Soil Amendment

[Cookiezealous]

I’ve never reused my soil, I would like to try. I currently use Big Rootz soil and add mr bs top dress for flower. Would like it to be water only again without having to ph anything. Does anyone have any experience in this?

 

[speedwell68]

I have reused soil in my garden. I normally add some Fish, Blood and Bone with a touch of Epsom Salt. Then you are good to go.

 

[Cookiezealous]

I have reused soil in my garden. I normally add some Fish, Blood and Bone with a touch of Epsom Salt. Then you are good to go.

Awesome, the one thing I’m in the dark about is the ph. What do you use to adjust ? Are you adjusting the water or does your soil do it for you?

 

[speedwell68]

Awesome, the one thing I’m in the dark about is the ph. What do you use to adjust ? Are you adjusting the water or does your soil do it for you?

I have been growing in off the shelf soil mixes for years and have never adjusted for Ph. My Ph is 6.8 to 7.0, when I have tested it. As far as I am aware is a good peat based mix will sort itself out, this seems to be the case. All of that Ph stuff is for plain coco/hydro grows.

 

[Richard Drysift]

The key is compost. Add back worm castings (or another form of compost) and a slow release fertilizer to go for another round. The microbes that are active in compost is what keeps ph in range. Adding lots of organic material usually drops ph slightly which is why you also want to add a mineral input as a buffer like dolomite lime and/or crushed oyster shell to bump it back up. Add everything at once and allow 30 days to normalize ph; aka “cooking” the soil. The idea is to add all that is needed in the container and then all you need to do is just add water.

 

[xtsho]

I reuse soil all the time without any issues.

 

[Cookiezealous]

The key is compost. Add back worm castings (or another form of compost) and a slow release fertilizer to go for another round. The microbes that are active in compost is what keeps ph in range. Adding lots of organic material usually drops ph slightly which is why you also want to add a mineral input as a buffer like dolomite lime and/or crushed oyster shell to bump it back up. Add everything at once and allow 30 days to normalize ph; aka “cooking” the soil. The idea is to add all that is needed in the container and then all you need to do is just add water.

So I would be OK to add in my dry amendments into the old soil with the fresh compost, maybe a little fresh soil outta the bag too??and that’s it? Good to go?
I’ve used salt for a long time, the organic thing is trippin me out

 

[Richard Drysift]

Yes that’s the idea. Toss it all in there and let it set for about a month. Don’t sweat it; keep it simple. As long as the soil remains active with compost and have plenty of moisture the plants will pretty much take care of themselves. If they start to fade brew up an aact or simply top dress with some ewc. A soluble fertilizer like liquid fish is also good to help maintain activity in your containers if adding solids is not enough.