New Grower Recyling your Organic Soil

[pop22]

Recycling soil is not only preventing wasting good soil, wen properly recycled, it will be as good or better than the original mix! Soil doesn't " wear out. It just keeps breaking down into smaller and smaller particles. Clay is super fine particles of very nutrient rich soil. What is needed is to replenish the nutrients, especially the micro nutrients.

I've been looking for the best method(s) to make a good, recycled soil mix. After re-reading a couple of organic growing books, it dawned on my the a good recycled mix starts with a good original mix!

Why? because micro nutrients are the hardest to replace. Even organic sources are slow to release. For organic micro nutes to be available takes 90-180 days using seaweed etc. Azomite and greensand take 6 months to a years to BEGIN to be available. Don't even waste your money on rock phosphate or "glacial rock duct", you won't live long enough to see results!

You will need to replenish NPK as usual. I stick to organics. Seabird guano will work fastest. Bone meal takes a long time to break down and oyster/clam shell takes years to break down even when crushed. I'm adding bone meal to the worm bins as they can break it down faster and make the calcium and phosphorus available

So I'm adding Azomite to my simple mix and will add seaweed/kelp to the mix to boost available micro-nutrients in the recycling process. I'm adding small amounts to my worm bins also as they can speed up the process.

I process some of my used soil as worm bin bedding. It makes for great worm castings. Don't sift out the broken root pieces in the soil, let them decompose in the soil, it won't hurt a thing!

My mixes for recycled soil:

First remix

3 gallons recycled soil\
1 gallons coco coir
1 gallon composted chicken manure ( you can use whatever you have/ can get )
2 Tbs liquid seaweed/kelp
1/4 cup Azomite
2 Tbs sea bird guano
2 Tbs bone meal
2Tbs lime ( dolomite or garden lime )

For the second remix:

2 gallons fresh soil
2 gallons recycled soil\
1/2 gallons coc coir
1 gallon composted chicken manure ( you can use whatever you have/ can get )
2 Tbs liquid seaweed/kelp
2 Tbs sea bird guano
2Tbs Lime

for the third and further mixes, just alternate between the first and second mixes.
Eventually you'll have more than you know what to do with...lol! Use it in outdoor gardens of any kind. Your flowers and veggies will love it!

 

[surffreak]

Great writeup @pop22! Got a full trash can of old soil, gonna give your method a go for this season's supply! Sounds like a money saver too!

 

[pop22]

I was saying: Recycle, Reuse, waste nothing LONG before the"green movement" adopted it! Now I'm trying to talk a farmer out of some spoiled hay to use in a straw bale garden. Old, brown hay bales work as well as straw, little grass/weed ever sprouts from them and if you mulch the tops of the bales, it won't be a problem at all!

 

[HMR]

You may want to add some oyster shell flour or dolomitic lime to balance the PH of the soil, not sure if I saw anything in there which did that or if you have another method.

 

[HMR]

Also the oyster shell flour's NPK & Calmag will become activated a lot quicker if you throw a few worms in per pot, or while you cook the soil

 

[pop22]

Your right, I forgot to include the lime! I ad lime even to fresh soil, and I've yet to have ph problems in soil!

I edited it to include the lime, and thank you!

You may want to add some oyster shell flour or dolomitic lime to balance the PH of the soil, not sure if I saw anything in there which did that or if you have another method.