Is forest soil suitable as a growing medium?

[TrappinInNature]

Went hiking today got some soil and baked it at 200 degrees f for 20 mins to sterilize it to kill any bugs/eggs/seeds. Would it be a good growing medium for cannabis?

It looks good, dark, nice, moist, and earthy smelling. I'll add nutes.

 

[Chunky Stool]

Went hiking today got some soil and baked it at 200 degrees f for 20 mins to sterilize it to kill any bugs/eggs/seeds. Would it be a good growing medium for cannabis?

It looks good, dark, nice, moist, and earthy smelling. I'll add nutes.

What was growing where you dug up the soil?
I'm guessing not much.
Maybe ferns and some moss?
Trees try to kill everything under them. Shade & acidic soil usually does the trick. Check the PH of your soil with a slurry test (distilled water only).
Your soil could be toxic to cannabis.

 

[deno]

You need topsoil. Most soil in forests don't have much, because there's not much sunlight. Dig straight down into any outdoor soil. Look close at the side of the hole. You'll see a color change where the topsoil meets the other soil. It can be anywhere from 1/2' down, to 10"+. It's typical around here (in the midwest) to be 4-6" of topsoil. You also should stay away from clay based soils. Give a handful a good squeeze. If it doesn't crumble when you release it, it's probably clay based. About half the soil in North America is clay based. The other half, sand based.

 

[TrappinInNature]

What was growing where you dug up the soil?
I'm guessing not much.
Maybe ferns and some moss?

Just a bunch of weeds. I was actually looking for a random plant to take a cutting from, but yeah there wasn't much variety so i couldn't find anything worth taking. In spring and summer it's a little more lush. It was also next to a stream.

 

[Dr. Who]

Not a bad base to amend and improve.

Sad thing is, you killed it by baking it......No more living soil....

Maybe learning to build your own soils would be much better....

Simple, basic, and a good place to start on water only soils.

https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/easy-organic-soil-mix-for-beginners.1116550/

 

[vostok]

Went hiking today got some soil and baked it at 200 degrees f for 20 mins to sterilize it to kill any bugs/eggs/seeds. Would it be a good growing medium for cannabis?

It looks good, dark, nice, moist, and earthy smelling. I'll add nutes.

if you are cheap here ...I don't wanna know the rest

5 minutes in the organic section would give you an idea of whats required

bleed $25.00 for a sack of Fox Farm ocean forest and a small bag /25% perlite

good luck

 

[deno]

Oh, he's okay. Stop being drama queens. A $20 bag of fox farms could turn into $100 bucks easy. Baking it doesn't ruin it, although its not helping any. Just make sure you amend it. Look at the organic threads.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/honest-answers-about-reusing-soil.498734/

 

[too larry]

Went hiking today got some soil and baked it at 200 degrees f for 20 mins to sterilize it to kill any bugs/eggs/seeds. Would it be a good growing medium for cannabis?

It looks good, dark, nice, moist, and earthy smelling. I'll add nutes.

No need to cook it. Those 100 foot trees seem to do alright without being protected from all the live stuff in soil. Look for soil that is growing really rank weeds. That is a sign of rich soil. Pull the weeds and turn it up in place, adding Epson, lime, manure composts, nutes, perlite or vermiculite as needed. Most of the time I use at least 50% native soil in my holes. And I have mostly sandy soils. If I had better dirt, I would pack in less.

 

[TrappinInNature]

I'm just gonna get some some coco coir and nutes. I'll dive into organics someday.

 

[Chunky Stool]

I'm just gonna get some some coco coir and nutes. I'll dive into organics someday.

Growing in organic soil is actually easier than coir.
Do you have PH & PPM meters?
Are you set up to handle a lot of runoff?

 

[Dr. Who]

^^^^^^ MUCH ^^^^^^

 

[Nugachino]

You need topsoil. Most soil in forests don't have much, because there's not much sunlight. Dig straight down into any outdoor soil. Look close at the side of the hole. You'll see a color change where the topsoil meets the other soil. It can be anywhere from 1/2' down, to 10"+. It's typical around here (in the midwest) to be 4-6" of topsoil. You also should stay away from clay based soils. Give a handful a good squeeze. If it doesn't crumble when you release it, it's probably clay based. About half the soil in North America is clay based. The other half, sand based.

Gypsum will help with that issue.

 

[Dr. Who]

^^^^^^ powdered ^^^^^^

I like it better anyway.