soil recipe shelf life?

I don't think this has been asked yet, but here we go; I have a large amount of soil I made with the subcool super soil recipe. it has been sitting in a tote in the basement for about a 14 months, and its pretty dry. but not completely. is this soil going to be good to use, or do I need to remix it? anyone know an estimate on the shelf life of a soil recipe?

Update: just turned the soil and found a good dampness under the top half of the soil so I'm assuming its good to go.

Should be fine. I dont think dirt goes bad. When you buy a bag of potting soil that stuff sits in a warehouse, then a truck, then the store, sometimes well over a year before you get it, if its not sold in season. I bought a bag in winter once anf the guy was like its frozen, how will you use it. Lol, I said all the dirt on the ground freezes every year and it thaws every spring and is just fine.

wonder6977 said:

I don't think this has been asked yet, but here we go; I have a large amount of soil I made with the subcool super soil recipe. it has been sitting in a tote in the basement for about a 14 months, and its pretty dry. but not completely. is this soil going to be good to use, or do I need to remix it? anyone know an estimate on the shelf life of a soil recipe?

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Should be fine. I'd moisten it down with a compost tea which should kick it back in to gear

It's dirt, I have a lot of it that I'm currently using now that was mixed up 2 years ago. It seems to get better with age, It really mellows over time.

st0wandgrow said:

Should be fine. I'd moisten it down with a compost tea which should kick it back in to gear

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Correct answer imo. Dry soil = dead soil. It doesn't go bad, but you do want to kick start that microlife. I would add a compost tea before I planted into it if possible. Make sure you keep a good layer of mulch on top your soil.

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Why mulch? will that help hold in moisture or something?

wonder6977 said:

Why mulch? will that help hold in moisture or something?

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Exactly. The top couple of inches of soil are very important to keep the SFW working at it's full potential. Dry soil = dead soil. You want live soil if you are growing organically imo. I prefer leaf mulch over straw, but use what works and what you have available. When using leaf mulch be sure the trees were not sprayed with chems.

wonder6977 said:

I don't think this has been asked yet, but here we go; I have a large amount of soil I made with the subcool super soil recipe. it has been sitting in a tote in the basement for about a 14 months, and its pretty dry. but not completely. is this soil going to be good to use, or do I need to remix it? anyone know an estimate on the shelf life of a soil recipe?

Click to expand...

Dude, its cooked and fully alive now. Good work man.

Ok, I have a few bags of mulch from lowes left over from yard work, can I use it even if its red? Or would it not be a good ide because its been sprayed? How can you tell if its been sprayed?

Wonder, I don't have a lot of experience with wood chip mulches. I would be hesitant to add a cedar mulch. In the past, I have used leaves from trees and dynamic accumulators (comfrey, chamomile, lavender, horsetail, etc). I usually try and get somewhere around 2" of mulch. Here's a quick picture of a plant with mulch.



Peace!
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That is one beautiful looking plant pat! Its obviously working out for you with the soil