My question is is about reusing soil after harvesting. I know it’s not ideal but I got too much used soil laying around. I am trying to get a better understanding of the process of recycling Fox Farm Oceanforest. I appreciate any information on this subject. Happy blazing!
Possible to reuse fox farm ocean forest soil
by Brainz | May 10, 2019 | Grower Questions | 5 comments
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Not ideal but I’ve done it before without any negative effects. Break up the rootball, remove any large roots, rinse media to low ec with ph’ed water to remove old built-up nutrients, treat soil as inert media (i.e. reinocculate with bennies, fertilizer). The struggle is real when you can’t get more soil!
Think of what was used from the mix npk ca sulfur trace minerals. Compost has further broken down along with the aeration of the soil. So if yout going to use bottles than adding a little compost and aeration would help. Top dressing in amendments or reammending the soil all together would work. Lots of things can be done but the idea is nutrients and minerals were removed so just replanting expecting to get similar results as before by doing the same things will lead to deficiencies or nutrient imbalances.
All my soils get run at least twice. I personally reammend it after breaking up rootballs then allow earthworms and cover crops to help get it normal with microbes
I’ve been reusing the same soil for years by re-amending and re-cooking it after harvest. The soil still has everything your plant needs, just the soluble nutrients have been used up. I add enough raw materials to get some thermal composting going and it cooks nutrition back in and “cycles” the soil back into stuff that will makes plants happy. The soil is already teaming with microbes and fungs after a grow, cycling it back to usable material with thermal composting is way cheaper than buying new of course, and it actually works better with age, in my opinion. I feel the soil is better after a couple grows/cycles.
Good health, mind, and spirit! Thank you DGC!
How about starting autoflower seeds in FFOF? For example, use fresh FFOF soil in the bottom 4/5 of a 3 gallon, and top with old (flushed/dry) FFOF – then start from seed in in the top 1/5 of the soil.
Mahalo,
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