Hi all!
So I was going to try reusing my living soil from my previous run on my next grow. I just did a slurry test on it and it tested at 12 EC or 6000 ppm. I have a decent tester from Bluelabs and just to make sure my meter was right I calibrated it and got the same result.
My plan was to add amendments to recharge it but I am not sure what to do with it now. Probably the safe thing to do is toss it and start with fresh soil.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
AxisCat
We reuse our soil every year. Adding a few dry amendments to it at the start of the season. I have never really herd of anyone testing the run off of true living soil. You really don’t need to adjust the ph of the water you are feeding either. All the microbes ect. will adjust it as needed.
With living soil the idea is to use it year after year. Breaking down the nutrients that with in it. Basically creating your own natural humus layer and soil food web.
Thanks for the reply. That’s one of the things I like about using living soil is not worrying about the PH of the water, the only thing I do is aerate it if I am using tap water. And since I water some every day or two I never have runoff to test. Which is why you mentioned not testing.
I guess I thought I would get a baseline of where the soil is before I amend it. And I was surprised to see these high numbers. I have about 3 weeks before I need this soil so hopefully it will have enough time to cook.
If youre reusing your living soil and getting a ppm of 6000, dont worry about it. Just reuse without recharging. The last time i checked ppms of mine it was about 4500
I would definitely say, “Re-Use!”
Please. Be patient. It will pay off.
You will save $$.
See if you have the time to go down the “cover crop,” rabbitthole as well. Keep the soil alive.
I think about how much soil I have discarded, and its a shame.
These guys know whats up. Seen their work. 
@HippieRunner1 @ChittyChittyBangin
SL out.
The point of “Living” soil is that active bacteria will break down compound components into usable minerals that a plant can use. So as it sets it will increase its ppm level unless the active bacterial life is stopped by excess heat or other means.
I would use it without worry. Seems like its doing what its supposed to.
Good stuff everyone. It just makes so much sense to reuse it, we spent all the effort and time getting it living that it would be a waste to toss it and start all over every grow.
Any thoughts on keeping it alive for the next 2 or 3 weeks? Right now I have it in a composter and keeping it moist. I left the root balls from the old plants in there thinking that might help.
So this is what ive done. When i harvest i take my soil and roots and all my defol and throw it into 25 gal fabric pots. Ill mix in 1/2 cup of stonington blend veg food and a cup of worm castings for every 5 gal of soil. When i transplant into it, ill add dynomyko into the bottom of the hole that im transplanting into. The veg food is 35 dollars for 3 or 4 lbs. Alot cheaper than 45 dollars a bag of stonington blend. Ive also cooked my own super soil and im using it in the bottom of my 25 gal winter project. It has been cooking since June. I saved a couple of hundred bucks by doing this. I ve also planted, culled, amd till 3 rounds of clover mix from build a soil into to the top half of soil.
I took these tonight.
Great stuff would like to know if anybode has a good organic hot soil recipe
Like the recipe just wondering what kind of ac heat unit are you using
I started with a 5000 btu and it wasnt enough and crapped out on me… so i upgraded to a 12000 wifi enabled unit. I havent run it in since oct.
That is similar to what I run. These portables work okay but are far from ideal. I have to run a dedicated dehumidifier along with the portable AC to keep the humidity down. By far the largest load on the AC unit are the lights. You can calculate the cooling capacity required to offset the lights by multiplying the true wattage of the lights (actual plug load) times 3.4. This gives the btuh required. Depending on where your grow room is you might add a little for the walls and ceilings but this normally doesn’t account for much. Dedicated dehumidifiers adds a decent amount of heat to the room too so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind about 70-75% of the AC units rated capacity goes towards actually cooling the space. The other 25-30% goes towards removing moisture out of the air (dehumidification).
Yep. I have a dedicated dehumidifier for that room also.
What size bags are you using
One of these days I want to get around to building a single system that provides airflow, heating, cooling, humidification and dehumidification.
