I’ve tried to do the Iced Earth thing before but just can’t get into them. Musically they’re pretty awesome but I just don’t like the voice and the lyrics.
That stuff is just way after my time lol
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I hear you.
The body of work I’m gonna stress to listen from start to finish is their epic rock opera that spans 2 albums telling Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked This Way Comes Pt.1
The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked This Way Comes Pt.2
Sadly the band is DEAD because Schaffer was openly part of the storming of the White House. Afterwards he turned himself in and while in FBI custody, on six felony charges all but 1 other of the band members publicly resigned. Both Iced Earth and Demons & Wizards were immediately dropped f their record label.
Breaks a lot of hearts too with Schaffers stupidity; he decided to go full-on FloridaMan at the wrong time in the wrong state ON CAMERA.
@JohnnyPotseed ; understood! Though the body of work they are inspired to tell the story from was published in 1962: AND IS STILL AWESOME (just like YOU!)
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Hey JP,
I want to say thanks for sharing your fascinating grow and explaining your processes. It has been truly a wonderful educational experience and in some respects humbling (dang, I wish I had 1/4 of your productivity 
)
One thing has been nagging me & I don’t think you have touched on it (please pardon me if I missed it)…
Is how do you recycle your soil?
This has been a slowly growing concern of mine, I’ve had with limited success reworking mine with amendments etc.
All summer I’ve had a 50 gallon worm bin processing used soil so I’ll see how that fared shortly…
Cheers
G
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Yes! This. This is my same question I have yet to figure out a good formula for. I get the sense that reamending is a little bit of a magical skill to know what the soil needs, haven’t been able to get a totally straight answer on a basic formula. Would love to hear your thoughts too @JohnnyPotseed
Edit: I should say there are some consistencies that I’ve found, specifically, always add kelp back, probably some calcium source as well (oyster shell flour, crustacean meal, gypsum, etc.) and compost of some kind, but amounts are always fuzzy
I’d suggest first, get a soil test kit. You can find them cheap on Amazon, the one’s you do at home, or if you want to really get technical with it lol get one you send off, those tell what amounts of almost everything is in there.
This first step eliminates all the guess work, which saves you money and also your plants!
If you add too much of certain things, you can burn/stunt/kill your plant!
Also, you save money, by not buying something you don’t need.
After you have a better idea of what your soil does need, then go to work!
If time is the most important factor, I say, start fresh and build it. Then you don’t have to wait on a test to get back to you.
Once you have the list of things you need to add for amending. then you basically just follow the instructions on the package for the amount to add.
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I compost it, blending it back into the compost bin. we start at one one end and work our way to the other. Adding fresh compost stuff to the beginning end, if that makes sense.
We add all the household veggie and fruit matter, sans seeds! lol Them seeds will sprout to beat the band, using up nutrients in the compost I want for my plants.
Also egg shells, coffee grounds, all the debris from harvest, fan leaves, stems, stalks, root balls, etc.
The used soil gets replenished by doing this.
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We also test the soil periodically so as to know what might be getting low, or high. and can amend the mix right in the compost bin. We know the bins hold 1 cubic yard each, and can break down the ratios from there.
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Before you ask lol there’s approximately 175 ‘dry’ gallons in a cubic yard. So 175 1 gallon pots, or about 85-2gal, etc for starters lol soil additives usually give ‘by the dry/cubic gallon pot’ instructions so just multiply.
Also, make sure it’s blended well!! Otherwise you’ll have ‘hotspots’
edit… lol I had to change the number of gallons, I mis-spoke at first cuz
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@Gpaw and @LegsMahoney I hope this answers your question completely enough?
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Thanks, that helps a lot.
I’ve been doing most of what you described. I was using those soil test kits (N, P, K & PH), though I was beginning to suspect the results might be misleading.
I with you on the seeds! Those wee buggers can be wild popping up in the compost… All our household veggie/fruit wast etc. go through our worm bins & then to the plants.
Basically, I’m on the right path, I just need to stick with it and work out my process. 
Thanks & Cheers
G
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Also, one thing you need to take into consideration is this… when adding multiple amendments, you’ll sometimes find some of the same ingredients , so just adjust the amounts to try and not have too much of anything.
Too much of a good thing can be bad!
By that I mean same mineral nutrients like Nitrogen, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, etc
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Tip for soil testing. Check with your state or county agriculture department. Many times they will do soil tests for free…
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There ya go lol thnx cuz… another option
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@JohnnyPotseed thank you! Lots of good info there, what I’ve been doing is collecting used soil in 25 gal totes and trying to reamend in that state in order to keep things as “sterile” as possible by not adding to the general household compost. That compost bin goes to veggie gardens etc. but I’m trying to keep the soil for indoor cannabis separate so as not to introduce too many new pathogens or other vectors, so what im trying to hone in in is a good method for reamending in that manner. I’ll say I had no idea there were soil test kits available on Amazon, I was looking into the local college at. Dept here for soil testing, but this sounds like a more economical way to get an idea of what’s needed. Seeing as I only feed via top dressed dry amendments what im wanting is a good base reamend knowing that I’ll continue to add to the nutrient load and microbial life throughout the plants life. This was a big help man, thank you!
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Top dressing is good. But, I also like to put all of the essential minerals down where the roots can reach and absorb them better. This means blending everything into the base soil mix. Also as well in the foliar feed. Also in the water a couple times a week in the plants usual feeding schedule.
But, everything in moderation as far as amounts, due to giving the plants essential minerals in so many different ways.
You can end up overloading them plants lol so I use 1/4 & 1/2 strength mixes.
‘strength’ read as ‘per instructions’ lol
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ThAts all good to know man, this run I’m experimenting with alternating waterings of fish hydrolysate and kelp sludge to provide more immediately available nutrients in addition to the slow release top dress feeding s which I think is in line with what you’re talking about
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Kelp and liquid fish are just part of what I use myself. What you’re doing sounds just fine cuz. When you said
that tells me you do use other, and hopefully ALL, of the rest of essential minerals, this plant needs. It’s a rather deceptive plant, very simple ‘grow anywhere under any conditions’ (ie; ‘weed’) But, as ‘simple’ as it may seem , there is a complex dance at work there! lol
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I worry a lot that there’s something I’m missing, but all the more reason to keep reading, learning and experimenting I guess. Lucky to have a line on folks like you who are gracious with their knowledge to bounce ideas off of. Appreciate you man.
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Thnx cuz lol I’ve always considered it my ‘job’ in life to help overgrow this planet! 
The only way that will happen is to encourage, support and help young or new growers succeed in their efforts…
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