Old soil

Stuck27 · Jan 31, 2022

What do you all do with your old soil? I used mine for my outdoor plants but it's winter month and have nothing to do with it. Waiting for it to dry out, have already cut the stock down to the soil. I'm using ProMix soil. Thanks for any suggestions!

calvin.m16 · Jan 31, 2022

Stuck27 said:
What do you all do with your old soil? I used mine for my outdoor plants but it's winter month and have nothing to do with it. Waiting for it to dry out, have already cut the stock down to the soil. I'm using ProMix soil. Thanks for any suggestions!

I continue to use the old potting mix outside even in the winter I dump it where I want it to be in the spring. Stomp on it a few times and let it break down.

PadawanWarrior · Jan 31, 2022

Reuse it.

potroastV2 · Jan 31, 2022

Stuck27 said:
What do you all do with your old soil? I used mine for my outdoor plants but it's winter month and have nothing to do with it. Waiting for it to dry out, have already cut the stock down to the soil. I'm using ProMix soil. Thanks for any suggestions!

I built a large raised bed in my yard, and fill it with the soil from my used pots. The tomato plants are growing like crazy. However, I use actual soil in my pots, Pro-mix is not "soil" it's mostly peat.

:mrgreen:

Stuck27 · Jan 31, 2022

rollitup said:
I built a large raised bed in my yard, and fill it with the soil from my used pots. The tomato plants are growing like crazy. However, I use actual soil in my pots, Pro-mix is not "soil" it's mostly peat.

You're not wrong about that aha. Do you typically remove the root ball or leave it?

weedstoner420 · Jan 31, 2022

I reuse mine and add (per gallon):
2 - 4 tbsp all purpose dry fertilizer
1/2 - 1 cup compost or worm castings
1/2 - 1 cup aeration amendment (perlite, etc)

Mix it up in a big tote, keep it moist until the next run.

Jjgrow420 · Jan 31, 2022

I toss mine all into the compost pile. Then use that to top dress the outdoor vegetables.

Stuck27 · Jan 31, 2022

Do you take the root ball out and just cut the stock or take it all out?

weedstoner420 · Jan 31, 2022

Stuck27 said:
Do you take the root ball out and just cut the stock or take it all out?

I break up the root ball and mix it back in. It's food for the microbes.

calvin.m16 · Jan 31, 2022

weedstoner420 said:
I reuse mine and add (per gallon):
2 - 4 tbsp all purpose dry fertilizer
1/2 - 1 cup compost or worm castings
1/2 - 1 cup aeration amendment (perlite, etc)

Mix it up in a big tote, keep it moist until the next run.

Do you shake out the roots at all?

calvin.m16 · Jan 31, 2022

weedstoner420 said:
I break up the root ball and mix it back in. It's food for the microbes.

That's a good concept, I know them old root balls can get mighty haggard smelling which is why I've never attempted re-using my coco/perlite.

PadawanWarrior · Jan 31, 2022

Stuck27 said:
Do you take the root ball out and just cut the stock or take it all out?

What did you use as your fertilizer? With my organic soil. I just chop the stalk and let the pot sit for a bit. Then the stalk just falls off and the roots have been turned into food. And I replant.

weedstoner420 · Jan 31, 2022

calvin.m16 said:
That's a good concept, I know them old root balls can get mighty haggard smelling which is why I've never attempted re-using my coco/perlite.

I guess I'm talking about living organic soil. If I were running coco/perlite or some other inert medium, then yeah I wouldn't want dead roots in there. Need some microbes there to break it down.

PadawanWarrior · Jan 31, 2022

weedstoner420 said:
I guess I'm talking about living organic soil. If I were running coco/perlite or some other inert medium, then yeah I wouldn't want dead roots in there. Need some microbes there to break it down.

Hygrozyme helps break down roots, but I don't use coco, and Hygrozyme isn't cheap. I did use it the first couple rounds in my soil, but you don't really need it with organics so I stopped buying it.

calvin.m16 · Jan 31, 2022

weedstoner420 said:
I guess I'm talking about living organic soil. If I were running coco/perlite or some other inert medium, then yeah I wouldn't want dead roots in there. Need some microbes there to break it down.

What microbes do you like using if any? I've used Xtreme Gardens Tea Brewz, Real Growers Recharge, Mammoth P (EXPENSIVE) and have most recently considered trying TRIBUS.

HydroKid239 · Jan 31, 2022

PadawanWarrior said:
Reuse it.

I second that. I dump em all out in a bin & remove the root ball.. maybe toss some worms in there.
This run here used recycled ocean forest.

Stuck27 · Jan 31, 2022

PadawanWarrior said:
What did you use as your fertilizer? With my organic soil. I just chop the stalk and let the pot sit for a bit. Then the stalk just falls off and the roots have been turned into food. And I replant.

I use promix for now but from what I'm reading in this thread I should take out the root ball.

PadawanWarrior · Jan 31, 2022

Stuck27 said:
I use promix for now but from what I'm reading in this thread I should take out the root ball.

What did you use as fertilizer? ProMix is peat based, so adding some compost to it pretty much turns it into peat based soil.

PadawanWarrior · Jan 31, 2022

HydroKid239 said:
I second that. I dump em all out in a bin & remove the root ball.. maybe toss some worms in there.
This run here used recycled ocean forest. View attachment 5077776

Nice. Are you still using the FF nutes?

Antidote Man · Jan 31, 2022

What kind of light are you using?

Old soil

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