Throw away my Organic soil or reuse it? <contaminated>

Rasta Roy said:
Definitely lots of peat in my leftovers! Im scared to put the coffee grounds after seeing how hot they made my compost bin! And I've got plenty pulp, scraps from my juicer, and rabbit manure for my worm bin. Ive already got way more food stored then they can eat in a few weeks!
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i'm there too, I eat fruit like crazy so I got all sorts of fruit shrapnel, plus it got really hot here a bit ago, and like four bananas and three avocados went bad overnight, oh, and if you guys use avocados (you should worms LOVE them) freeze em, then "pop" em after they thaw and take the skin out, or not, but the skin takes a LONG ass time to breakdown, oh ad pull the seed too.
for the record I don't use coffee grinds, I really prefer grass clippings as the normal nitrogen input, and this summer I think i'm gonna score me some alpaca shit too
or maybe rabbit manure not sure
 
MustangStudFarm said:
I learned something from this little article just now also, letter G... I turned my compost a little and found this white layer and I thought it was good because it looked like mycelium? I think that I was wrong... Also, I am getting a bad smell. My rabbit bedding smells like a "port-a-john". I didnt smell it until I started to turn it.

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/Thermal_Compost.html
5. Temperature
a. How often the temperature of the pile is taken is based on how fast the pile is heating.
b. In compost that takes 6 to 8 weeks or longer, temperatures are typically taken each morning during the time the pile is above
131 F.
c. Always push the 3 or 4 foot long STAINLESS STEEL thermometer to the same depth each time to more accurately measure
what is going on in the pile. If you very depth of your readings, the differences in temperatures may just be because you are
deeper into the pile, and therefore hotter, or not as far into the pile, and therefore cooler.
d. Always take at least three readings from each pile each time you measure temperature to understand hot/cold spots.
e. The pile needs to get to above 131 F (55 C) within 3 to 7 days from starting. The pile must maintain temperature above 131 F
for a full 10-15 days.
f. Turn the pile when it starts to reach 160-165 F as the organisms are growing so fast that they are using up all the oxygen in
the pile.
g, Turn the pile if a layer of white ashy actinobacteria begin to develop.
h. Turn the pile if there are wet and cold spots, or wet and dry spots. The pile needs to be reasonably uniform at the same
depths in the pile.
i. Turn the pile if there are any bad smells noted.


I thought that this might have been mycelium, but after reading this. I think that I am wrong!!!
View attachment 3714656
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it's actinobacteria. Your pile is leaning towards the anaerobic. :)

Thing is, when you read Ingham for a while you get all "OHNOOO ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS!!" - or at least I did haha
So what I'm trying to get into my world view is they aren't bad in themselves. Nature cycles through anaerobic states over and over - but it takes time and we humans are short-lived impatient creatures! :mrgreen:

So that compost pile in the corner of your garden will go through all sorts of stages, and in the end it'll be fine. But making a thermophilic pile in 21 days as she describes aims specifically at growing large populations of beneficial microorganisms that can be used to innoculate damaged soils. It's 2 different things ;)
*pling* of the 2 cents landing :bigjoint:
 
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To give it a final revitalization, I water my reused soil with Liquid Gold from Kelp4Less.com

BTW, this is a nice article if you have not come across it before. Here is on old post from 3 Little Birds....

We are about to commit heresy and tell people that we ALWAYS re-use our soil. No soil has left the garden's of the three_little_birds since before the turn
of the millennium! Some growers will tell folks to throw out their soil after every grow, and we've known plenty of commercial growers that happily do
that to make sure they do not have pest or nutrient problems. Maybe that even is the best solution for your grow, we can't say for sure, as always your
mileage may vary. We are poor simple medical users (and aging hippies, etc.), and spending something like $20 for a bag of FoxFarm soil rubbed us wrong!
With our container system it might take 2 full bags of that soil for 3 plants!

Now again . . . someone who is involved in commercial (rather than personal medical) production might not be so inclined to bother with making sure their
soils stay healthy and all the work we go through to ensure our soil's health, but for us it is a labor of love and we feel our results speak for themselves.

Anyway, like we said, our soil never leaves our grow, it has all been recycled to the point that we could not even begin to tell you how many times it's
been through our system! A good commercial potting mix has always been the base for our soil. We look for a product which is 100% organic, and recommend
that you avoid ALL chemical salt ferts like the plague if you value your soil health. This especially includes timed-released chem ferts like osmocote!
Depending on what we have found for soil, we go from there. Some cheap organic soil mixes contain little more than peat, pearlite, and dolomite lime. These
absolutely need amending to start off. Some organic soil mixes are much more complete and need little or no amending for starters.

Organic mushroom compost is certainly one of the hot soil mediums these days, and we've certainly had great success mixing it in with our soil remixes to
add fresh organic matter. We can't however comment on it's longer terms effects in soil remixes. Since we found a cheap source of mushroom compost, we
have also been top-dressing our plants with it almost exclusively, so we imagine that we will soon discover if remixing the ‘shroom compost will have any
detrimental effects.

Once through it's first grow (the plants fed 100% organic with earth juice, teas, fish ferts, and liquid kelp) our container of soil has it's root balls
pulled and it is dumped into a very large rubbermaid container w/ a lid (50 gallon container) These container's are longer than our 2x3 growing containers,
so with 2 people lifting and dumping, it's not too hard to keep this step neat. Each bin can actually hold more than the contents from a single grow-container
(2 grow-containers of soil will actually fit, but this makes mixing in amendments very difficult and messy.) Now we proceed to give back to our soil mix
what our plants have taken (and then some.) We get out our kelp meal, bone meal, blood meal, greensand, rock phosphate, diatomaceous earth, and dolomite
lime and get mixing. Depending on the soil's condition this is also where we might add a little more perlite if soil compaction looks to be a potential
problem.

Folks are going to ask us how much of these different supplements we add, and the only honest answer we can give is - it depends! If the plants we'd raised
previously in that particular container had shown any signs of being short on a major nutrient N–P-K - it's not too hard to throw in an extra cup or two
of the appropriate organic supplement (Blood meal / Alfalfa meal for N - Bone meal / rock phosphate for P - kelp meal / greensand for K and other micro
nutrients.) A nice full 16 oz plastic cup of each of the prior mentioned ingredients would be our baseline for supplementing this round of soil re-mix.
We will generally double this amount if any nutrient shortage has shown. . .

The greensand and rock phosphate are very slow to dissolve and be absorbed by plants, and are not normally used by many indoor container gardeners. Their
slow release is what helps to make our system work! They will still be in our soil for the next couple of grows, doing their part for our soil health.
This is the point where we would also add some of our own compost (assuming there is some finished and ready - if not some mushroom compost has proven
to work.) Our compost is made from the usual standards, household veggie food scraps and such, with the addition of all our used grow scraps. Fan leaf,
chopped stems, and the "leftover's" from processing by bubble bag or tumbling are all composted and returned to our soil.

Now we will wet this whole mix down lightly and let it "cook" for a spell. We have three large bins like this for soil remixing and composting. Folks always
want us to be specific on amounts and times, and we do a lot of this by feel, so when we say we let the soil cook for a "spell" - how long depends on feel
and need! The minimum time our soil sits is two weeks, and it's sat waiting for use for a couple months like this during slower times in our grow. This
time gives soil bacteria a chance to work and make the various organic amendments more quickly and easily available for our plants. We use this soil again
for another grow, watering with our usual array of teas, Earth Juice, etc. If needed, containers are top-dressed with compost (our own or mushroom compost
depending on availability) as any soil settling occurs.
Upon yet another successful harvest, the soil is reconditioned again. Once we reached our third mix of soil, we cut back on the soil amendments. The greensand
and rock phosphate are still working from the last re-mix so we don't need to add any more of them for sure. What remains in your soil at this point in
terms of nitrogen and such may depend on your strain, some strains are much more greedy for some nutrients. So if our plants haven't shown any signs of
yellowing as they mature, we figure there is nitrogen enough in the soil for the next round (at least to get started - we can add more N on the fly with
fish ferts and teas if needed) and no blood meal is added. If yellowing has occurred then blood meal is added again. Kelp meal is usually added again since
many of the major liquid organic ferts seem a little short on potassium, and also because we like the micro nutrients kelp meal provides to our plants.
Dolomite lime will probably be necessary again too, and it's possible your soil will need even more this time than last. Any peat in the soil adds acidity
as it decomposes, and the lime balances this as well as providing magnesium. After the standard 15 - 30 days of standing moistened waiting for use this
soil is used still another time. Now our soil has grown 4 crops of herbs and is still going and growing strong. At this point, we have started plants in
our soil remixes directly alongside plants in fresh potting soil, just to make sure our mix wasn't subtly stunting our plants.

The plants grown in our 4th and 5th generation soil remix did far better than those directly alongside grown in fresh from the bag FoxFarm OceanForest potting
soil! Because our garden is a continuous harvest setup, once we are to our 4th or 5th remix, it's starting to get hard to keep track of exactly what soil
has been remixed where, since half used bins of remixes are often dumped together to make room for another round of used soil coming from the garden. So
we simply continue adding amendments by feel as needed.

This is how the three little birds use soil. We know we break the rule we have all been told to follow - to never reuse soil. Even those "radicals" we have
seen reusing soil, have always described letting their soil go out to their veggie gardens or flower beds after 3 or 4 grows. We decided to push the envelope
and see how far we could take it . . .
We still haven't found a limit for the number of times we remix our soil, and our harvests and plant vigor keep improving.

Oh, just to add another bit of heresy, you may have noticed our container grows suspended above the floor on wheeled furniture movers. It's a very convenient
way to keep the plants in larger containers mobile. . . but you also must realize then (if you think about it) that out grow containers have NO drainage.
Our soil mix, which is now has been remixed double digit times, has NEVER been flushed! We warned you all at the start of this post that some might consider
it heresy . . . And we can’t even begin to tell you how we can break these rules and get better results than average - but it works for us and we wanted
to let folks judge for themselves. (Eds note: 3LB claimed to regularly get above 2g/watt as well as reaching high marks of 4g/watt!, and they posted the
photos to back it up. If anyone has any of these photos or posts please add them to this thread or section)

one thing we might add - we certainly would not remix soil from any containers where we'd had a bug or disease problem - even getting bud mold would be
enough for us to say - no thanks to a soil remix

we were discussing this among "the birds" the other nite - and one line that a little bird said comes to mind . . . "Farmer's don't strip their topsoil
after a harvest - or even a few - in fact their soil is their most precious commodity - why should it be different for indoor gardening as long as proper
care is taken to build healthy soil?"
 
calliandra said:
Actually, as far as I understand it, microorganisms themselves are the key to sanitizing mistreated soil, and when brought to good levels of diversity can neutralize all kinds of past sins - with some patience, even pesticide and fungicide applications that decimate the good guys we're trying to grow (Elaine Ingham does this in agriculture with her Soilfood Web consultancy) - all the way to binding heavy metals
Click to expand...

So if you, lets say dump some garden-tone, egg shells, apple cores, and banana peels into a pile of salty soil, it will eventually break down and turn the pile organic?
 
I'm reusing my soil as we speak. As they said in the long post lol most say do not reuse the soil but I said I'll try it a grow and see how it's working. I had promix hp with worm turds and some other stuff from my indoor grow. All used and was going to throw it away but shit is pricey lol. I went and bought black caw soil and some perlite. I mixed in some calmag, lime and some mykos. I did a transplant and so far so good. No burn or no problems yet. Where I live (north Georgia) we don't have soil. We have red clay and it's junk. I did my first grow last summer and did ok. I had one plant that ended showing both sex and it messed up my whole grow. If anyone knows a thread that can help me with growing in the dirty south. Please let me know!!! Newly registered but been reading rollitup for a long time. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and knowledge. Stay blazed
 
Brooklyn215ish said:
I'm reusing my soil as we speak. As they said in the long post lol most say do not reuse the soil but I said I'll try it a grow and see how it's working. I had promix hp with worm turds and some other stuff from my indoor grow. All used and was going to throw it away but shit is pricey lol. I went and bought black caw soil and some perlite. I mixed in some calmag, lime and some mykos. I did a transplant and so far so good. No burn or no problems yet. Where I live (north Georgia) we don't have soil. We have red clay and it's junk. I did my first grow last summer and did ok. I had one plant that ended showing both sex and it messed up my whole grow. If anyone knows a thread that can help me with growing in the dirty south. Please let me know!!! Newly registered but been reading rollitup for a long time. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and knowledge. Stay blazed
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My advice for growing in the south is to come move to Michigan! We got lots of houses for rent friend! I got a friend that moved to Georgia almost ten years ago now, she loves it. So I understand if you want to stay. :)

Sounds like you should have no problems reusing your soil. In fact you should see your soil get better and better over time.

The only reason for people to throw out their soil is if you had a powdery mildew issue...or if you dumped a bunch of salty chemical ferts on your plants. Sounds like you're smarter than that so as long as you can avoid mildew I'd say you're golden! Keep up using the worm turds and throw in some kelp if you're able to find some bags in your local store. If you're ordering online you might as well place an order for some neem cake from neemresource.com shit is a fantastic top dressing. Discourages fungus gnats, provides a wide range of macro and micro nutrients. And stops nitrogen in your soil from turning into a gas, keeping nitrogen in your soil for longer.
 
AnimalMother1974 said:
So if you, lets say dump some garden-tone, egg shells, apple cores, and banana peels into a pile of salty soil, it will eventually break down and turn the pile organic?
Click to expand...

Theoretically, yep. That's the way nature does it. And it takes time ;)
To get results within a human lifespan, however, we need to add the microorganisms in a much more dense and targetted form - that's where the thermophilic composting and compost teas come in. And for those to have a chance against the poisons, the input used to make them needs to have good microbial populations to begin with.
 
Rasta Roy said:
My advice for growing in the south is to come move to Michigan! We got lots of houses for rent friend! I got a friend that moved to Georgia almost ten years ago now, she loves it. So I understand if you want to stay. :)

Sounds like you should have no problems reusing your soil. In fact you should see your soil get better and better over time.

The only reason for people to throw out their soil is if you had a powdery mildew issue...or if you dumped a bunch of salty chemical ferts on your plants. Sounds like you're smarter than that so as long as you can avoid mildew I'd say you're golden! Keep up using the worm turds and throw in some kelp if you're able to find some bags in your local store. If you're ordering online you might as well place an order for some neem cake from neemresource.com shit is a fantastic top dressing. Discourages fungus gnats, provides a wide range of macro and micro nutrients. And stops nitrogen in your soil from turning into a gas, keeping nitrogen in your soil for longer.
Click to expand...
I'm originally from philly. Came here almost 4 years ago. I smoked for 12 years and then I was locked up for some time. After a year living here I I started smoking again and I'm not paying 50 an 8th lol that's crazy. With a little TLC and a few seeds =THC. LOL I'm all about saving money. This is my second outdoor grow and I've had one indoor. I've looked at prices all over and soil is crazy high. So I'll keep using what I have and just add to it every year. Well I have to cause my pots get bigger also. Question. What's the reason for my leaves to only have 1 or 3 fingers? Plant is healthy and growing great. What's the deal?
 
Brooklyn215ish said:
I'm originally from philly. Came here almost 4 years ago. I smoked for 12 years and then I was locked up for some time. After a year living here I I started smoking again and I'm not paying 50 an 8th lol that's crazy. With a little TLC and a few seeds =THC. LOL I'm all about saving money. This is my second outdoor grow and I've had one indoor. I've looked at prices all over and soil is crazy high. So I'll keep using what I have and just add to it every year. Well I have to cause my pots get bigger also. Question. What's the reason for my leaves to only have 1 or 3 fingers? Plant is healthy and growing great. What's the deal?
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It's ridiculous what they charge for bags of soil. I go to a landscape supplier and buy peat moss, perlite, and compost and make my own potting soil for super cheap. I've got my own compost bins and a worm bin set up now though so it's about to get even cheaper for me. I don't buy more peat moss or anything though. I just use my old dirt and reamend with more compost.

Some kind of growth stress I imagine. All the growth is a healthy color though? I've only had plants grow leaves like that on the handful of occasions I have revegged a plant. Eventually they produced normal leaves. But if you're growing outdoor from seed I'm not sure what would cause it.
 
Rasta Roy said:
It's ridiculous what they charge for bags of soil. I go to a landscape supplier and buy peat moss, perlite, and compost and make my own potting soil for super cheap. I've got my own compost bins and a worm bin set up now though so it's about to get even cheaper for me. I don't buy more peat moss or anything though. I just use my old dirt and reamend with more compost.

Some kind of growth stress I imagine. All the growth is a healthy color though? I've only had plants grow leaves like that on the handful of occasions I have revegged a plant. Eventually they produced normal leaves. But if you're growing outdoor from seed I'm not sure what would cause it.
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I veged the plant indoors and then put it outside. It's about 5' tall. Lower leafs are fine but the middle is the weird leafs. The new Growth is great. Idk man. It may be fine. Only time will tell. I just bent the branches cause it was growing straight up so I want it bushy now. I'll post a pic
 
Brooklyn215ish said:
I veged the plant indoors and then put it outside. It's about 5' tall. Lower leafs are fine but the middle is the weird leafs. The new Growth is great. Idk man. It may be fine. Only time will tell. I just bent the branches cause it was growing straight up so I want it bushy now. I'll post a pic
Click to expand...
 

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Brooklyn215ish said:
I veged the plant indoors and then put it outside. It's about 5' tall. Lower leafs are fine but the middle is the weird leafs. The new Growth is great. Idk man. It may be fine. Only time will tell. I just bent the branches cause it was growing straight up so I want it bushy now. I'll post a pic
Click to expand...
Did you just throw that bitch outside one day? Or did you take out a couple hours a day for a little bit to get it used to the outside? That could've been the problem. If all your new growth looks great though I would just prune off the bad.
 
Rasta Roy said:
Did you just throw that bitch outside one day? Or did you take out a couple hours a day for a little bit to get it used to the outside? That could've been the problem. If all your new growth looks great though I would just prune off the bad.
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Yea I just put her out. She was budding for a few weeks cause the light wasn't out long but it's in full veg and I cut off all the shit that had buds starting. I know this is off topic but where is the best place to buy auto seeds? Idk anyone that's bought seeds over the Internet so I'm not sure where the best place for me to get them would be
 
Brooklyn215ish said:
Yea I just put her out. She was budding for a few weeks cause the light wasn't out long but it's in full veg and I cut off all the shit that had buds starting. I know this is off topic but where is the best place to buy auto seeds? Idk anyone that's bought seeds over the Internet so I'm not sure where the best place for me to get them would be
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My preferred choice is attitude seeds. They're a seed broker that allows you to get seeds from multiple seed banks. I don't go for auto seeds but they got em.
https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/

They do discreet shipping anywhere and if something happens to your seeds and they don't reach you they will resend them until they do. If your order is wrong they're quick to correct it and will give you free seeds for your trouble. I've been using them for years I wouldn't order from anywhere else.
 
Rasta Roy said:
My preferred choice is attitude seeds. They're a seed broker that allows you to get seeds from multiple seed banks. I don't go for auto seeds but they got em.
https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/

They do discreet shipping anywhere and if something happens to your seeds and they don't reach you they will resend them until they do. If your order is wrong they're quick to correct it and will give you free seeds for your trouble. I've been using them for years I wouldn't order from anywhere else.
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Sweet. Ive been growing afghan for two years now. Shit is getting old. Why haven't you messed with autos?
 
Brooklyn215ish said:
Sweet. Ive been growing afghan for two years now. Shit is getting old. Why haven't you messed with autos?
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I've grown an auto here and there but I keep mother plants and grow from clones. If I pop a new seed or get a unique cutting from someone, I'll make it mother plant. Take some clones and grow a few to completion. If I see traits I like and the bud has good genes then I'll keep the mother plant. If it doesn't cut the mustard with the rest of my stock it gets the axe.
 
Rasta Roy said:
I've grown an auto here and there but I keep mother plants and grow from clones. If I pop a new seed or get a unique cutting from someone, I'll make it mother plant. Take some clones and grow a few to completion. If I see traits I like and the bud has good genes then I'll keep the mother plant. If it doesn't cut the mustard with the rest of my stock it gets the axe.
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I wish I could do that. Once it's legal here I'll go balls deep into it. I love growing. It like having kids that you tend to for a short period of time each day lol. I'm still learning. I tried some cuttings last year and it didn't work but I did it in my indoor grow and I had 5 that rooted and I'm growing 4 now. I gave one to a guy that grows cause he makes oil for his son. Can you buy seeds where you're at?
 
Brooklyn215ish said:
I wish I could do that. Once it's legal here I'll go balls deep into it. I love growing. It like having kids that you tend to for a short period of time each day lol. I'm still learning. I tried some cuttings last year and it didn't work but I did it in my indoor grow and I had 5 that rooted and I'm growing 4 now. I gave one to a guy that grows cause he makes oil for his son. Can you buy seeds where you're at?
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I know there's a seedbank that's based in Detroit but I don't know if they have a storefront that you can buy them in, I have seen them online. I'm in Mid-michigan tho...a handful of dispensaries around here will sell clones...not the worst genes but you get better shelling out some cash for some primo seedstock off a well rated seedbank online. But every once in a while myself or someone like me we'll be over their plant numbers (we're a med state but not recreational yet) and will sell off clones to the dispensaries. Those days you might get lucky and get a unique strain. I've got a New York Diesel pheno that my father in law had bought as a clone from a dispensary...he passed away over a year ago and I've kept a mother plant alive of it ever since. Grows the stinkiest sticky icky but takes a full 11 to 12 weeks to mature so I don't pop clones of it in my flower room that often.
 
Rasta Roy said:
I know there's a seedbank that's based in Detroit but I don't know if they have a storefront that you can buy them in, I have seen them online. I'm in Mid-michigan tho...a handful of dispensaries around here will sell clones...not the worst genes but you get better shelling out some cash for some primo seedstock off a well rated seedbank online. But every once in a while myself or someone like me we'll be over their plant numbers (we're a med state but not recreational yet) and will sell off clones to the dispensaries. Those days you might get lucky and get a unique strain. I've got a New York Diesel pheno that my father in law had bought as a clone from a dispensary...he passed away over a year ago and I've kept a mother plant alive of it ever since. Grows the stinkiest sticky icky but takes a full 11 to 12 weeks to mature so I don't pop clones of it in my flower room that often.
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That's awesome man. Should cross breed her. And send me some seeds lol. I had some grape ape and grape stomper but the fucking rabbits ate them. I was pissed
 
Brooklyn215ish said:
That's awesome man. Should cross breed her. And send me some seeds lol. I had some grape ape and grape stomper but the fucking rabbits ate them. I was pissed
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I need to get a space set up for males! Right now I kill any male I get cause I don't have a place for them. But soon as I do I'm breeding everything
 
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