Keep or remove stalks in Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS)

What's up RIU?


I recently saw a page on Instagram showing a gardener leaving in his cannabis stalks ( cutting down to about 1") and reusing his living soil by simply popping a new seed next to the old stalk. This is somewhat new to me. I have been rocking living soil for about a few years now and although I would always feed the dead/trimmed leaves and branches back to the soil, I always cut out the root ball/stalk and then trimmed it down enough to put back into the soil (minus the chunky pieces). Have I been doing this all wrong in a sense of disturbing the soil food web? Should I leave the stalks in? I have looked up hundreds of pages and articles as well as trying to find the same Instagram page without any luck (maybe my keyword searches are way off). Do any of you suggest leaving the root ball/begging of old stalk intact rather than cutting it all out? I will note that I haven't seen any decrease in activity by "disturbing" the soil as I have been but it's a thought that may benefit my grows. Thank you ahead of time fam!

@Maine HomeGrown

What you're referencing is called 'no-till.'

I see great benefit by leaving my soil web alone. Their is no benefit to tearing your root ball out and replacing anything. You're mycorrhizal network is very valuable and you will see just how valuable it is on your second cycle. More vigor, thicker leaves,more frost, smell, and Taste, better yield, etc...Every time you break down your soil and root ball you're destroying this network and it spends the rest of the next cycle rebuilding...So long as you have a high CEC and your cations/anions are balanced, all that really needs to be added back to the soil is nitrogen and a little potassium, which is why alflafa/kelp teas are so heavily promoted in organic growing.

Hey here's my first attempt at no till. It's even more cool because I'm trying to plant generations of clones from mothers of the root ball that's feeding the new clone. Water only snd top dress with dried leaves, kelp, and ewc

MistaRasta said:

@Maine HomeGrown

What you're referencing is called 'no-till.'

I see great benefit by leaving my soil web alone. Their is no benefit to tearing your root ball out and replacing anything. You're mycorrhizal network is very valuable and you will see just how valuable it is on your second cycle. More vigor, thicker leaves,more frost, smell, and Taste, better yield, etc...Every time you break down your soil and root ball you're destroying this network and it spends the rest of the next cycle rebuilding...So long as you have a high CEC and your cations/anions are balanced, all that really needs to be added back to the soil is nitrogen and a little potassium, which is why alflafa/kelp teas are so heavily promoted in organic growing.

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Oh man haha, I've certainly sounded like an idiot by misusing the terms in the past then! At least I'm doing it the right way in a sense of Organics right? Haha man. Thank you for the explanation to why I now see it is essential to keep that intact. I have done well (my plants reacted fine at least) with my teas and they include all of what you stated along with other amendments at the necessary amounts. Thanks again for the insight MistaRasta. Much appreciated.

green_machine_two9er said:

Hey here's my first attempt at no till. It's even more cool because I'm trying to plant generations of clones from mothers of the root ball that's feeding the new clone. Water only snd top dress with dried leaves, kelp, and ewc

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Looks great Green Machine. I'm surprised I had the luck I did and didn't have to replenish as much as I would think by losing what I've been taking it out and "tilling". Thanks for the reply and keep it Organic!

Maine HomeGrown said:

Looks great Green Machine. I'm surprised I had the luck I did and didn't have to replenish as much as I would think by losing what I've been taking it out and "tilling". Thanks for the reply and keep it Organic!

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congrats on the legal weed in Maine dude. I think i'm gonna move to maine lol

ShLUbY said:

congrats on the legal weed in Maine dude. I think i'm gonna move to maine lol

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It's a good feeling I'll tell you that! Although, it has been legal for some time now in Portland which I frequently visit. A better feeling knowing it is legal state wide now though. I still reserve some concern regarding the Medicinal industry and affecting our caregivers. I hope that stays the same and it isn't going to get out of control in the recreational sense leaving people who have fought tooth and nail to get where they are or have spent their life and money trying to build something/a business that could potentially be ousted by these rec guys and the "elites". I'm hoping my ignorance on this issue is just that and it won't change much for these guys but this is all new to me now and I don't know what could be.

grab stalk, wiggle tug twist discard what comes out.
the short life cycle of marijuana in a dirt pot isnt enough time for composting contents properly.... the dirt in the pot is not
turned or aerated.. its fed nutrients...... dead roots can go anaerobic in the bottom of a pot.
dead roots no good till next year imo

green_machine_two9er said:

Hey here's my first attempt at no till. It's even more cool because I'm trying to plant generations of clones from mothers of the root ball that's feeding the new clone. Water only snd top dress with dried leaves, kelp, and ewc

Click to expand...

This is a great idea, keeping same containers with same plants from previous round. Rock on.

chemphlegm said:

grab stalk, wiggle tug twist discard what comes out.
the short life cycle of marijuana in a dirt pot isnt enough time for composting contents properly.... the dirt in the pot is not
turned or aerated.. its fed nutrients...... dead roots can go anaerobic in the bottom of a pot.
dead roots no good till next year imo

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All good points, but I think the idea the OP is questioning is that of disturbing the soil web, which in fact this would be doing. My plan is to have containers I can cycle out for a few weeks, perhaps plant some cover crop and let it grow up then add my plant to the container. It shouldn't take too long under the right conditions for the root ball to become part of the soil web.
My two cents.