So I was curious about something today. Can you grow with soil straight from outside? I garden year round with just the basic tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers. Can I use the soil those were in? I'd really like to try and grow naturally if I can. Also this would be indoors.
You will bring in all kinds of outdoor problems you didn't know you had. Pests, molds, spores, you name it. If it was controlled naturally outdoors, it'll explode indoors because what kept it in check won't be there. I tried it once with some potted plants just to bring them in from the cold and the outside dirt became an inside headache. You will need to sterilize the soil then add back all the nutrients you burned away from the sterilization process. Even with prepared soils like Fox Farm and Dr. Earth you're likely to get gnats and other critters, but not anywhere as bad as bringing in backyard dirt. If you have a good compost pile that has been properly cared for you can mix that with some store-bought soil and make your own version of a supersoil, but just plain dirt dug up from the yard or garden is probably not a good idea. The composting process creates heat and kills off many harmful organisms. But when you mix good compost with backyard soil you've created a fantastic environment for whatever organisms were in the soil. I'd use a quality soil and amend it with the nutrients you know you'll need. Either search this forum or Google "supersoil cannabis" and a bunch of recipes will come up.
Begging your pardon, but this is complete and utter drivel... I build compost and use it indoors. It comes complete with bugs and vibrant amounts of microbial life. Been doing if for years. I've experienced exactly ZERO issues. OP, if the plants that you grew in your outdoor soil were healthy, there should be no problem using it indoors. The microbial populations that inhabit compost piles once it's reached the mesophilic stage (after the high heat thermophilic stage) are no different than what's in your garden soil. I would suggest adding about 20% aeration material (perlite, pumice, rice/buckwheat hulls) per volume of garden soil. That's a 1:4 ratio. One part aeration, four parts soil. On a side note, you should visit the organic's forum...
go to the shop buy any old soil, cheap but not too cheap, but you dont want bags that are kept outside. you can add extras to the soil if you want to grow organic but organic bottled nutes are fine...
Waktoo, I have zero issues with composted soils indoors. My main point was: You will need to sterilize the soil then add back all the nutrients you burned away from the sterilization process. Even with prepared soils like Fox Farm and Dr. Earth you're likely to get gnats and other critters, but not anywhere as bad as bringing in backyard dirt. If you have a good compost pile that has been properly cared for you can mix that with some store-bought soil and make your own version of a supersoil, but just plain dirt dug up from the yard or garden is probably not a good idea. Please let me know if this is incorrect, however, my experience with plain backyard dirt indoors has not been good. I don't want to hijack this post and will leave it to others who can give better advice.
Not hatin' on ya' med'. Just trying to point out that there is NO difference between the microbial/soil food web life that is contained within garden soils compared to what's in backyard compost. It's same-same. Sterilizing outdoor soils prior to using indoor only serves to kill any and all "life" that is contained within said soil. After sterilization, one might as well be growing using bottled chemical fertilizers. OP is talking about GARDEN soil, not "backyard dirt". There's a big difference. Gnats are only an issue with bagged soils when said bags have been stored outside in piles. Gnats being present in outdoor garden soils/compost are only there because the soil has been overwatered. Either way, gnats and their larvae are easily dealt with if they do indeed make their way into the indoor garden. Not really sure why anyone would find the need to mix good hand crafted backyard compost with store bought bagged soil. The whole idea behind building compost is so that you DON'T have to use commercially produced bagged soils. No?