Re-Using Soiless Media (Peat/Vermiculite)? Breaking down roots?

Marla 420

Well-Known Member
I had to reuse Pro Mix because the price is pretty high in my state (Not Legal) so far it looks good, nice and green happy plants. I think it's okay to reuse I just tried to "Recharge" it (I don't know if that's what recharge means) with some worm castings and Terp Tea but I think it came out pretty good. Just remove the root ball and do a good sifting.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
from my understanding as peat breaks down it becomes more acidic. also prepackaged soilless mixes that are peat generally come premixed with lime that brings the ph up to around 6. im going to assume if your planning on recycling this stuff you should add some lime and test the ph before using it
Adding some cal-mag is usually a good thing.

I like using dolomite lime & gypsum.
Or dolomite & calcium carbonate if I want to raise ph a lot.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I reuse coco all the time without any issues. I don't see why you couldn't reuse peat. In fact I reuse everything. Soil, coco, fabric pots, cheap nursery pots, etc... A little here, a little there, the costs add up. Makes no sense to just throw money away for no reason.
 

xox

Well-Known Member
I reuse coco all the time without any issues. I don't see why you couldn't reuse peat. In fact I reuse everything. Soil, coco, fabric pots, cheap nursery pots, etc... A little here, a little there, the costs add up. Makes no sense to just throw money away for no reason.
i havent used coco personally but from my understanding coco's normal ph is around 6.0 good soiless since its already in the right ph range, thats what sucks about peat as the lime gets used up as the grow progresses you often end up using liming agents to bring the ph back up at least that has been my experience with it. for example sometimes i open a fresh bag of promix put all my plants in 5 gallon pots water them the next day i test the ph and its testing at 5.5 so the next watering i'll water in some dolomite lime in an attempt to bring it up to 6.0. as far as recycling goes i dont recycle peat for my cannabis plants however after im done with the peat i'll remove the root ball and top up some of my garden beds with it. i honestly dont even like using peat anymore because of how acidic it is the only reason i use it is because its inert and easy to buy for cheap in the summer time where i live without having to pay weight on the shipping since i can get it in person and has never brought pests into my garden. when i have the money im going to build an automated rdwc with parastaltic pumps to automatically adjust ph and ppm.
 

VincenzioVonHook

Well-Known Member
Check out enzyme mixes. They speed up the decomposition of dead roots and turn them into usable food. Something like cannazym. I've never been big on additives, hadn't used it much during the grow, but I've used it a few times to specifically renew a peat/compost based medium. Definately helped speed up the decomposition in a warm bin.
 
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