New Grower Reusing Potting Soil

[Mr Piggy]

I amend my soil with guanos, dolomite, ewc, ect anyway, so there's no loss of money there. Yes I have massive root systems and have a loss of soil from every batch. However, reusing that leftover soil just means I have to buy less new soil the next time I mix it all up. How you figure me having to buy less amendments and bags of soil the next time around as a loss I have no idea. Once again you're showing pictures of awesome pot plants then fail to logically tie them to recycling soil causing loss of money or pot. I'm starting to feel like you're ignoring the conversation and just trying to wow with awesome looking plants.

 

[wbojb]

I have never tried to reuse my soil for my indoor grows. I'm sure it's possible, and what Piggy says makes a lot of sense to me. I just empty my pots into my outdoor vege garden. Gives me killer yields of a diffeerent sort.

 

[Mr Piggy]

When I have an absolute overflow of soil or if I just don't like the look of some I'll toss it in the veggie garden. By that point everything in it is so used up all I'm doing is adding organic matter to the garden, but our heavy clay soil can use all the help it can get.

 

[Muddy]

They look to be overfed and probably suffering from a pH lockout, so the first thing to check is your pH. Once we know what it is we can give you better advise on how to correct your problem.

I would strongly suggest you not use that soil again. Not only does it contain the slow release nutrients, it also has water retention crystals in it. Both can be detrimental to growing weed. Weed like to almost completely dry out between waterings and those crystals may be keeping the soil too wet for too long. I also suspect the slow release nutes are what gave your last crop a bad taste. Most people flush their plants the last two weeks before harvest to remove all traces of nutrients. If they are still present in the final product they can give it a harsh taste, especially if they are chemical nutes. With those slow release nutes you would never be able to give it a complete flush.

Any kind of quick advice would be appreciated. I know i derailed my own thread and i am sorry.

 

[HazeD]

Seems some main issues with reusing soil come from salt-buildup and pests/disease (as already mentioned). Both can be treated bleach treatment and flushing.
I reuse my outdoor garden soil all the time !

 

[sativalover]

Seems some main issues with reusing soil come from salt-buildup and pests/disease (as already mentioned). Both can be treated bleach treatment and flushing.
I reuse my outdoor garden soil all the time !

i agree everything is recycled but things like absorbancy issues mayerials breaking down perlite looses density and absorbs salt, peat becomes denser and deteriorates looseing airation and absorbancy making ph more likely to fluctuate
to name a few

but don't get me wrong i understand the need to reuse everything possible
replacing soil is just a fairly inexpensive way to help insure a good outcome

one thing i would advise is conditioning soil to sterilize is using hydrogen peroxide solution to do so
bleach is a sodium based product prone to residue salt on material and even w/ good flushing the materials absorb into pourous materials
i recondition soil and have done it for years but i wouldn't tell someone else due to an issue i can't see w/ my own eyes:no:
hydrogen peroxide will help to break down and release salt build up w/ a little surfactant added

i would atleast recomend mixing old reconditioned soil to some new soil and some dolimite

i would also point out whatever sterilizer choosen if beneficial bacter was used in the soil it will be destroyed and should be re-administered

if you find yourself in a pinch and have tested some bud but it had alot of fert taste flush soil w/ hydrogen peroxide added to water it is cheap and easy to use
it will help flush soil and release contaminates and is at a relatively low cost is trying to hurry a harvest

 

[PopDC59]

I reuse my Pro-mix HP once for sure, twice if the strain is just ok. I do follow the instructions of some of the grower's, my washing out the salts in my plants is when I do my final flush, my plants are in 3gal buckets I flush with a 5gal bucket. I let it dry when I put the plant in 72hrs of darkness, my closet. After I trim her up to dry, I dump my pot in to a plastic tub an lightly shake as much dirt as I can off the root ball, your not going to get all the dirt back but a good portion of it. If you have plastic gloves you should use them but that's on you, I sift through the soil, if it looks ok I add a cup and a half of worm castings and a half cup of pearlite and add whatever Pro-mix I need to make up for the root ball, I work the soil really good. I repot and use just 1tsp of fox farm Grow Big to a gallon of water ph'd @ 6.5 its weak for a flower but good juju for a growing seedling.