I am interested in using my soil mix over after this grow. I used 2 parts Roots Organic soil to 1 part earth worm castings and I am mainly feeding with a compost tea. What would you guys recommend to ammend this soil with before using it in the next grow?
4 Likes
I would a amend with nothing just let the tea do the work
2 Likes
My staple is to top dress with crab meal, kelp, oystershell powder, neem and karanja. I have cover crops and worms that keep everything cycling. Rock powders, comfrey, and diatomaceous earth are added at intervals also.
7 Likes
Interested to see more input here! I’ve always made my own little mix of supersoil for the bottom half and have wanted to implement some recycling and notill methods in the future. Seems @ryasco is on the right track. Duke Diamond was on the weed nerd last July and gave out tons of info on that matter.
3 Likes
Right on sounds like a great combination. Do you leave the roots in the pot after you harvest?
1 Like
Yea, i leave a little stem showing so i know where to dig my next hole. I dig beside the root ball each time. My pots are all around 10 gallon, some bigger some smaller.
2 Likes
Nice, I’m running 5 gallon smart pots now. I think I should transition over to a no till style. With cover crop and worms.
3 Likes
It is fun, but like anything it takes time to figure out. 
1 Like
Yeah man that’s for sure. That’s what attracted me to growing. I thought it’d be pretty easy at first, then you get into a grow and discover it’s not as easy as it seems. Gives me much more respect for quality bud. Knowing the person that grew it put in the time and effort to produce a good representation of their skills.
3 Likes
I don’t re-amend my smaller pots after I’ve grown a plant in them. I bust it up and add it to the worm bin, then when I need to refill a pot or plant a youngling I pull soil from the bottom half of the worm bin.
I remember listening to an interview Clackamas did, where he talked about how he doesn’t re-amend his pots and does the above. According to him, he never could get it to work with smaller pots.-he grows his in 3 gallon pots-
4 Likes
Thanks man, I need to re visit those pod casts, very helpful info there. Much appreciated.
1 Like
Not much to add here, other than I’m trying no-till in my 2 gal pots. My plants stay under 30" tall (including the pot) so that may work in my favor. Last one was amended with castings, shrimp, kelp, and neem.
1 Like
“Plants can’t uptake nutrients without the work of microorganisms (if working organically) everything you feed your soil must be processed by microorganisms first.”
Worms are living producers of microorganisms, these break up the nutrients to get bioavailable for the plants.
Be well.
3 Likes
Well said and to the point ya need the microbiology first and everything will fall into place the way Mother Nature intended to be! Worms and all the creepy crawly things in soil are a good visual indicator of soil health!
2 Likes
Yes my Brother, but keep away those plant destroyers! Fungus Gnats are not not necessary in an indoor grow 
1 Like
Ok so I know this is an old thread but I don’t want to start another one with the same title…
So I just finished a grow about a month ago, and I’m ready for the next round. I’m growing in 2 gallon pots using coast of Maine Stonington blend(LOS) and need to re-amend my soil. I bought a re-amend kit, worm castings, and kashi all from buildasoil.
My questions are… should I dump the used soil in a tote or on tarp and mix everything together and let sit??..
Or, should I just top dress my pots and let sit?
Also, is it OK for the soil to sit in the dark or should I turn the light on??
Any help would greatly be appreciated.
1 Like
Typically you would do the first when recycling and re-amending the soil. Since you are using two gallon pots, that’s what I would do. If you had large beds (30+ gallons) then that becomes impractical and you would have to top dress.
2 Likes
Here is what I would do, fill up enough solo cups (or similar sized pots) with your used soil for your seeds. Plant in those and by the time they are ready to transplant into bigger containers, the soil should be ready.
Assuming this is the kit you are talking about, you can plant in this mix right away.
3 Likes
Yea thats the one I got. Thanks a ton I’m going to try and get this started today.
2 Likes