# Screwdriver's reused soil in a bucket thread



## screwdriver

This may be a boring thread, but I'll try to keep this updated with what I do to maintain my growing media. I thought this to be mainly organic so I posted here. I reuse my soil simply because I think it is easier than going out and buying new soil with each grow. So I thought each time I mess with my buckets I'll post it here. 

My three buckets....Why three? Volume mainly, I may need four buckets soon.
View attachment 43728


Bucket three is where I put the last harvested plant's soil, the larger stems, rootball and a little bit of dirt from the previous round of soil. I'll add a teaspoon of clearzyme and moisten with fish fertilizer water. Every few days stir with my big spoon, all the way to the bottom of the bucket.




When things begin to break down it becomes easier to cut up the bigger pieces. We are just helping the process.



Bucket two is where the fan leaves, small stems, the soil from bucket three before the next harvest. this is where I add a pinch of Mycorrhizal fungi to the mix and watch grow. Stir every few days to the bottom.



Bucket one is where the nutes and perlite are mixed with the new reused soil. Not much going on in there right now, you'll just have to wait.



Other things about this are watering when the soil needs it. I keep the lids on the buckets, but not snaped so there is free air movement. There is no smell other than from the fish fertilizer and that lasts only the day of use.

The general idea is to move some of the soil  from bucket to bucket  while the added organic material is breaking down.

How do I know the nute values of the soil?  I don't. I just guess.


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## BenDover

Hmm, sounds interesting. I'll follow along and see how it works for ya.


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## Firepower

is this soil for in door ooutdoor growing?


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## Kupunakane

Yo screwdriver,
    wouldn't an outdoors compost mound do you just as well and leave the odors outside ?

smoke in peace
KingKahuuna


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## screwdriver

Yes, this is for indoor growing. I've been doing it this way for couple of years.
And I don't have a compost pile in the back. I do get some from the city in warmer weather. It just seemed to be a good way to get rid of the stems and leaves without throwing in the trash. When I make teas I throw the solids in the buckets. There really isn't any smell or else I wouldn't be doing it inside. Worm castings from my mini worm farm goes into the mix also.

This is just an alternative to buying new soil with each grow.


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## Kupunakane

Sounds cool to me !!!

smoke in peace
KingKahuuna


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## HGB

look forward to your updates  

there is a few of us around that do the same thing as well as some great info on goodies to add to the soil.... cant wait to see what you add to bucket 1:hubba: 


thanks for take'n the time to post the info....I will be about watch'n


:48:


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## screwdriver

Buckets have been just sitting there for awhile so I thought I should get in there to mix. The buckets are about half full. I tip the bucket and hold between my feet. Over turning the soil as I pull it from the bottom of the bucket. Then rotate the bucket and pull from the bottom. I spin the bucket 2,3,4 times until the soil that is dryer is mixed up with the wetter soil from the bottom.



Here's bucket 2. All mixed up then I put some mycorrhizae inoculant into the mix. I wanted to see if I could grow some fungus.



This is a close up of bucket three. It looks ready to use. When it starts to get difficult identifying whats in there it will be ready for me to use.


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## screwdriver

I harvested a skunk and I touched the buckets so here it is.

All the excess trim and stems I am putting in bucket 3. I'm getting a new bucket which will be "4" where I will put some dirt from 3 and add it to 4 with the root mass and used soil from the last harvest. I don't know if any of that made sense? Oh well.



I sprinkle some of this in there it supposed to be beneficial bacteria to breakdown organic material. 



In bucket 2, these are the only leaves I could find. Where did the rest go?



Bucket 1 is lonely.


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## screwdriver

OK, I did it again. I added a small stem to bucket 3, cut small stems into smaller pieces and chop at a few leaves with the snips, mixed both buckets by pulling the soil from the bottom. All this took less time than it takes to post in this thread.


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## mendo local

Nice!


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## HGB

hey screwdriver,

Thanks for the updates as you go along with your compost  

bout how much water and how often for you to keep the soil moist?  or do just wing it like me and not really measure alot?

Kinda where I'm at now with my organics  cross between living organics and tea's and try to read the plant and adjust where needed 

look forward to the next update

:48:


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## Pot Belly

Screwdriver - great thread man.  My next step is to go organic and recycle medium as you and HGB do.  

I too will be keeping an eye on your soil treatments.  Grow on man!

PB


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## screwdriver

Thanks for the comments and +.

How much water is a tough one for me to describe. And most of this is just winging it. I think the key is the texture. Seeing how much water your medium mix will hold before saturation. I hope as long as I keep it mixed and oxygen can get to the dirt in the bottom of the bucket nothing ugly grows in there. I really only water once, usually when I transfer and move dirt from bucket to bucket. Since this is in my basement office the water doesn't evaporate out very fast.

The one thing I hope is learned is that you don't have to do everything by the book and winging it ain't so bad.


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## peruvian skunk

really interesting. kindda doing the same thing but a little less planned. how do you get a worm farm going and what are its benifits?i like the idea of organic. thats what im shooting for a little of this and a little of that from around the house. let us know what seems to work


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## screwdriver

hello ps, I got the worm stuff from the DIY section here I think the biggest benefit is that its fun. I don't know if the plant likes it more than me.


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## screwdriver

Now we got something going in bucket 1.  There is about a half a bucket of soil in #2. I move about half of that to get about a quarter of bucket if soil in #1. I move a similar amount into #2 from #3(left). Made up some fish fertilizer water by adding about a tablespoon in about a half gallon of water. Sorry that everything is "_about_". I just imagine there is a tablespoon that filling up and stop at the top. Maybe I should blindfold myself and use a real tablespoon to see how accurate I think I am. I poured some of that into buckets #2 and #1, about 1/2 cup, and mix thoroughly.



In preparation of my next grow I add some stuff into bucket #1(right). I actual use a teaspoon to scoop the stuff out, but everything is still just close not perfect.  2 teaspoons everything, blood meal, bone meal, epsoma plus, lime and a pinch of myco stuff, and pond zyme.  I'll add some perlite later.


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## DLtoker

Looks great man.  Can't get any more natural than that man. :aok:


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## Flyinghigh

Very Interesting there.. And the process..

But I just throw my water leaf and other cutting to my Goats and chickens LOL


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## screwdriver

Thanks for commenting. It would be cool to have a goat, but city hall says no farm animals. 

I touched my bucket. Mixed each bucket.


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## Flyinghigh

screwdriver said:
			
		

> Thanks for commenting. It would be cool to have a goat, but city hall says no farm animals.
> 
> I touched my bucket. Mixed each bucket.


 
LOL 
But there alway a little pig!!


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## screwdriver

I love, love, love, love bacon. 

I finally got around to adding my latest root ball to my buckets. The left bucket is #2 and right is #3. I forgot to mention that after I am done mixing I like to leave the soil as fluffy as can be and at an angle to get the most amount of surface area for air to reach. The amount of soil in bucket 3 was too much to effectively stir without making a mess so I added bucket #4.




I took about five scoops of the #3 soil and moved to #4 and added the used soil from the last harvest. Sprinkle some of the pondzyme and added some fish fert water.




How much water?  When I say moist I describe that as when I pull the soil from the bottom, in a circular motion scooping, I don't want it to stick together in anything larger than pea sized clumps. If they are larger by the time they stop moving from the scoop motion they should have been broken apart.


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## screwdriver

Stirred my buckets today. 

Another aspect to growing indoors is all the storage space needed for the other items you use for growing. Everything I have other than my dirt is in cabinets tucked away. Here's how much space I give my dirt.



I liked and probably only need two buckets but, my old lady likes my dirt (not my girls). She has given me some of her dead planters and taken some dirt for her plants in the house. I also see that I'm going to be getting a couple more planters soon which is a nice peat addition to the buckets.


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## screwdriver

Stirred my buckets.

This is bucket #4 and I only found one root ball still intact. The other is still in there but, its just a string roots that when I stir the soil I can see it breaking apart piece by piece.  In buckets 2 and 3 it looks like everything has brokendown to the point of not seeing it in the bucket as I mix.



Thought I would test my #1 bucket soil to see how it performs compared to EFFOF soil.  I didn't think this had to be a groundbreaking project so I pulled out a clean pipe and had a smoke. The ultimate goal is to get weed from both soils.:hubba:
I added perlite to each and will top dress with my amendments. 



To keep track of this I put here in my white widow journal.


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## Flyinghigh

Good thread name Stirring my Bucket..

That some work there..


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## HGB

screwdriver said:
			
		

> Thought I would test my #1 bucket soil to see how it performs compared to FFOF soil.



FF has changed there soil.... read the bag    pretty sure just like my side by side test with MY soil against FFOF your's will out do there's 


peace


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## screwdriver

Thanks HGB, I hope I can improve my setup.
I thought that FFOF was the prettiest bag and think with that kind of marketing it has to be good. Why would you do all that artwork and coloring if your product was inferior.  I'm interested in the seeing the difference in root development and hope my soil doesn't embarrass me.

Maybe I should add more peat to my mix to fluff up more.  There seems to be an abundance of peat in their mix. My soil has more "stuff" what I would consider the "dirt" part. 
This is just to demonstrate what I'm trying to describe. I put my soil on the left and FFOF on right. I used my finger to gentle smear the soils.  When i work with my soil, my hands get dirty. With their's I can slap my hands together and they're completely clean. That's a plus for FFOF.


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## DLtoker

This thread just got stickied.  There is so much garbage out there talking about how reusing your soil is the biggest no-no.  Well, here it is kids, living proof from people who actually do this.  Maybe HGB can toss in some of his experience as well. 

Great work screwdriver.  :aok:


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## HGB

screwdriver said:
			
		

> Thanks HGB, I hope I can improve my setup.
> I thought that FFOF was the prettiest bag and think with that kind of marketing it has to be good. Why would you do all that artwork and coloring if your product was inferior.  I'm interested in the seeing the difference in root development and hope my soil doesn't embarrass me.



your welcome, 

FF soil is ok and works great but....can be improved on a bit. make's for a great base starter tho IMHO

look forward to see'n your next update.... and I read your GJ as well and see you add plenty of goodies to the mix:hubba: 

grow on


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## screwdriver

Thanks DL ,HGB.

I always thought throwing stuff in the garbage was high risk. So just to keep everything inside I started to reuse my soil. I read that some do and I would like to see and hear about the methods that others use in more detail than just "stirred my buckets".  I really don't mind if others throw up pictures and descriptions here. Learning is a byproduct of getting stoned.


Hey DL, can you change the thread name to just "Reused soil in a bucket thread".


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## screwdriver

So, I stirred my buckets today.

I cut up the rest of the rootball and stem that I could find in bucket 4. I took a bunch of clones from my Ruth and put all the unused trimmings into bucket 3.



The soil in the buckets 3,2,1 are becoming too dry.  I am transferring dirt from bucket 2 into bucket 1 getting it ready for my new set of clones. I'll add water to bucket 1 soil but, not to the other buckets.  I will still stir them but, I'll let the microbes chill until the next need arises.  When I say dry I really mean less moist not as in arid.


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## screwdriver

I am preparing the soil in bucket 1 for next round.  I think this will be for some cuttings of Ruth.  More soil and amendments will be added later when I transplant Ruth for flower.



I like to use pictures. 


I am starting by adding 2 teaspoons of blood meal, bone, epsom plus and a tablespoon of garden lime.  I use my flower container for my "standard" size for square feet area and volume of soil. The amount of soil currently in bucket I estimate would be used for two flower containers so I add 1 teaspoon per container size. For the square foot area I use about a half sqft.  





The blood meal package says water insoluble so I think thats means something else is needed to break it down. I use a pinch of this zyme product to assist in this. It says it has beneficial bacteria to breakdown organic material.
I used some fish fertilizer water mix to moisten the soil.  

The amount I start off with seems to be a conservative amount to start.  I like add other things during the grow and top dress so I can alter the NPK values with other types of nute sources.


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## newgreenthumb

Sounds like a great way to compost on a smaller scale.  I have been reusing the soil from my last grow and since I use only organic ferts than I don't worry about salts building up.  Although I have never gotten in-depth like you have.  What is the purpose of the clearzyme and is it expensive to purchase?  I figure the hydroponic store might have some.


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## screwdriver

Thanks for stopping by newgreenthumb.  I think it was around 10us bucks. Its in the pond section of lowes and I have seen it elsewhere.  It says it contains beneficial bacteria and enzymes to breakdown organic matter like fish poo, stems, leaves to maintian pond health.   I just have a really dry pond.  The grow store has the "real stuff", but I haven't seen what that stuff looks like.

Its just a white, granular media that I sprinkle in the soil. I don't know how much to use so I just use it sparingly.  I don't know if it works, but there are no more leaves or stems visable in my buckets. 



Stirred my buckets. At this point, the only thing to do with the buckets is to ocassionally stir.  Its ready for use. Just add perlite and a little bit of npk stuff.  I remember correctly, the girl from the last harvest looked like she was a little N def in early in flower and I didn't keep up with nutes for her very good. When the time comes to add, I'll try to remember to add a little extra N. Just guessing.

I don't keep good records about my plants; when I water, if I top dress, when I maintain things. So I try to put it out here and there is a place to refresh my memory. It keeps records of grow away from the grow and less things to misplace for others to find. Its all here.

So I refer back and its been 4 weeks since I put my stem and leaves from the last harvest and now they are all gone from sight. I vaguely remember putting them in there.


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## Mutt

Just a question...Will you ammend with some worm castings as well?
Was reading the 3lb's soil thread and said they had worms in there grow trays. Just wondering.

Excellent thread..I don't post much but have followed this thread with eager interest. Great thread screwdriver. :aok:


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## screwdriver

Hello Mutt.  I've used worm casting in the past with my buckets, but don't have any this time around.  I think its always best to use castings from your own worm bin. (Got to restart).  One goal is to use a variety amendments like having a ten course meal and letting the plant and soil take what it needs.

I'm sure I've read 3lb thread somewhere, but my memory is weak sometimes.  I wouldn't leave the worms in the same container as my plants.  I'm definitely not a guru, but it seems to me that they wouldn't have as good as environment in my flower cabinet.

Lurking is welcome here and not offended at all.  It maybe selfish, but this makes it easier for me.  You can jump in anytime to share.


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## screwdriver

Stirred my buckets a couple of days ago and again today. Still moist, I will be adding a wet mass of alfalfa from my tea so no water should be needed for awhile.

I wonder how long my soil will last.  I read about how salt build up isn't good.  My soil, when drys after a watering, has a stiffen layer on the top.  I'm led to believe that this is due to the "salts".  I have noticed this with new soils and tend to think it has more to do with the speed at which the soil drys in my grow cabinet.  I did a search on the salinity of soil and determined that mycorrhizal fungi is a solution. I use it all ready.  May be I shouldn't worry about "salt" build up so much.

My buckets aren't exactly "organic".  I still wonder how long my soil will last.

I question whats this pond stuff I use.  It seems to work. So I was at the hardware store and picked up some stuff to put in a compost bin to assist in the process.




I look at the material and notice that it looks similar to my pond stuff.  The look, feel, taste all the same.  I didn't taste it, but got a sense what it tasted like. Sounds weird to me, but it was there.  Compost maker has a real MSDS which it says the stuff is urea.  "Mass production" law says this is petroleum based product. I had loads of fun reading about the history, uses, and manufacture of urea.  I liken it to "magic".

I am making some tea. I like to make it an all around NPK tea.  I put a pinch of my pond stuff in there and mix it gentle with my finger and notice the water temperature got cooler for a moment.  I think urea lowers water temp when it dissolves. Go figure.


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## HGB

screwdriver said:
			
		

> Compost maker has a real MSDS which it says the stuff is urea.  "Mass production" law says this is petroleum based product.



would you happen to have a link to this product?   the petroleum base part has caught my eye and I would like to read up a bit on that product... thx

mix away

:48:


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## screwdriver

This is the MSDS from the manufacture of this product.

In my travels on the internet I come across this site.

The "mass production" law is mine.  It may just seem like everything comes from oil.


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## screwdriver

I squeezed most of the juice from my wad of stuff and tossed it in the last bucket in line.  I won't be using this bucket for awhile so the rest will have time to breakdown. 



Not sure how long I can let it bubble.  My old lady says it smells like.......I'm just not going to describe it.  Whats offensive to some may not be to others.  All odors are kept in my room so it really up to me how long to keep it going and the smell is a nice place to visit, but I don't what to live on a farm.


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## HGB

screwdriver said:
			
		

> Not sure how long I can let it bubble.




12-48 hours...
short brew time at temps of 75-85* for a bacteria bloom 

long brew time at 60-75* for a fungi bloom


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## screwdriver

Hello HGB, thanks for the info.  Finished all the teas and more important cleaned my mess.  The foam, as it rises, brings tiny bits of stuff and deposits a small growing ring/layer around the bucket and whatever the foam touches. After that stuff dries its tough to clean off.

I can't believe its been 2 weeks since I touched my buckets.  I've been so lazy about stirring.  I look at the buckets as I light my pipe and thats about how far it gets.  So I have finally decided to do something and actually did something.

They were getting dry so I added some fish water to moisten.  How much?  The first picture is the beginning of the mix after I poured the fish water.  In the blurry picture you can see a clump of wet soil. 




After I mix completely, the water is evenly spread throughout soil.  I don't want to see any "mud" swipes from too much water on the side or bottom of the bucket.



I don't think I have a need for all the soil for awhile so my plan is to dry the soil in the buckets that are ready to use so I can store it.  The remaining soil is enough for the short term.  As I walk through the house I see several dieing plants which means more soil for the buckets in the near future.


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## HGB

screwdriver said:
			
		

> Hello HGB, thanks for the info.  Finished all the teas and more important cleaned my mess.  The foam, as it rises, brings tiny bits of stuff and deposits a small growing ring/layer around the bucket and whatever the foam touches. After that stuff dries its tough to clean off.



your welcome    and yes that ring can be a pita to clean after it dries....  only let that happen once here and now cleanup is done  right after the tea is feed....

nice to have soil in storage thats for sure and I have never had problems with storage after it is well dried....

peace


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## screwdriver

I finally got around to adding the skunk #1 remains to my buckets.  The discarded fan leaves have been mixed, but are still noticeable I cut up the framework of stems into little tiny pieces and put them into bucket three, the most recently used up soil.  



The root ball from that girl I put into bucket 2.  I like to think that the main root area at the bottom of the stalk has something special to it.


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## HGB

good day screwdriver,

when you make tea do you add the left material into the soil buckets?

there's millions of beastie's left in it and they love to dine on old plant matter 

peace


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## screwdriver

Hello HGB, Mutt.

I don't see an alternative other than to put that bacterial infested, half eaten, mess into my buckets.:hubba:  I can still make out some alfalfa, but most of it is unrecognizable.  Amazing how fast things disappear.

I have a plant that has wilted away.  I see a value to that for my buckets?  Hard for me to explain other than most it came from bucket so why can't it go back into my bucket?  The plant may be dead, but there life there somewhere.  I also think of it like conserving energy, walk up a flight of stairs to throw it away in the garbage or swivel my chair and dump it into my bucket. 



Is there a way to test soil health, ghetto style?  I've used a soil NPK test and the test has always shown the maximum color on all the scales.  Are they accurate?  I'm also curious about this "salt" build up.  Does my "salt" increase because I reuse the soil?


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## screwdriver

Stirred my buckets.
ostpicsworthless:


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## Ganja_Greg

cool idea.. wish i would of known about it before i grew my most recent plant in soil that i found cigarette butts in and dead dried roots from another type of plant. LOL...


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## screwdriver

Things are active again.  I planted a blue mystic seed and see a problem.  It looked like, to me, that there was a ph issue maybe locking out some nutes.  I don't know, so instead of growing confused, I choose to do little to nothing although I did top dress with lime and crossed my fingers.  I see a female preflower so she's a keeper for now.  The two healthy girls (I assume) in the bottom of the picture were planted in the same soil and not showing signs like the blue mystic.  They are my cross of BBxNL x BBxNL.  They look just like the mother.  The BBxNL cross are about 140 cm and have 10+ nodes, but not alternating.  In the past it has been a good sign of a female if it hasn't showed sex by the seventh node.



Just harvested my girl and the remainder of material goes into the buckets to be reused.


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## screwdriver

Haven't touched my buckets lately.  I'll go and stir them this weekend.  Here's an update on my girls in the soil.  My blue mystic had a little bout with something while my BBxNL cross had no issues with the soil _(Lower picture right side cut mostly from picture)_.  Same soil same bucket.  I think I just forgot to mix in some lime at the planting.  She seems to be doing fine from my perspective. I think she around 20 days into flower.


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## best in berkshire county

Have you been pumping your reused soil back up with nutrients? you know you have to layer your nutriences in the dirt correctly that is what partialy tells the plant whhat stage to go into and it controls  the growth rate of the roots, as well as the plants, certain nutriences should only be on the bottom so the roots shoot down to them. From your pics i can see a leaf and it let me know that the plant it came off of had some deficiencies it looked like nitrogen potassium and phosphorus deficiencies. but anyways  get back at me.. if you have any questions..


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## screwdriver

Hello, best in berkshire county.

Welcome to the forum there is a bunch of good info here and have a fun grow.

I occasionally add some N,P,K with included microstuff and love.:heart:
I think a layering technique may work better in a larger container than what I use.
My blue mystic had a problem early on.  My guess was magnesium deficiency, but then I saw some leaves curving.  I also look on the labels of the stuff I put in the buckets and there seems to be magnesium on several labels so I figure there is enough magnesium.  I kind of don't remember putting lime into the mix.  Anyway, I top dressed it with some lime and watered. 
I have transplanted and topped dressed her, since, and she appears to be happy to this date..

:afroweed:


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## screwdriver

Finally got around to doing something with my buckets.  I've been moving things around with my ventilation fan and really neglected my buckets. There was white stuff growing in there. So I go and mix it all up again.   




I started six more seeds in my soil and will try to start a journal to help me track my girls.  I need just enough for the size of my planter since I'm planting all six in the same container.  I added about 30% perlite and a tablespoon of ag lime.  I'm not going to add any N,P,K just yet.  I'll top dress later.




That's my soil.  Done nothing with it, not even stirred.  I know I really should mix it more.  It seems that when I mix it on a regular basis and tending to my buckets the organic stuff breaks down faster and becomes unrecognizable.  Since it has been sitting and I haven't been mixing I can still pick out some stems. Note to self, mix more.


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## Mutt

My bad not following up like a should. Thanks so much for this thread screwdriver.  this is a major contribution IMO. 
Keep it green dude. 
:48:


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## screwdriver

Thanks Mutt.

I don't think you have to do much to recycle your soil.  It is a good idea to do things proper, but it isn't a hard fast rule.  I would like to figure out what the things are that I'm doing right and wrong.  I forget and my memory can get distorted so if I post it, it is there for reference.  

Here's my latest girls. Left is blue mystic, right is my seed that I made from two BBxNL.


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## tcooper1

Thank you so much SCREWDRIVER..I was wondering how I could reuse my dirt.It seemed to be such a waste to throw all that away plust dirt is exspensive when you buy 8+ bags at a time.And the nearest "dirt" store is 20 miles away.So I thank you so very much!!!!! It will save me alot and alot :>)
have a great day and be safe


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## KGB30

Hands on is the only way to grow & prep. Thanks Bro

KGB


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## screwdriver

Thanks tcooper1,   8 bags :shocked: thats alot of buckets.  That sounds like a job for a rubbermaid container.  They got big totes to mix in.

Thanks for stopping by KGB30.

A little update on the soil.  Getting ready to plant some seeds so I moved some dirt around.  The bucket on the right is #1. I put a couple scoops from #2 and added some perlite and lime.  I'll start the seeds in this mix and cross my fingers my homemade seeds come through.
From bucket #3, far left, I put a couple scoops into #2, middle. I gathered up all the roots and the root ball from the red tub and put in #3.



In bucket #3, I sprinkled some my zyme stuff and then mixed together. I also added just plain water to each bucket to moisten.



My buckets tucked away in their new home. In a cabinet, hidden from nosy people.



And for those interested, the story of the orb in the top photo.   I positioned the camera so I could view the red tub without the camera interfering.  I could see the view finder of the camera also.  As the flash went off I saw a flash ball at soil level, out of the corner of my eye really wasn't looking at the view finder because the battery is low and it blanks out the screen.  I assumed a reflection from something in the soil. So I look very close and nothing in the soil seemed reflective.
I'm almost positive I saw that flash in the tub, but that looks like an "orb" thing.

The orb in the second picture I attribute to a big finger print on lens of camera.


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## screwdriver

Well, I had an awesome post about my buckets yesterday, but I don't see it.  It was probably the best post I ever made.  The pictures were the greatest and described everything perfectly.  I guess I didn't "submit" after previewing.

This is what I got now.




Its been 12 days since I harvested my blue mystic and put the remains into bucket 3.  Just see a couple partial leaves and the main stem that I didn't cut up yet.

I also added some fish fertilizer water too moisten the soil.  I did add too much water in bucket 2, so I'll have to stir more often for the next couple of days until it drys up a little.


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## DLtoker

Keep rockin' man.  So many more people should be doing this... :aok:


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## screwdriver

Hello DL, thanks for your comment and stopping by. 

I stirred my buckets today.  Most everything is unrecognizable except for about 20 cm of the main stem. I'm too lazy to cut it up.  Just waiting for it to soften more so I don't ruin my snips.  Added a little bit more water.






This is what I'm working with at the moment. 

How many times can you use a planter without exchanging the soil?  I just happen to have a planter that started out with two plants.  They were in flower mode when I found out that one was a male_(green arrow)_.   So I culled it immediately and smoked a bowl.  Then a companion tomato plant made it through my waterings_(red arrow)_.  The blue arrow was my latest harvest.  I left the stem there so I could tie the tomato plant to it.  I grew the tomato plant with a bend, mainly for height, but the new skunk I'm transplanting in there will fit perfectly in the bend.  I'll keep track of this elsewhere.


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## KAMSAI

if i was to consider using dirt again, i would bake it for 375 in the oven to kill any germs left from a prior grow,


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## screwdriver

KAMSAI, everybody likes to do things a little differently.  
I don't think the wife would like me to do that in the oven and I'm not sure if I would like that either.  Any "germs" left over I would like to keep them in the soil because I don't think there is anything "bad" in the soil after a good grow.  I don't do the "freezer" thing either.

I could also be wrong and reusing soil is the worst thing to do.  I'm still waiting to find out.

If anybody is actually using the oven to sterilize their soil I would really like to see some pics of the procedure you are using, the aromas around the house during cooking, the way you check to make sure the germs are dead, size of pan, how you check the temp, how long needed at that temperature, etc,etc.


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## DLtoker

The only way I have seen people "sterilizing" (even though it technically isn't) their soil is by "cooking" the soil in a sealed garbage bag by leaving it in direct sunlight...  If anything, this just disturbs all of your hard work, if your hard work has been done right.   Keep truckin' man!


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## screwdriver

Hello DL, I've heard a story like that before through the grapevine.  I liken it to talking to my BIL.  He can tell a story and misinterpret all sorts of details to end up with a story that confuses me.  Would not get hot enough to sterilize but maybe warm enough for composting and increasing the microbe colonies.  Anyway.

Stirred my buckets the other day and moved some dirt around.

From #2 I put a couple scoops into #1 bucket which is ready for use or storage.  I also moved soil from  #3 to #2.
I finally got around to cutting up the stem from bucket #3. It was soft enough that the scissors handled it smoothly.  I then added all the scrap from the male skunk and the trim from my tomato plant container into bucket #3.   Stir up, added some water with fish fert and mix until moistened.





Not much happening with buckets.  I'm thinking about reusing the containers alone without removing old soil or roots.  Just playing with one of my containers that way to see if I notice anything obvious.


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## KGB30

looking good!!


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## screwdriver

Thanks for stopping by KGB30, Kludge.

Just finished with an alfalfa tea.  I poured the liquid contents onto the plants and the remainder from the bottom of the jug I made it in went into my bucket #3.  I also used my finger to scrape the inside of the jug a couple of times where a huge mound of something was growing on the side.  Mixed the bucket and threw it back into the cabinet.




The smell as the tea was brewing was as if I was on a farm.  The kind of smell that says its time to clean the barn.  I can close off the cold air return and contain the smell to my room.  The odor during brewing is noticed and tolerated by me, but if there was an odor with the buckets they would be gone.  After putting it into the bucket and mixing in the odor is gone.  I've noticed that I can smell the tea that I pour into the planters for days.
I also poured my tea on some "upstairs" plants of mine.  I could smell the tea a day after I watered.  With a fresh nose and walking in the house from a long days work there was a faint farm odor.  The next day, nothing, unless you really got your nose to the soil. 
It just seems that the odor carries longer in the liquid portion of the tea versus the more solid portion.


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## KGB30

No miss spelling but looks great. lol


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## screwdriver

Spell check :banana:


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## screwdriver

Well, still reusing the same soil even though it magically increases in volume.  Waiting for all the horrors of reusing to surface. Don't see any "salt" buildup, don't bake the soil to kill anything.  I have outgrown the three buckets and in some bigger tubs but everything else is still the same.  Don't know if it is actully all organic but it is all my way.


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## screwdriver

Found these males hanging around and didn't want them to go to waste.
Just cut them up into tiny pieces and put back into soil. I also added some fish fert water to moisten the soil up and a wad of alfalfa that had been sitting in a cup of water for about a week. Breakup the root mess then stirred the whole tub.


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## Mutt

howdy screwdriver...long time bro. hope all is well on your end.
Very informative thread here been in my favorites since you created it. :aok:


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## screwdriver

Hello Mutt,  all is getting better just every other week now.  Things moving a little slower these days. Looking forward ignoring the past.


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## screwdriver

Not much going on in the tub that I can see.  Added a little water to moisten and stirred every couple of days.  Don't recognized anything except these sticks.  Most of them are finally soft enough to finish cutting up into smaller pieces. One of them was petrified I think but managed to cut up into a small enough piece. Going to transfer some into the yellow tub soon just to make room in the red tub.  I just don't want to fill the tubs with too much because it makes it hard to stir.  I want to be able to turn the whole mass over so it doesn't sit on the bottom of the tub for very long.




This is just my getting ready bucket.  Its where I'll add some blood, bone, epsoma salt.  Ummmmm, you said salt.  Oh no!  Anyway, I'll add other nutrients also, just whatever I want.  Just have to let it sit for a couple of weeks before I use it.  I also stir this every couple of days and add water to moisten.


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## Mutt

I like Epsoma's line of ferts and such. Bio-tone plus, plant tone and holly tone all in my grow


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## screwdriver

I think they are great but are hard to come by.  It seems the box store only carries one in stock and they are always out.
I would think that a company marketing their product would use packaging that was a little more eco-friendly.  Why not use a package that when the product was gone you could tear up the bag and use it as fertilizer.  That's my idea along with edible underwear.  When your finished...wait, I'm still thinking that one through.


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## Stufart

Dont use news paper as the ink used isn't ink at all. Its comprised mainly from 80-88% petroleum oil the rest is carbon pigment. Putting it in your compost pile can be harmful and counter productive really. I guess small amounts may be ok but just keep that in mind.


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## Wetdog

Stufart said:
			
		

> Dont use news paper as the ink used isn't ink at all. Its comprised mainly from 80-88% petroleum oil the rest is carbon pigment. Putting it in your compost pile can be harmful and counter productive really. I guess small amounts may be ok but just keep that in mind.



That's incorrect for the most part.

The overwhelming majority of printing inks, especially newspaper inks are soy based, not petroleum based and have been for a number of years.

When I first got into printing in the mid 80's soy based inks were limited. By the early 90's, about all were soy based. Much safer for the printers and consumers.

Wet


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## ozzydiodude

Stoners where here

Last post til today was 3/7/2010


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## Stufart

Fair call. However in Australia, all the inks used are latex based.


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## screwdriver

Stoner still here.

All my reused soil got transferred to my houseplants.  I still see some of those plants around the house.   How long does soil last before it's used up?  I have a little bit of soil but most is completely new.  Trying to have the need to reuse soil.


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