Reusing your soil. What to do with the roots?

[Chronicle_02]

I have taken the root ball out of the soil and threw it away but there is still a lot of little pieces of root hairs in the soil. Is it ok to use it as is? And top dress on top of it? Or should i try my best and remove all the hairs of roots

 

[HydroKid239]

I sift my soil and soak my perlite. Saves cash and trips to the hydro store.

 

[subudai]

I just try and get most of the old roots out by hand.
Its how i do it, but i also mix old compost 50/50 with new compost

 

[HydroKid239]

Is it bad practice to leave dead roots in soil?

Is leaving them in there better or worse than taking them out? What about for indoor vs outdoor? Is it okay to leave roots in a pot you plan to re-use soil for? In my mind I am mostly considering

gardening.stackexchange.com

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I have taken the root ball out of the soil and threw it away but there is still a lot of little pieces of root hairs in the soil. Is it ok to use it as is? And top dress on top of it? Or should i try my best and remove all the hairs of roots

Depends on how you're growing. Soil or coco? Hydro or organics? It makes a big difference.

 

[go go kid]

THE DEAD roots will use up nitrogen to break down into soil, taking them away from your plant

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Has anyone heard of no-till, lol?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

This is what happens when you don't remove the root ball if you're growing organically. I took this on Oct 3rd, I know it sucks.

 

[Star Dog]

I've started recycling my coco others I've spoken to that recycle their old stuff say getting all the roots out isn't necessary it doesn't have any ill effects.
I siffted my old root balls and was shocked at what I got back, it looks just like a bag of new coco+perlite mix obviously there's fine bits of root but not a problem apparently.

 

[TheManicOrganicDK]

IF you dont want roots and stuff in your soil, you can add a few ml of enzymes, when harvesting. Then after a few weeks, the roots has been "composted" and ready to reuse.

 

[smokinrav]

I recycled my soil for years, leaving some roots in never did anything that I noticed. I also used a high percentage of perlite, but I don't know if that mattered.
Perlite is expensive if your growing 20 plants in 5 gallon containers!

 

[Rurumo]

The roots from dead plants just enrich the soil of an outdoor vegetable garden, it's valuable organic matter added throughout the soil, not sure why it would be any different in soil used indoors. I would break it up so your next plant can send it's roots down easy, and like another person said, an enzyme product might help, though honestly I'm on the fence about them. Any organic matter in the soil will "take away" some nitrogen, it's just part of the composting process, so I guess it's good news that we feed these plants more than enough nitrogen to compensate anyway! I grow in coco now, and I plan on reusing it for the first time after my next grow to see if I can save some money. Right now it just goes into my outdoor garden and improves the soil.

 

[smokinrav]

Haha, yep. My raised beds had a lot of perlite in it lol

 

[Chronicle_02]

Depends on how you're growing. Soil or coco? Hydro or organics? It makes a big difference.

Super soil with organic amendments

 

[Chronicle_02]

The roots from dead plants just enrich the soil of an outdoor vegetable garden, it's valuable organic matter added throughout the soil, not sure why it would be any different in soil used indoors. I would break it up so your next plant can send it's roots down easy, and like another person said, an enzyme product might help, though honestly I'm on the fence about them. Any organic matter in the soil will "take away" some nitrogen, it's just part of the composting process, so I guess it's good news that we feed these plants more than enough nitrogen to compensate anyway! I grow in coco now, and I plan on reusing it for the first time after my next grow to see if I can save some money. Right now it just goes into my outdoor garden and improves the soil.

So there is no problem using it as is and top dressing it? Or should I try to fully compost it before using

 

[PadawanWarrior]

So there is no problem using it as is and top dressing it? Or should I try to fully compost it before using

I'd compost it first if you can.

 

[Raspberrykiwi]

This is what happens when you don't remove the root ball if you're growing organically. I took this on Oct 3rd, I know it sucks.
View attachment 4716459

You got worms in the dirt?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

You got worms in the dirt?

Yep. Red wigglers. But you don't need worms to break down the roots. The microbes will break them down.

 

[Raspberrykiwi]

Yep. Red wigglers. But you don't need worms to break down the roots. The microbes will break them down.

Ive been thinking of getting worms from Walmart and putting them in my soil since I plan on reusing it. Better to have the worms because they naturally give worm castings

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Ive been thinking of getting worms from Walmart and putting them in my soil since I plan on reusing it. Better to have the worms because they naturally give worm castings

I got mine from Uncle Jims.