# Reusing Soil



## Happy Hooker (Jun 19, 2011)

I am looking for some advice on using the same soil over from year to year {outdoors}.Is there anything that can be added  or can it be tested to see what has been taking out of it from the year b4.I have to change my grow area and find it a hassle and a threat  to carry new soil in  to my grow area.


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## valleyboy (Jun 19, 2011)

You can absolutely use soil year after year.  Just watch your soil for excess salt left from the previous years'.  I would suggest introducing some organic matter after every harvest, by the next season the majority of it will have decomposed.  That or you can use fertilizers which I'm sure you already do.


You can very easily send it in for soil analysis which will tell you everything you need to know about the soil you're using.

A practice that may help would be to allow a dry period of about 2-3 weeks before putting your plants into the ground.  Dry periods in soil trigger soil fungi to create spores (their version of propagation).  Then wet the soil, put your plants in and they'll have a population of healthy fungi ready to thrive.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Jun 20, 2011)

yeah..Im on the 8th rerun on my soils...I just ammend them..

take care and be safe:bolt::bong:


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## Happy Hooker (Jun 20, 2011)

4u2sm0ke said:
			
		

> yeah..Im on the 8th rerun on my soils...I just ammend them..
> 
> take care and be safe:bolt::bong:




What do you add to it ??


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## AlkaloidContent (Jun 20, 2011)

Mother natures puts down a fresh layer of compost every year too.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Jun 20, 2011)

Happy Hooker said:
			
		

> What do you add to it ??


 

worm poo...alphalfa..bone meal...dolomite lime..and some others..just fallow the instructions on box...Happy Growing

:48:


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## Mutt (Jun 21, 2011)

for indoor recycling look up posts by "screwdriver" 




> Just watch your soil for excess salt left from the previous years'.


I would not recommend re-using synthetic fert fed soil. Actually if you want to be "conservative" do not use synthetics at all. Learn living organics and you will re-use boatloads with ease. composting, bokashi, tons of ways to recycle and grow your plants


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## BarkBuster20 (Jun 26, 2011)

Mutt said:
			
		

> for indoor recycling look up posts by "screwdriver"
> 
> 
> 
> I would not recommend re-using synthetic fert fed soil. Actually if you want to be "conservative" do not use synthetics at all. Learn living organics and you will re-use boatloads with ease. composting, bokashi, tons of ways to recycle and grow your plants



 Some people might not have thousands of dollars extra to spend on the "superior" organics


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## burner (Jun 26, 2011)

it's not thousands of dollars to use organics bro....All composting is, is taking your brown and green trash, glass clippings, yard trimmings, etc and putting them in a pile...basically free fertilizer.

It's very easy and very cheap


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## Happy Hooker (Jun 26, 2011)

I use organic when I put my plants out in early June  but by mid July it seems like it has run its course and I usually start  hard 10-10-10 fert. until they start to bud . What I am looking for is something I don't need a truck load of  to do the job . Not that I am to lazy to carry it in it is that as few trips i can make to my grow the better.It  might cause a little concern when someone see's me carrying 50--60 bags of soil in the woods .


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## BarkBuster20 (Jul 13, 2011)

burner said:
			
		

> it's not thousands of dollars to use organics bro....All composting is, is taking your brown and green trash, glass clippings, yard trimmings, etc and putting them in a pile...basically free fertilizer.
> 
> It's very easy and very cheap



 I have more free top qaulity organic soil than you could spit at, but i prefer a nitrogen based fert for veg, by all accounts it is superior and far more convenient. 

 So, you dont use any supplemental ferts, just whats in your dirt? your likely missing out on a huge part of your veg stage, if you are using ferts and staying organic, you would be spending thousands of dollars in ferts if you had any type of operation going on.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Jul 14, 2011)

worm poo..coffee grinds..just 2 organic methods of Nitro  the coffee grinds are free..and worm castings here are 10 bux a pound..Im going into my 3rd year of reuseing soils


take care and be safe


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## nouvellechef (Jul 14, 2011)

BarkBuster20 said:
			
		

> Some people might not have thousands of dollars extra to spend on the "superior" organics



Generally it costs me about $2 to run a plant full cycle, using the recycling method. Yielding about 3oz per site.


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## Rosebud (Jul 14, 2011)

There is just something so cool about putting moldy oranges and other icky stuff in a pile and in a year it is black gold that smells clean... Love me some compost!

I really need to get a life.


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## SunWolf (Jul 16, 2011)

BarkBuster20 said:
			
		

> I have more free top qaulity organic soil than you could spit at, but i prefer a nitrogen based fert for veg, by all accounts it is superior and far more convenient.
> 
> So, you dont use any supplemental ferts, just whats in your dirt? your likely missing out on a huge part of your veg stage, if you are using ferts and staying organic, you would be spending thousands of dollars in ferts if you had any type of operation going on.



How is adding a _chemical_ based nitrogen supplement "superior" to building up an organic nitrogen rich soil? And who are you getting your "all accounts" information from, because it sounds pretty bogus to me. 

As far as "missing out on a huge part of your veg stage", there are so many natural organic items that can be added as to boggle the mind, and they certainly don't have you "spending thousands of dollars".

Edit for typos.


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## ozzydiodude (Jul 16, 2011)

Happy Hooker said:
			
		

> I am looking for some advice on using the same soil over from year to year {outdoors}.Is there anything that can be added or can it be tested to see what has been taking out of it from the year b4.I have to change my grow area and find it a hassle and a threat to carry new soil in to my grow area.


 

You can buy self test soil kits at most farmers supply or take a soil sample to your local Department of *Agriculture *office for a lab test. then you just adjust your soil acordingly. Add the needed nutrients in the fall so they will be broken down and ready for the plants to start using in the spring.


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## Rosebud (Jul 16, 2011)

BarkBuster20 said:
			
		

> Some people might not have thousands of dollars extra to spend on the "superior" organics



I am organic have been for over ten years in my yard and always in my special garden. I have never spent over 50 bucks on "superior organics" and that was three years ago. Still using the same stuff, so i don't know what you are talking about.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Jul 17, 2011)

ozzydiodude said:
			
		

> You can buy self test soil kits at most farmers supply or take a soil sample to your local Department of *Agriculture *office for a lab test. then you just adjust your soil acordingly. Add the needed nutrients in the fall so they will be broken down and ready for the plants to start using in the spring.


 
:yeahthat:


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## valleyboy (Jul 17, 2011)

SunWolf said:
			
		

> How is adding a _chemical_ based nitrogen supplement "superior" to building up an organic nitrogen rich soil? And who are you getting your "all accounts" information from, because it sounds pretty bogus to me.
> 
> As far as "missing out on a huge part of your veg stage", there are so many natural organic items that can be added as to boggle the mind, and they certainly don't have you "spending thousands of dollars".
> 
> Edit for typos.



A lot of ferts will deliver nitrogen in plant usable forms (commonly NO3 and NH4 ions), where as when sitting in the soil, nitrogen may be locked in proteins and NPN forms.  That is the advantage of ferts.  However if one does as I stated earlier, and puts the nitrogenous material in right after harvest and allows mother earth and her army of microbes to do their thing, come springtime there should be a hefty amount of usable nitrogen in the soil.

Compost can be complicated, if you make it that way.  My tips for compost would be adding some humate, wood chips, bone meal, fish meal, manure, and anything like banana peels, apple cores and left over food.  Those alone, in healthy amounts will give a great range of nutrients covering macro and micro nutrient needs.

My last tip would be to send in a sample to a soil lab such as where I work at and have them test for all nutrients so you can get an idea of what is there and what isn't.  Then one more test before flowering to see if there are still healthy levels of nutrients.  If by then a lot of the nutrients have been used, supplementing may be necessary.


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## pawpaw (Jul 17, 2011)

Back in the early 70's  I did veggie gardens on two adjacent plots and alternated veggies and a cover crop.  When I disked in the cover crop in the fall I would add what ever manure was available, also lime as needed.  The next spring I would send soil samples to the state ag lab and based on those results add chemical ferts to get the balance right.

Our gardens responded quite well to this.

If you are trying to improve the friability of your soil with low nitrogen organics like sawdust it's important to add nitrogen.  Otherwise there will be a (temporary) decrease in soil N as it is taken up by the great increase of bacteria decomposing the cellulose etc.  To be clear the N is added to sustain the bacteria while they are "composting" the organics. They will return it to the soil when they die. There is no reason to fear chemical ferts, but for the sake of the planet they should be used in the least amount possible.


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## BarkBuster20 (Jul 22, 2011)

I always start off with organic soil, after about two months of vegging, the soil needs more ferts, so nitrogen based ferts are what i use for re supplementing the soil. The plant will absorb chem ferts a lot faster than organic, not to mention if your in the ground you have a lot of other plants leaching your nuts. I guess if your growing in your back yard you can keep re supplementing your plants organicly, for some its not an option.


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