Cooking Super Soil

Hey guys long time hydro grower who has been turned on to Sub's organic super soil.. I been cooking my soil in a trash can for a couple weeks and I got some mold on the top soil which is a good thing I hear. Anyways my other question is: I'm cooking my super soil in my backyard in a trash can of course but I live in Phoenix and its pretty much been 115 degrees here on average the past couple weeks so the super soil is getting cooked in that type of heat. Is that okay? I also started mixing the soil and I noticed the top soil was drying out so I added another gallon of R/O water, is that okay?? How often should I add water? Take in consideration that I live in a dry ass desert with very little humidity and temps on average from 108-115 degrees. Thanks for your help.

Fuck Yes! 30 reviews and not one comment!

lol as long as you're still seeing some white growth then i would think that the temps are fine. adding water shouldn't be an issue either as you don't want it to dry out.

psillysimon said:

lol as long as you're still seeing some white growth then i would think that the temps are fine. adding water shouldn't be an issue either as you don't want it to dry out.

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Thanks I feel like noob city again.. I have been doing hydro for 6 years want to try something new now..Cool yeah I had one small moldy web about the size of a quarter on the top. Plus when I mixed it it smelt like straight shit so that means its still cooking. Just the temps out here worry me but I guess the temps make it like a oven. If It's 115 outside its probably like 130-150 degrees inside that trash can.

heh, it shouldn't have a bad odor to it. not if it's already been cooking for a while. when I first make mine it has a fishy smell from the fish meal, but it goes away fast. you might want to take it out of the can and give it a good stir. also, since the soil is composting the amendments the bacteria are going to generate their own heat as well...think of steaming compost piles. but again it shouldn't have a bad smell it should just smell like pleasant awesome earth.

psillysimon said:

heh, it shouldn't have a bad odor to it. not if it's already been cooking for a while. when I first make mine it has a fishy smell from the fish meal, but it goes away fast. you might want to take it out of the can and give it a good stir. also, since the soil is composting the amendments the bacteria are going to generate their own heat as well...think of steaming compost piles. but again it shouldn't have a bad smell it should just smell like pleasant awesome earth.

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I was told it will stink like shit while its cooking, it's only been cooking about 2 weeks. I was told when its done cooking it will have that earthy smell to it.

BeaverHuntr said:

I was told it will stink like shit while its cooking, it's only been cooking about 2 weeks. I was told when its done cooking it will have that earthy smell to it.

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sometimes it can stink......it will mellow, if you want it to disapate faster, you can dump it out on a tarp, and let it gas off....ideal internal compost temps are 100-140 degrees, so 115 is not going to hurt a thing.....your good.
p.s. adding water is a good idea if it seems like its drying out.

nugbuckets said:

sometimes it can stink......it will mellow, if you want it to disapate faster, you can dump it out on a tarp, and let it gas off....ideal internal compost temps are 100-140 degrees, so 115 is not going to hurt a thing.....your good.
p.s. adding water is a good idea if it seems like its drying out.

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Thanks Nugs love your training technique stuff too!

Im in the same situation. I started in 2000 but have grown DWC and Ebb/Flow all 12 years. The one thing I cant find an answer on is...

Super soil goes on the bottom and then what mix would you use to fill in the rest? Would just promix and mushroom compost be okay or do I need a little extra nutrients in that as well?

-TGL-

thegreenlegend said:

Im in the same situation. I started in 2000 but have grown DWC and Ebb/Flow all 12 years. The one thing I cant find an answer on is...

Super soil goes on the bottom and then what mix would you use to fill in the rest? Would just promix and mushroom compost be okay or do I need a little extra nutrients in that as well?

-TGL-

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I'm just going to use 50% Super Soil at the bottom and then fill the rest up with Roots Organic Base soil using 7 gallon pots... Isnt that what Subcool does?

Yes but I am using promix/bx for my base and mushroom compost ammended which will be my filler on top.

Im not cooking it in a garbage can either.. Its in a 30 gallon tote in my flowering room which is not in use yet. I dont think you can kill the good bacteria but i might be wrong, Its been years since I finished hort science in college but I think the idea is to activate the "good guys" and colonize. I really cant wait to dump the remains in my veggie patch in the spring, I am more of a veggie grower than anything.