How to reuse soil

[fatbuds420]

anyone has any experience on reusing terra canna soil?

what about reusing soil in general, how do people do that? is there some specific stuff that has to be done? or just clean the soil and that's it?

 

[Mike80]

Wouldnt all the nutrients be used up in the soil? I think you have to add nutrients if you want to reuse. Buy new bag just to be safe.

 

[fatbuds420]

Wouldnt all the nutrients be used up in the soil? I think you have to add nutrients if you want to reuse. Buy new bag just to be safe.

terra canna doesn't have nutrients to start with. new bag of soil costs a lot if you buy it everytime you grow. it adds up. growing weed isn't cheap so if there is a way to save a few bucks why not

 

[Mike80]

Ah gotcha. Good luck with the grow.

 

[CanadianJim]

From what I saw in other threads you need to refresh the buffer in soil if you're going to re-use it. They suggested dolomitic lime. I usually just dump used soil into my composter and use it to amend my garden soil. With a 28 litre bag of my preferred soil costing $10 it doesn't make too much of a difference for me.

 

[canagen]

...what about reusing soil in general, how do people do that? is there some specific stuff that has to be done? or just clean the soil and that's it?...

Worm castings, kelp meal and malted barley would be my choice of amending soil. Don't know too much of Canna Tera but it shouldn't be that different.

 

[Apoc]

$20 for FFHF fills five 5 gallon or four 7 gallon. I get back at least 28 zips making good fresh soil look pretty cheap.

@Emilya has reused super soil like 7 years I'm betting she can tell you what's involved.

For me it's worth the $80 a year for happy frog.

 

[Emilya Green]

$20 for FFHF fills five 5 gallon or four 7 gallon. I get back at least 28 zips making good fresh soil look pretty cheap.

@Emilya has reused super soil like 7 years I'm betting she can tell you what's involved.

For me it's worth the $80 a year for happy frog.

I just keep my soil in good shape by keeping half of it composting all the time. In there I can amend with more minerals and I can add back all the debris from the last grow... leaves, stems, rootballs... it all goes back to create more rich soil for the next round.

 

[fatbuds420]

I just keep my soil in good shape by keeping half of it composting all the time. In there I can amend with more minerals and I can add back all the debris from the last grow... leaves, stems, rootballs... it all goes back to create more rich soil for the next round.

you should make a guide on how to reuse soil, btw, wouldn't adding granular fertilizer be enough to restore the soil to "health"?

 

[Emilya Green]

you should make a guide on how to reuse soil, btw, wouldn't adding granular fertilizer be enough to restore the soil to "health"?

I am not sure that I am enough of an expert in this to make a guide, but thank you. Soil isn't just about the raw minerals that are composted into it, it is about turning that mess into soil. The granular fertilizer is generally going to be in a form that is at least very close to being already available to the plant... it isn't the raw minerals that go into making soil. The trick is the compost pile and how it can break up plant debris and other organics and return it to a soil form. The way I understand it, most of this magic happens because of humic acid, which actually is 3 different acids that work to break up the organics and turn it into soil. But that is just part of it... microbes, earthworms, molds and fungi... all work in concert in that compost pile to break up the organic materials... and then the humic acids work to clump it all together into what we know as soil. I know this is totally unscientific and oversimplified... but that is all my working knowledge of soil allows me to explain. Maybe a real expert will jump in to explain all the things that i left out... like how to increase the cation exchange ability, adjust the flow through rate and the water absorption rate...all these are above my skill level at the moment.

 

[fatbuds420]

I am not sure that I am enough of an expert in this to make a guide, but thank you. Soil isn't just about the raw minerals that are composted into it, it is about turning that mess into soil. The granular fertilizer is generally going to be in a form that is at least very close to being already available to the plant... it isn't the raw minerals that go into making soil. The trick is the compost pile and how it can break up plant debris and other organics and return it to a soil form. The way I understand it, most of this magic happens because of humic acid, which actually is 3 different acids that work to break up the organics and turn it into soil. But that is just part of it... microbes, earthworms, molds and fungi... all work in concert in that compost pile to break up the organic materials... and then the humic acids work to clump it all together into what we know as soil. I know this is totally unscientific and oversimplified... but that is all my working knowledge of soil allows me to explain. Maybe a real expert will jump in to explain all the things that i left out... like how to increase the cation exchange ability, adjust the flow through rate and the water absorption rate...all these are above my skill level at the moment.

damn there is really a lot of stuff when it comes to growing. so what do these minerals exactly do? do the help the plant absorb nutrients etc?

 

[Emilya Green]

damn there is really a lot of stuff when it comes to growing. so what do these minerals exactly do? do the help the plant absorb nutrients etc?

They are the nutrients. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron are the big ones... but there are 17 minerals that we know of that the plant needs, including oxygen, water and carbon dioxide. If you get them in the soil and "cooked" in, a certain amount of these elements are broken down to the point that what they have is available to the plant. Not all of the elements in their raw form are immediately available, and it takes the microbes in the soil to pull them apart.

 

[Caeser951]

I’m new. Just started growing cause of the pandemic. I’ve read and spoke with folks saying to use worm castings. I would try to understand how to increase the micronutrients when trying to reuse the soil vs reloading on NPK. I think you can mess the sprout up with too much nitrogen. I would measure the ph. I tested fox farms happy frog soil before use. It had no N, but was good with P and K.

 

[BiggMakk]

I’m new. Just started growing cause of the pandemic. I’ve read and spoke with folks saying to use worm castings. I would try to understand how to increase the micronutrients when trying to reuse the soil vs reloading on NPK. I think you can mess the sprout up with too much nitrogen. I would measure the ph. I tested fox farms happy frog soil before use. It had no N, but was good with P and K.

How do you test for the individual micronutrients?

 

[013]

Soil test with your county ag department but that’s not something you need to worry about for now. For new growers it will save you crap tons of time and money to buy a good bagged soil and then use quality nutrients.

Fox Farms, Coast of Maine, Roots Organics, Pro-Mix HP for soils then for nutes one of our sponsors is Geoflora. They make an organic dry mix that you add to your soil before potting and then top dress every 2 weeks and water in. Geoflora is an all in one nute but you need 2 bags one for veg and another one for flower since the formulas are different.

As far as specialized soils there are supersoils but they still need additional nutes and then LOS or living organic soil which is water only. You can order a kit from build a soil like clacakamas coots recipe but consider that mixing ingredients and adding water is great however the stuff needs to cook for 30 to 90 days to sweat in a sealed container for microbes to activate, to blend together and to eliminate hotspots.

most soils only goes so far - so we add nutes to boost the performance and to keep the plant happy. Here’s why most agricultural / big box / lawn and garden / houseplant type fertilizers don’t work. Weed needs high N but lower PK in veg cycle, for flower cycle it needs little to no N but higher PK, yet it needs calcium & magnesium all the way thru.

 

[BiggMakk]

Soil test with your county ag department but that’s not something you need to worry about for now. For new growers it will save you crap tons of time and money to buy a good bagged soil and then use quality nutrients.

Fox Farms, Coast of Maine, Roots Organics, Pro-Mix HP for soils then for nutes one of our sponsors is Geoflora. They make an organic dry mix that you add to your soil before potting and then top dress every 2 weeks and water in. Geoflora is an all in one nute but you need 2 bags one for veg and another one for flower since the formulas are different.

As far as specialized soils there are supersoils but they still need additional nutes and then LOS or living organic soil which is water only. You can order a kit from build a soil like clacakamas coots recipe but consider that mixing ingredients and adding water is great however the stuff needs to cook for 30 to 90 days to sweat in a sealed container for microbes to activate, to blend together and to eliminate hotspots.

most soils only goes so far - so we add nutes to boost the performance and to keep the plant happy. Here’s why most agricultural / big box / lawn and garden / houseplant type fertilizers don’t work. Weed needs high N but lower PK in veg cycle, for flower cycle it needs little to no N but higher PK, yet it needs calcium & magnesium all the way thru.

Great answer. I just harvested my first grow (2 plants) and was looking at the soil (Happy Frog) thinking "I don't want to waste that but I'm not sure it can be used without doing something to it." I think I'll dump it in the backyard in some shallow spots. Next grow will be using Coast of Maine. If I am going to use the K.I.S.S method then just using commercial mediums is the way to go. Not that expensive and I'm not that much of a control freak....yet.

 

[013]

ok cool. You won’t regret fresh Coast of Maine. My apologies there - without knowing your deal was I was trying to steer you to a bagged soil. Whew feel better especially hearing you have experience but from another perspective yes absolutely - recycle, re-amend, mulch pile etc