Can you use your cannabis soil over and over again?

There is an awareness that has gripped all industries worldwide and that is summarized in the term sustainability. People are becoming more environmentally conscious and recycling or through sustainable practices.

The cannabis industry is also on a sustainable path, hence the discourse on how old earth can be reused for cannabis cultivation. Aside from the fact that reusing old soil will help you save money, the practice will also improve your soil quality.

Reuse old soil for cannabis plants

You don’t have to buy new soil if you want to plant cannabis in a pot. If the soil is infested with disease and insects, you cannot use it, but if not, you can reuse it. By revitalizing and reusing good old soil, you can keep your cannabis growing costs down.

Cannabis plants soak up a lot of nutrients when planted with the help of soil microbes. They need nitrogen during the vegetative phase and calcium and magnesium during the flowering phase. So it is certain that once your cannabis has been harvested, the plant will have absorbed all of the nutrients from the soil.

However, the cannabis plant also offers other benefits to the soil; it enriches the soil structure so that the soil with the cannabis plant in it is healthier.

The health of the land to be reused

In order for every grower to be able to reuse soil for cannabis, they must ensure that the soil to be reused has undergone remediation. The soil must have been composted, with regular fertilization and mulching of the potted plants so that the soil remains healthy at every stage of its life cycle.

Well-prepared soil retains its health, vitality and nutrients and becomes disease-free. If you are reusing the soil, recommend using a larger pot that will allow the old soil better access to oxygen.

On the other hand, if the old soil is neglected and stressed, it can become hydrophobic: then it is depleted and weak, with no nutrients or minerals to offer. The soil will collapse due to a lack of structure, which happens with soil that has been left in the sun for too long. The sun deprives them of their nutrients and these nutrients must be replenished before the soil can be used again.

You cannot work or reuse the soil if it has been previously infested with pathogens or is generally unhealthy. Put the soil in a bag and dispose of it: if you mix it in a garden bed or compost, the pathogens will spread throughout the garden.

Diseases can linger in the ground even after a long time if you think it is no longer there. Several species such as mosquitoes and mites and fungal rot can hide in the soil, making it a high risk soil for new plants.

After disposing of the infected soil, be sure to wash your hands before touching the healthy soil or plants. Wash the pots that the infested soil was used in with warm, soapy water to ensure that all vectors are washed out.

How to reuse potting soil

You can create nutrient-rich, recycled, and sustainable soil that will give your new plant everything it needs with the promise of a resilient harvest. First you need to learn how to use the old soil.

It’s a simple three step process:

First, you’ll need to clean the soil by running your fingers through it to remove harmful debris and old root balls.

Then revitalize the soil with enzymes. Enzymes are small machines made of proteins that enable the soil to undergo chemical reactions. Like fungi and bacteria, enzymes process organic material in the soil and thus increase the vitality of the soil.

Now you can reuse the floor!

How to use enzymes to rebuild used soil

• Remove the old root ball from the earth

• Choose a plant-safe and phytotoxic enzyme product (you can buy the enzyme product from cannabis plant stores).

• Place the substance on your growing medium (where you plan to grow the plant)

• Add some supplements like worm cast and humic acid: this will reintroduce important minerals into the growth canal.

• Let the culture medium rest for three months: this allows the enzymes to catalyze the organic material.

• Mix the substance regularly into the nutrient medium so that the soil is aerated.

Although the enzyme method is very effective, it takes a very long time (three months) before the soil can be reused. What other options do you have? Well, you can also try the cooking and changing method which is faster. To use this approach you need to:

• Break up the soil by emptying your planter and loosening up the soil. Break up the earth with your hands or with a garden tool.

• Get rid of roots and worms with the worms in your compost heap, which serve as organic matter for the soil.

• Pasteurize the bottom by pouring boiling water over your bottom and letting it sit for an hour. Strain the water and let the earth dry in the sun.

• Add beneficial fungi and bacteria that will make plants healthier and more productive.

• Now you’ve rebuilt the soil, so top up some extra soil with aged compost.

• Transplant the seedlings into the rebuilt soil and watch them grow!

Bottom line

Some people mistakenly believe that the cannabis plant gets its nutrients directly from the soil. But the truth is that the plants work with microbes to get the nutrients, and then the plant swaps the sugar it got from photosynthesis for the nutrients.

Pretty soon, some vital nutrients are being drained from the soil, which is why cannabis growers change their growing techniques from time to time. Rubbish, debris, dead microbes, pieces of roots and insect parts soon collect in the ground. At this stage you know the earth is ready to be reused.

But instead of planting cannabis right away, you need to add enzymes that speed up the breakdown process, which is now being converted into accessible nutrients. The nutrients make the used soil valuable again, and so you save money by reusing old soil.

The next time you harvest your cannabis buds, remember to save the leftover soil, add the necessary enzymes, and tap into the renewed soil with accumulated nutrients.

BOTTOM AND MORE, READ THIS …

CANNABIS GROUND PREPARATION – WHAT TO DO AND NOT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE PLANTING POWER!

OR..

HYDRO VS. Soil – what’s the better way to grow cannabis?