OK, to re-use soil?

pokesalotasmot said:

So has anybody else here actually tried re-using their soil?

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So far, it seems, just you and me.

Every other post seems to be "I heard", or "I read", or just a uninformed opinion with no experience.

The funny thing is, I actually get better results with my mix the second time around, when all the amendments and micro beasties and whatnot have settled in and set up house.

Wet

I think the reason most advice I've seen not reuse soil is due to the fact that if something goes wrong, you can rule that out immediately. I always reused mine outside, so it never really went to waste. In theory, we reuse soil, so why not? At some point though, as was already mentioned, the soil will completely break down and it may also hold more salts. At some point, it has to almost act like a soiless medium,

You can reuse the soil. if you use something like a po mix #4 its really easy, Flush, drain, let dry re-use. When i say flush, i mean run water through you containers with soil in it for at least 1-2 minutes, and do this twice. I wouldnt reuse it more than two times though. But, it is a cost saving way otherwise you would have this GIANt dirt pile outside, wouldnt anyone notice this? plus if we are all thinking the same thing, or should be (how can i do my part to help keep this a green thing) then you should try and recycle things just my thoughts not anything other than my opinion. The best way to find out, is to try setup one with flushed reused soil and grow another in fresh soil. give the same nutes, amount of light adstrain (clones preferebly) and then document what happens. I found that the plants in the reused soil grew faster, the bud density was identical and the end weight was near the same. So, try it

Many organic amendments release a substantial amount of nutrients in the soil for a few months to a year or longer and may have some lasting effect for several months thereafter. Especially bone meal, greensand, rock phosphate and blood meal.

I actually did reuse soil from my last grow and my plants are looking beautiful i have 3 two showed pistils all ready and the 3rd 1 looks like a female i also fed them urine twice in veg milk once and egg shells the rest of the time

I think it's more of question of cost vs risk.

In a small scale indoor grow, you will not be going through that much soil. For the cost of a few bags of soil you can hedge your bets on fewer nutrient and pest problems. (except maybe fungus gnats! I'm looking at you Fox Farm!)

On the other hand...

I have done some large scale indoor soil grows. I would start by buying 3 months worth of quality soil. (very expensive) Then I would add all the goodies for a good super soil, bat guano,blood meal, bone meal, kelp, dolomite.....ect. Let the mix 'cook' for a month then start to use. After a year or two that adds up to a lot of soil bought and thrown away!

For me the best solution was to re-use the soil. I would dump my used soil in some garden beds I made. Then mix in all the stuff from my super soil recipe. Give it a good Compost tea. Then let it sit for a minimum of 6 months. After that the soil is charged up and ready to go. By the second year of this I did not have to buy soil anymore.

The one draw back to re-using soil is that you will increase the amount/types insects you can get. So you do need to be on your toes on that front!

Porky