I got a ? for my soil peeps

[Hushpuppy]

I had a friend give me 3 girls that were already well rooted in FFOF in 6"x6"x6" pots and I want to transplant into bigger pots but don't have any soil. I have an old compost pile that I have been feeding yard waste(no bad stuff) for many years, and I know there is a lot of nice compost soil under it. Would that be sufficient to put in pots that are 4x the size of the pots they are in now, or should I ammend it with some other stuff first? Thanks

 

[Hushpuppy]

I meant to put up a pic of the girls in their little pots. They are about 3wk clones and about 8" tall I am intending to use these girls as clone donors for a few before flowering them.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Go buy some decent soil and amend it. Compost can be one of the amendments, but I do not believe that I would be for planting in 100% compost.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Ok, cool I think I'll go get some of that Kelloggs' you were talkin about and mix in some of the compost and lime (and some pearlite) Thx Goddess

 

[BBFan]

Hey Hushpuppy!

You plan on keeping those indoors in the "lab"? I'd be careful using compost as an amendment to the soil as you never know what's growing in it. It's one thing to make a tea from it for indoor use, but you may bring some unwanted visitors into your space using it as a straight amendment.

Best to just buy a bag of soil and feed as you need if you're not looking into moving forward with soil grows. Take care.

 

[7greeneyes]

test the run off on that soil mixed with compost, it may be hot hot hot, I know you said you're amending with lime but it's always good to know what you're working/starting with.

eace:,

7ge

 

[pcduck]

I would dig into the bottom center of the compost. Grab some of that finished compost and amend the some soil with it and add perlite. The heat from the working compost should kill all insects and if you get the finished compost it should not be hot nute wise as everything is broken down. Should get the green mojo for your garden roaring.

 

[Rosebud]

:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :goodposting: Yes That!

 

[BBFan]

I would dig into the bottom center of the compost. Grab some of that finished compost and amend the some soil with it and add perlite. The heat from the working compost should kill all insects and if you get the finished compost it should not be hot nute wise as everything is broken down. Should get the green mojo for your garden roaring.

Really? :confused2: Sorry, but just not true. While the heat may kill off any seeds from other plants, it will not kill the majority of insects, nematodes, and bacteria.

Certainly an old compost pile is going to be loaded with life. That's what it's all about!

Here's some interesting reading as what life can be found in a compost pile:

hXXp://compost.css.cornell.edu/invertebrates.html

 

[pcduck]

bb :confused2:You could not compost if you did not have those insects in most cases. They help break it down. Maybe I am lucky where I live,but we don't have many insects that can with stand 140 deg temps. With my compost pile most of the insects are found around the perimeter and maybe a foot in if ya look hard. I have found with mine, when the food source is gone for these insects they move on. Still find a few worms but they do not seem to hurt.

I would rather take my chances with my own compost then with what some of the growers are getting in with their bags of soils with all the insects. So either way you may get the bugs.

I sure would hope, your compost pile is teaming with life otherwise why do it? That is what composting is all about!

 

[Hushpuppy]

Wow guys you have given me a lot to think about. I just went today to see about getting some base soil to mix the compost with (hey THG apparently not all the HDs carry the Kellogg's soil) I had to get some MG however it is listed as "totally organic" and is a "new" line of soil from MG.

I was intending to open up my pile and pull the soil that is at the bottom center of it as that has been active for many years and should be well broken down. I add to it every year with yard waste and it gets really big, but by the next fall it has collapsed down to being pretty shallow again.

This isn't going to be a major change over to organic or soil, only 3 plants in 2gal pots, just to get my feet wet(or dirty). I guess I will find out if it proves to be a problerm. The interesting thing with my stealth grow (these aren't going in the "Grow-Lab") is that there are lots of spiders in my building and very few of any other bugs. I try to not kill them as I think they are eating the other bugs.

Thanks for the replies guys. I am really interested to find out how it goes. I will post pics to the "stealth cabinet" journal.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Don't get the MG with nutes or those moisture crystals in it. I use well composted compost on indoor house plants all the time without incident. Jeez, I actually have a worm composter in my family room. Compost doesn't have to mean bad insects and you want some of the nemotodes and bacteria in there--we have that in all the ss we are making.

 

[Locked]

Man be careful using any MG soil that has any nutrients already added to it. I use Seed starter mix from MG because it is mildly nuted to encourage root growth. jmo

 

[Wetdog]

Hey Hushpuppy!

You plan on keeping those indoors in the "lab"? I'd be careful using compost as an amendment to the soil as you never know what's growing in it. It's one thing to make a tea from it for indoor use, but you may bring some unwanted visitors into your space using it as a straight amendment.

Best to just buy a bag of soil and feed as you need if you're not looking into moving forward with soil grows. Take care.

:yeahthat:

Some of the best advice I ever got almost 40 years ago was "Don't bring any outside, inside". Meaning native soil, outdoor compost, whatever for the very reason BBFan stated.

I have a compost pile and it works great for my raised bed gardens, but I never add it to my mixes. My Vermicompost is indoors and gets used extensively.

Actually, You're GTG as you are in the gallon pots. Simply top the clones a bit and LST the resulting new growth. This is what I do for my moms. Plenty of clone sites and they still stay a small size. You can easily go 6 months+ in the 1 gallon containers with a top dress of Espoma every month or so.

See the *Bonsai Moms* sticky by Multifarious for full info and pics.

Wet

 

[7greeneyes]

HEY wETDOG,
what is Espoma?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Espoma is a brand name like Miracle Grow. They make quite a few different kinds of organic soil amendments--bone meal, blood meal, kelp meal, bio-tone, plant-tone, etc, etc. Not sure what product wetdog is speaking of, however.

My compost is in a closed container. I would never worry about bringing it into my place.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Interesting info guys. The MG soil says its all organic and has no sign of added nutes. I am not overly worried about the critters that I could get as it isn't going to be in house, only in my "grow shack" where I have my stealth cabinets and new tent.

I have already fimmed the girls so that they will throw me a bunch of nice clone candidates. These Blueberry Punch plants are heavy producers so I intent to get a bunch of clones to keep em going

Thanks for the conversations. I always learn something with these