I have a question for anyone who mixes and uses their own organic "Super Soil" recipes. Once you're done with your grow, I'm assuming you save your soil. Here is my question: Do you use that after-grow soil as the Soil component for your next Super Soil batch? The plants from the grow will have used up a percentage of the soil nutrients but it's to be assumed in a single grow, each plant doesn't use up ALL the nutrients in the Super Soil. I'm wondering if using the spent soil in my recipe as the soil component (rather than virgin topsoil which the recipe calls for) will end up causing the Super Soil batch to have too many nutrients for the next grow?
a quick check with your tds will show how much to top up, often for a 2 month auto grow just a handful of nute per pot is typical, I prefer dried goat shit but the price has skyrocketed, so back to comfrey/nettle for me or just more super soil good luck
I do but the reused soil gets amended & sits out 1 grow before it's used so it has time to sit for app 4 months. It takes more soil initially to have enough to sit out 1 grow.
Thanks for the responses so far. The Super Soil recipe I'm using calls for 6 gallons of topsoil/soil and then all the other amendments (e.g. compost, alfalfa meal, sea bird guano, coir, perlite and about ten other amendments). I'm not concerned that by using the previous grow Super Soil as the 6 gallons of topsoil that I'll be nutrient deficient, I'm wondering about the opposite since the previous grow Super Soil will have retained a certain amount of nutrients after that initial grow. I can try it and report back on this thread at a later date.
When U mix the soil & other ingredients it will likely begin to compost again & make heat. U do not want to plant in it until it cools down, better yet let it sit a while.
The answer is *No tilt gardening* =) Chop the plant you need to harvest. Let your soil sit has it is until ready to transplant your next plant, keeping slightly moist. At this time, remove what's left of the old main root ball. If you wait a few weeks, you'll be surprised how much the soil itself have digested the roots, how the beneficial fungus and bacteria have compost them in the container! This provides enough N to finish vegging. So yes, just remove about the size of a one litter pot or enough to fit you new plant, depending on what you are using for seedling and early vegetative. Roots will find their way following the pre existing network decomposing, while they benefits of the fungus and mycorrhizae network in the same time! When ready to flip, top dress with minerals (rock dust, gypsum..) and some rich P-K dry amendments (I Love Gaia green Power Bloom formula, 3tbs per gal of soil goes a long way). If you have worm castings and or compost, you can top dress with a few cups as well. Just that simple.
I second this. To be pedantic and correct a spelling mistake in case the OP needs the exact term, it is "No Till" (not no tilt ). And, no need to remove the old root ball - plenty of us plant right next to the old stem and the old rootball gets "digested" over time while the new plant grows in. OP, I was on the same journey you are on now. I started with super soil, then moved to no-till. Much easier, HOWEVER, it may not work with smaller containers. From what I have read, 20 gallons is the minimum you'd need for getting close to indoor no-till. Smaller masses of soil just don't have the biological life to sustain the soil without regularly amending/re-tilling. My first grow I tried to do larger photoperiods in 7 gallon pots and about 3 weeks into flower I got all sorts of deficiencies. Larger masses are easier to top-dress and then the biology does the rest! My 2nd grow I did photos in 20 gallon pots and the results were much, much better. If you haven't already, I would highly recommend reading the No Till Revisited thread. Side-note, Autos are a different beast entirely. So just a heads up if you are / ever do go that route - take a gander at Organic Sinse's Auto sticky thread for more details!
To recycle the soil, what I think works good is to remove say 20% total volume. Add 20% fresh compost or castings, then add 1/2 the original dry amendments (the meals). This method works better with small containers. Unless you use alfalfa or soy, I dont feel it needs to be cooked or cycled. The old soil will have plenty of nutrients left over that are available. No till is a good option too. But as others say, a little larger soil volume works better and is easier. Cheers Os
Thank you. This grow uses 5 gal fabric grow bags so your info sounds great. I am using alfalfa meal as part of the recipe but I'm going to be cooking a new batch of soil soon and I can use a few recycled soil grow bags leftover in the new batch. Thanks again everyone who has responded. Very helpful info.
If you want to get the jump on things, go ahead and mix the alfalfa and other amendments, with the new compost or whatever you choose as the new part. Then the nutrients will have begun cycling. Any heat from alfalfa cooking will have come and gone after the first few days. Once alfalfa comes in contact with moisture, it starts cooking, and the heat is gone in a few days. Cheers Os
You asked...I deliver: 6 gallons organic soil 2 gallons rinsed coir 4 gallons perlite or pumice stone 4 gallons worm castings 1/2 cup greensand 3/4 cup crushed oyster shell 1/4 cup limestone powder 1/2 cup Epsom salts 1 cup prilled dolomite lime 1/4 diatomaceous earth 1/2 cup seabird quano 2 cups feather meal 2 cups bone meal 1/2 cup blood meal 1/4 cup gypsum powder (or 1 cup granular) 3 cups kelp meal 2 cups alfalfa meal 1/2 cup azomite granular (or 3 heaping Tbsp powder) 1/4 cup humic acid ore or granular 1 cup organic rice hulls 6 cups compost
Right on. Looks like a Subcool or Rev recipe? You mentioned topsoil in your other post and this one mentions 6 gallons of organic soil. I think it’s important to clarify what exactly you plan on using here. Big difference between a bag of topsoil, soil from your garden, or a commercial bagged mix. RD
Thanks for the reply. For the soil I dug it from my organic garden and ran it through a 1/4" screen to sift out rocks, etc. The compost is also my own compost (screened in the same way). I've been organic gardening for a good number of years so the Super Soil idea appeals to me.
Unfortunately I planted my seeds that just started to pop, into the super soil fabric pots and the seedlings are not doing well. The leaves are a mixture of regular (good) green and very light greenish yellow. It's possible that they're over-watered. Doubtful that they're getting too much light as the PPFD reading is around 240. I'm battling fungus gnats right now so maybe the larvae are hurting the seedlings at the root level.
I think that's my next step is needing to check soil Ph and water Ph. I'm guessing my water is likely too alkaline. It's very hard water (non-municipal so no chlorine).