Been some talk and minor controversy over recycling soil. I am a big proponent of recycled soil, hell, of recycling everything I can. Its not about saving money, its about why waste anything? We all waste way too much stuff, and every little bit you recycle/reuse helps a used and abused Earth.
And soil doesn't wear out. In fact, it just gets better! WHAT?!!!! How is that possible? What is the most nutrient rich natural soil type? Clay. Yes, good old clay. Most people do not realize just what clay is.
It what all soil can become, super fine particles of silicon, minerals, humus, sand, lime, etc, etc. EVERYTHING found in regular soil. Only super concentrated. You want super soil? ..............
I had friends who rented a house a few miles from me. The soil was super fertile, but thick clay. They decided to plant a garden. I knew they had their work cut out for the. high clay soil is a real challenge to grow in.
BUT..............
I have never in my life, seen such veggies! I'm serious, there garden looked like one of those Photoshopped Miracle Grow advertisements! I love most root veggies, beets, turnip,Rutabaga, etc.
Their root veggies where scary big! I went looking for ninja turles and glowing ooze!
Big? What's big for a beet? A Rutabaga? How about 1 beet big enough to feed 3 people? I'm saying they were averaging 10" in diameter! Rutabagas the size of basketballs! Carrot as thick as my wrist!
Yet the tomatoes, etc, were mostly small to average. Why???
Drainage. Clay has little little air space between the super fine particles. And it drys out to rock hard. When dry, its hard to re-moisten.
And the weeds and flowers and trees in that area are amazing, rich, lush growth for those trees that finally burrowed thru the clay to get the loose air entrained soil beneath .
And the same wild growth thrives there, year after year. How is that possible?
It has become a self sustaining micro-environment, the soil feeds the plants and the plants feed the soil. And we can do that also, on even a very small scale right?
Well, that's what we are going to find out. And I already have a candidate! I recently grew one of my Blue Dragon in a 10 gallon tote. I chopped the plant, let the rootball/soil dry out ( because it was damned heavy!! ) and set it out on my back porch to take to the recycled soil bin. And I left it there. Well, now a few weeks later, I notice 3 little plants sprouted in that soil. so that and reading Comet 79's thread, post harvest root exam, https://www.autoflower.org/threads/post-harvest-root-exam.53784/ gave me the idea to run a single pot, perpetual grow. No till, compost mostly for amendment when needed. I'll give it a topping of Azomite and lime, and fresh compost, nothing else. i'll ad worm castings on occasion as the soil breaks down. I'll chop up the plant waste from the plants grown in the pot and mulch with it.
Lets see how well our plants grow like this!
I just received three seeds that I'll grow this way for a test grow. Talk about a torture test!
If you've done something like this, tell us about it!
And soil doesn't wear out. In fact, it just gets better! WHAT?!!!! How is that possible? What is the most nutrient rich natural soil type? Clay. Yes, good old clay. Most people do not realize just what clay is.
It what all soil can become, super fine particles of silicon, minerals, humus, sand, lime, etc, etc. EVERYTHING found in regular soil. Only super concentrated. You want super soil? ..............
I had friends who rented a house a few miles from me. The soil was super fertile, but thick clay. They decided to plant a garden. I knew they had their work cut out for the. high clay soil is a real challenge to grow in.
BUT..............
I have never in my life, seen such veggies! I'm serious, there garden looked like one of those Photoshopped Miracle Grow advertisements! I love most root veggies, beets, turnip,Rutabaga, etc.
Their root veggies where scary big! I went looking for ninja turles and glowing ooze!
Big? What's big for a beet? A Rutabaga? How about 1 beet big enough to feed 3 people? I'm saying they were averaging 10" in diameter! Rutabagas the size of basketballs! Carrot as thick as my wrist!
Yet the tomatoes, etc, were mostly small to average. Why???
Drainage. Clay has little little air space between the super fine particles. And it drys out to rock hard. When dry, its hard to re-moisten.
And the weeds and flowers and trees in that area are amazing, rich, lush growth for those trees that finally burrowed thru the clay to get the loose air entrained soil beneath .
And the same wild growth thrives there, year after year. How is that possible?
It has become a self sustaining micro-environment, the soil feeds the plants and the plants feed the soil. And we can do that also, on even a very small scale right?
Well, that's what we are going to find out. And I already have a candidate! I recently grew one of my Blue Dragon in a 10 gallon tote. I chopped the plant, let the rootball/soil dry out ( because it was damned heavy!! ) and set it out on my back porch to take to the recycled soil bin. And I left it there. Well, now a few weeks later, I notice 3 little plants sprouted in that soil. so that and reading Comet 79's thread, post harvest root exam, https://www.autoflower.org/threads/post-harvest-root-exam.53784/ gave me the idea to run a single pot, perpetual grow. No till, compost mostly for amendment when needed. I'll give it a topping of Azomite and lime, and fresh compost, nothing else. i'll ad worm castings on occasion as the soil breaks down. I'll chop up the plant waste from the plants grown in the pot and mulch with it.
Lets see how well our plants grow like this!
I just received three seeds that I'll grow this way for a test grow. Talk about a torture test!
If you've done something like this, tell us about it!
