Myth Bust: Roots in your recycled soil will make the soil too acid

[pop22]

Is it a Myth?

" Roots in your recycled soil will make the soil too acid "

Hmmmm, so ok, I bought this one! UNTIL yesterday. My greenhouse is next to my shed. Behind the shed I keep bins with recycled soil and one with old rootballs from last fall. I planned to eventually feed the rootballs to my worms. Well, apparently my stupendous powers of observation were on the blink.......... Last evening, after watering in the greenhouse, I noticed 2 beautiful tomato plants...............growing out of the old, canna rootballs! They were son nice, I transplanted them into large pots today, rootballs and all!
I added just enough recycled soil to fill the pots, no amendments of any kind! Lets see how these girl end up! Can they successfully survive to give a crop? or will the rootballs acidify the soil and ruin the plants? What do you think?

I'll post updates on these here!

Pics:

 

[pop22]

Pics restored!

 

[Ronin]

Don't know if it will acidify the soil..
Do you have a soil probe to gauge any change?
I would think as long as you have a healthy soil web, the bene's are probably working to break down the dead roots into usable nutrients.
I know of pepper growers that use their old roots in AACT brews.
Tomatoes seem to be liking their home.

 

[Corgy]

I added just enough recycled soil to fill the pots, no amendments of any kind! Lets see how these girl end up! Can they successfully survive to give a crop? or will the rootballs acidify the soil and ruin the plants? What do you think?

:

What I think...............ermmmmm.......I think the only thing that will be acidified and dissolved is the MYTH.......and you will soon choke on tomatoes...........

http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/tomatoes_getting_started/358


Roots acidifying soil..........

 

[pop22]

My ExTech ExStik has a probe for soil. I'll be testing the soil occassionally. Just ran a test and soil is right at 7.0

Don't know if it will acidify the soil..
Do you have a soil probe to gauge any change?
I would think as long as you have a healthy soil web, the bene's are probably working to break down the dead roots into usable nutrients.
I know of pepper growers that use their old roots in AACT brews.
Tomatoes seem to be liking their home.

 

[pop22]

Yea yea, I know, tomatoes, not Canna........lol! But tey were right there staring me in the face so..........
anyway, I was in te grrenhouse this morning and the transplants are looking very good! They've perked up already and are adapting rapidly to the pots. So far, so good!

 

[Mossy]

Ha ha pop..if I wanted to Experiment without Harming an Auto I'd practice on a tomato too...

I grow outdoor with multiple plants to a 25 ltr pot. By the time the plants are Finished my pots are really root bound.
I've had seeds drop out of the Mothers and self germinate into really root bound pots and they have no great difficulties.

Saying that though..I feed my outdoor girls very lightly so I have no real fert or salts build up in the compo...

 

[Mossy]

Aw pop..I'll tell you something that I would really Like to See..a side by side grow..same genetic..same conditions..
one on Canna ferts veg and flower and one on Tomato ferts veg and fruit.....see if we really Do get Value for money from our Specialised Canna ferts

 

[pop22]

Your wish is my command! I've thought on this one and Will do this in the near future. I'd like to do a pair of clones and a pair of autos. The Autos I'll do soon. as I'm planting 6 more cushdogs. 2 Gallon pots and I'm going to order some House and Garden soil A and B. The other will get whatever I can find cheap at Lowes! I Love this kind of thing!

:smoking:

Aw pop..I'll tell you something that I would really Like to See..a side by side grow..same genetic..same conditions..
one on Canna ferts veg and flower and one on Tomato ferts veg and fruit.....see if we really Do get Value for money from our Specialised Canna ferts

 

[Corgy]

Aw pop..I'll tell you something that I would really Like to See..a side by side grow..same genetic..same conditions..
one on Canna ferts veg and flower and one on Tomato ferts veg and fruit.....see if we really Do get Value for money from our Specialised Canna ferts

That's exactly what I have been wondering too......a few days ago in a large garden center in Germany I had a good look at all their fertilizers, and they have a LOT, in bags, tin, jars, boxes and so on.......some of the tomatoes and flower bloom food looked suspiciously like copycat canna food, albeit a fraction of the cost and they didn't have names that included words like voodoo, tarantula, overdrive, bloomtastic, Turbo, afterburner, magic, boost, X-treme and so on..........guess there's still some catching up to do.........anyways, I acquired a kg of Nutricote(the future in fertilizers from Switzerland) at 8.95 Euro, speciale angebot......... and another kg of tomato food(powder) from the same company at 5.95 Euro.......when the holidays are over, I will serve these "futuristic" foods to 2 out of 4 Walter White's in the same conditions...........I wouldn't be horribly surprised if they don't mind.........might even get some Walter buds with a Whopper flavour.....we'll see!!!