 3-4 grows a year, for almost 7 years, before I ever felt the need to re-amend and re-compost the entire lot.
The middle aged woman (me) says that it is not necessary to always use fresh. She also suggests not to blend specialty soils such as Happy Frog or Ocean Forest, because these soils were originally blended for specific purposes. If you wish to combine these fine soils, instead of blending, consider layering, such as Happy Frog in the top to promote germination while putting Ocean Forest at the bottom to sustain the cup until transplanting.
When I reuse soil that has been layered like this, it does all get blended together in the compost pile between grows and this soil mix becomes a hybrid of the various soils it is composed of. Again, using layers, I use this hybrid soil in my first solo cups (with fresh OF below) and in my next container too, always defaulting to my strongest and newest (or longest composting) soil, for the bottom of the final container.
Microbes don't need to be kept moist to survive... just look at all the dry powdered microbe inoculation products there are out there. If your soil is moist in the compost process, keep mixing it or mold can form, but the moisture does allow the composting process to keep going strongly. Extra soil being stored and not composted does not need to be kept moist... the microbes and fungi left in there will spring right back to life as soon as moisture is added.
The middle aged woman (me) says that it is not necessary to always use fresh. She also suggests not to blend specialty soils such as Happy Frog or Ocean Forest, because these soils were originally blended for specific purposes. If you wish to combine these fine soils, instead of blending, consider layering, such as Happy Frog in the top to promote germination while putting Ocean Forest at the bottom to sustain the cup until transplanting.
When I reuse soil that has been layered like this, it does all get blended together in the compost pile between grows and this soil mix becomes a hybrid of the various soils it is composed of. Again, using layers, I use this hybrid soil in my first solo cups (with fresh OF below) and in my next container too, always defaulting to my strongest and newest (or longest composting) soil, for the bottom of the final container.
Microbes don't need to be kept moist to survive... just look at all the dry powdered microbe inoculation products there are out there. If your soil is moist in the compost process, keep mixing it or mold can form, but the moisture does allow the composting process to keep going strongly. Extra soil being stored and not composted does not need to be kept moist... the microbes and fungi left in there will spring right back to life as soon as moisture is added.
Thanks for coming.
Thsnuts777
420 Member
Hell yea I totally agree and I also mix half and half with amazing results . I grow for a Despensery in Cleveland and I have done so many experiments through out my life . All you gotta do is half and half . Stop throwing your money away like that .
