Re-using FFOF after synthetic nutes

So I had a question about reusing soil after running a grow with synthetic nutes. I have some 50/50 FFOF/HF right now that I'm about to finish my grow in. I've used some jacks classic during the flowering stage to treat some deficiencies. I got to reading about reusing soil and I wanted to try it when I get done with this grow but I didn't know if I could do that after using nutes on it. Is that possible/a ok thing to do? I tried searching but couldn't find any threads answering that question.
If so I was going to add the following to the soil before re-planting for my next grow: per 1.5 cf of reused soil -
1.5 cups tomato tone 3-4-6
1.5 cups kelp meal 1-0.1-2
1.5 cups fish bone meal 3-16-0
1 cup Lime
Earthworm casting (maybe 10-20 cups, idk if that's too much)
and then maybe compost?
Would it be ok without the compost? Also, is this ok if I can't let the soil cook? Pretty much I'll be harvesting then throwing clones right back in the soil after a couple days. I don't know if this would be ok. If not I'll just toss the soil and run a fully organic grow then start reusing the soil if that is the right way of doing. Thanks in advance for the help you guys are awesome here in the organic section, been a long time soil grower just now getting in to strictly organics and hopefully reusing my soil!

Yes you can reuse it as long as you hydrate it well & allow it to sit for awhile. If you flushed your plants there shouldn't be much dissolved salts present from the synthetic nutes but they are water soluble even if there is so you can rinse them off; I only know because I have done it & I am still using the same mix today. You can always just simply add more fresh bag soil to your existing mix but if you add certain dry amendments like blood meal(tomato tone), fish bone meal, or kelp meal to it you'll need to allow time to let it cook down; can't really skip that unless you add nothing but compost and/or minerals like lime & azomite which doesn't need to be cooked in. It will become more active the longer you reuse it. Don't skimp on the worm casting and/or compost; you can add as much as you like just be sure to add perlite and to help with drainage & aeration. If you need some mix to transplant in right away I suggest getting another bag of FFOF or equivalent to use. Then you can add any extra to your recycling soil.
If this is not an option just rinse your FFOF/HF spent mix well with non chlorinated water & use it as is with maybe just compost, minerals, & possibly even a nitrogen source like manure mixed in. If you add fresh EWC, lime, & maybe some composted chicken manure as a fast N source to your currently spent mix you can get through your first month or so until the rest of your recycling soil is ready to use.

Right on, yea that's what I thought about the whole not skipping the cooking, I just didn't know what amendments you could skip cooking with and which ones you couldn't. Thanks for clearing that up. I'll probably just buy another fresh batch of OF/HF but keep this grows soil and then I can have a rotation going and can cook them a sufficient amount of time. I'm just getting my feet wet and don't yet have a compost pile of any sort so I'd only be able to buy it. Question though, if I added the amendments I listed above without the compost would that we sufficient enough with the right amount of time to cook or would I need to add more/different amendments you think?

Compost is really important & actually adds most of the microbial life which will drive your plants growth. Amendments must first be consumed by the microbes in order for them to be available to the plants in the first place. That being said even spent soil is somewhat active...there's still life in it just few & far between. You can add back microbes in tea form to boost micro-activity but adding fresh compost is best.
You can start a regiment of AACT or even add manure or some other form of humus but eventually you'll need to add compost in some form. Just adding dry amendments will make the soil richer but not necessarily active. Even just a handful of castings in the top layer of a container can make a huge difference in how happy & vibrant your plant can be...don't skimp on it- you don't even need that much.

Yea I figured it's pretty important since I see it in every organic or super soil mix. One more quick question, please excuse my ignorance, but is EWC and compost the same thing/are they interchangeable?

Well sort of....Earthworm castings (EWC) are a form of compost & a super powerful one at that...the best for cannabis in my exp but bagged manures are also compost...so is a pile of decomposing leaves. I add composted chicken manure to my mix as well which really kicks up the Nitrogen & gets my vegging plants green & vibrant. You can get bagged composts like ancient forest which are fungal dominated so you see there are several ways to add compost or even make your own but it's the heart of your organic mix & the main driver of your plants.
Having a worm farm was a total game changer in my grow... allows you to get away with a lightly amended mix. Just adding EWC can make a sterile mix totally alive again. High levels of micro activity is almost more important than how much nutrient is in the soil. I can add fresh EWC to a spent mix from a recent harvest & it will support a clone for weeks without adding anything but water. Dry amendments literally take years to break down & become available to your plants but it is the microbes living in the compost that make it happen by colonizing the soil.

Listen to "Shark Boy" here (Loved RD in that movie so many years ago). Saved me a bunch of typing as there isn't much I could add. I have also reused mix after Jack's Classic with same results.

The #1 thing you can do for your garden is start a worm bin. There is simply no way to stress that too much. I skipped 'store bought' castings for my first batch or 2 of mix and used the $$$ to start a bin. Was one of the smartest moves I ever made.

Your own home grown castings is really that much of a game changer. Really.

The second was starting a comfrey bed. It's not called 'land kelp' for nothing. *I* mainly feed mine to my worms because I'm lazy, but as a top dress or in a compost pile it's equally impressive.

Third, would be a compost pile. This is just 'my' ranking, because I feel the other 2 contribute more, especially the worm bins. The comfrey and compost pile both require outside and if you have room for one, you should have room for the other.

But, get a worm bin going.

Wet

I've been reusing the same soil for 5 years now. Sometimes I run organic crops with earth juice and guanos sometimes i'm a lazy bastard and run salts or sometimes I run both together. either way I've never had a problem with the soil. I don't really use any ferts for the last 2 weeks and then it probably sits for 4-6 months because of the rotation I use for the soil. Clones tend to need fertilizer within a week of going from the cloner to the soil at least in my set up. Edit: And it's ffof

Yea I keep hearing from everyone about starting a worm bin, that's my next project. I found a pretty simple video for making a worm bin for under $20 so that seems like an easy task. Quick question though, how long after I "start" the worm bin (meaning getting everything in there so the worms can start doing their thing), would the EWC actually be ready to use? I think I'm going to stick with buying fresh soil this time around so I can get a rotation going and let me old soil sit if it needs to

astronautrob said:

Yea I keep hearing from everyone about starting a worm bin, that's my next project. I found a pretty simple video for making a worm bin for under $20 so that seems like an easy task. Quick question though, how long after I "start" the worm bin (meaning getting everything in there so the worms can start doing their thing), would the EWC actually be ready to use? I think I'm going to stick with buying fresh soil this time around so I can get a rotation going and let me old soil sit if it needs to

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That really depends upon how many worms you start with & what you give them to consume. I used to add lots of things that are recommended to feed worms like potato peels & eggshells but they take like frikkin forever to break down. These days I give them mostly just fruit, veggies, and canna leaves which are gone with the quickness.
I started my worm factory 360 with 200 red wigglers from uncle jims & they took about 6 months to fill up the first tray of castings. Alotta peeps here keep their worms in a smartpot which is fine but does not provide an easy way to harvest the finished castings or good airflow which I think is key to getting your worms to quickly consume their food and procreate at a rapid pace. Not saying you gotta buy a tray system style worm bin just that the design is effective.