New to Super Soils, How to cook soil in Winter?

Hey Rollitup just got thru my first small batch of Super Soil 12lb batch. It's now the middle if winter here in the Ozarks and how in the hell do I cook the soil in the sun (no sun) and 20 degree weather??

what is really needed to cook a batch, sun ?? heat??

Thanks again Rollitup, wouldnt have made it this far without ya

I'm curious as well.

Well thinking about this I am assuming you need the heat to cook the soil,

I mix in a very large tote 35gl (?) and I have a large plant seedling mat that is 12"x24" my thought is lpace the mat under the tote and see if there is enough heat to get it going.

Thoughts Anyone ??

Cooking soil is slang for composting it. The billions and billions of microbes are what " cook the soil " so to speak by eating the amendments and pooing them out to make them more soluble for the plants. They do generate their own heat compost pile in the winter melt right away and create steam. Small batches the Cold might slow them down but you can take your tote inside where it is warm if you have the space and don't care about the stink.

JavaCo said:

Cooking soil is slang for composting it. The billions and billions of microbes are what " cook the soil " so to speak by eating the amendments and pooing them out to make them more soluble for the plants. They do generate their own heat compost pile in the winter melt right away and create steam. Small batches the Cold might slow them down but you can take your tote inside where it is warm if you have the space and don't care about the stink.

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TY JavaCo, figured it needed some heat to get rolling. Going to have it inside with the plant mat and see how goes, Many
Happy Girls to Ya

JavaCo said:

Cooking soil is slang for composting it. The billions and billions of microbes are what " cook the soil " so to speak by eating the amendments and pooing them out to make them more soluble for the plants. They do generate their own heat compost pile in the winter melt right away and create steam. Small batches the Cold might slow them down but you can take your tote inside where it is warm if you have the space and don't care about the stink.

Click to expand...

Yup... you nailed it bruh.... but isn’t it amazing how literal we as growers (majority of us are beyond average intelligence too) take simple instructions way to literal though before we’re certain about methods, lol.... by no means am I a master at the craft of soil making but the best way to learn organic soil methods and recipes is via someone else dialed recipes like subs SS.... as mentioned outdoors below 55-60 even will probably slow the process down and make it take longer than the suggested time... but you definitely wanna see the soil heating up.... give it a seriously good mix when you initially mix it, if you think you didn’t do it good enough try to give it another mixing before the end of the first week of cooking/composting...

but no more churning the soil after that... it needs to do its thing creating the microherds etc...without being mixed up any further.... a trash can with a layer of nice coir or your favorite coco medium on top of the soil after mixing and moistening it....cover up the soil n keep the moisture in.... you want it wet but not like your watering a trash can to complete saturation like a plant in soil would need at watering time....

I’ve tried multiple organic recipes, vegan soil recipes, I recently got my PhD when I ran a hydro grow and mastered it before I ran outta financing on an op.... out of all the methods I’ve tried.... supersoil when done right, is the easiest/least work aside from mixing all that soil and slightly larger containers and plants for comparable yields to anything else....as far as fully organic soil method, tasty tasty buds, and awesome yields as long as your realistic with veg periods and pot sizes....when you can make the plants fade/run out of food in the last week or 2 eventually based on concentrate amount you apply is when your nailing it.... I’ve done flood and drainhydro but other than speed In veg and sometimes faster flowering times.... I’m going back to my organic SS roots... i think hydro has its places like cloning and moms but organic flowered/grown herb is amazing....

Sorry fellas I’m nervous rambling cuz my dad had a heart attack tonight n I’m nervous typing....

Hope i provided some usable info....

Well Thanks to Ya'll, made it through the winter and the soil I made during the winter has been less than sucessful, running out of nutes halfway thru flower, N most notably.

Cookin Summer Super Soil, gonna make enough to last the winter

Thank You Whitey78, Great Info and I'll stop stirring my soil now

HDPursuit said:

Hey Rollitup just got thru my first small batch of Super Soil 12lb batch. It's now the middle if winter here in the Ozarks and how in the hell do I cook the soil in the sun (no sun) and 20 degree weather??

what is really needed to cook a batch, sun ?? heat??

Thanks again Rollitup, wouldnt have made it this far without ya

Click to expand...

just store in inside like a garage or something it dosnt need to cook just not be frosen.

sub

Well it's July now and I could definitely tell the diff between the summer soil and the winter soil. The Summer soil had enough nutes to get the crop thru to the end without any signs of deficiency. The Winter soil started falling on it's face about week 3 out of an 8 week strain. (N). Both were mixed and nutes weighed the same. Just ordered enough additives to make 3 more batches that I'll store for winter. The Winter tote was kept at much cooler temp but didnt freeze.

Thanks to All and SubCool Too Cool [ tips hat ]

Love the thread

JavaCo said:

Cooking soil is slang for composting it. The billions and billions of microbes are what " cook the soil " so to speak by eating the amendments and pooing them out to make them more soluble for the plants. They do generate their own heat compost pile in the winter melt right away and create steam. Small batches the Cold might slow them down but you can take your tote inside where it is warm if you have the space and don't care about the stink.

Click to expand...

I just started mixing my own soil the last few years. The info above is spot on. Even on the coldest days the good live soil is warm just from the process of it breaking down. I mix my soul in a giant tarp and then use the excess tarp to wrap it up. The tarp keeps it nice and warm even in the dead of winter.

If you are in a situation where you have alot of snow you can actually use it. Snow is one of the best insulators in nature. I have never used it to make a space for composting but I have made snow domes with my kids in our back yard in MI. With 3 peoples body heat it was warm enough to sleep in. It may be a leap but I think the heat of composting soil should keep it well above freezing. That is, If the process had already started. I think I'm gonna try this...

Well I think I might try my hardest to make some soil this winter I'm my basement and use subs Rx for soil but add my grass compost I made over the course of last summer for some extra n in the mix.

Would I be off my rocker that with a natural additive like grass compust and subcools organic mix.... Would it take longer to cook over the winter with everything else included? Meaning extra time.

I am middle East coast and I use a 125 gallon livestock waterer to mix my soil in...I keep it in the garage where it is always like 45* and my soil is always fine...I mix my soil in a cement mixer then empty it into the waterer and cover it...40 days later it is good to go....summer 25-30 days cook time.