I heard that when you are mixing your own soil it is good to let it sit for a long time. Why is this? Does it get microbes and stuff working? How long are you supposed to let freshly mixed dirt sit for best results? Months of time are fine, but exactly how long?

thanks...

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so i chopped my first ever plant down last night...it was like killing a child - plugsmustard

depends on if your soil is sterilized if it is then you can start planting,if its not then yor supposed to cook it in your oven to kill all the eggs from buggs and mold spores and other junk.

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my plumber asked me if i'm growing? and i said huh, what do you mean?he said your looking taller.weird huh?this is a true story!it scared me a little.

Well, all of it is in new bags so I guess it is sterilized.. eggs and mold spores don't bother me, but i'm talking about setting time. Or is that why you leave it to sit?

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so i chopped my first ever plant down last night...it was like killing a child - plugsmustard

Bumpppppppp

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so i chopped my first ever plant down last night...it was like killing a child - plugsmustard

Shredder111.... When you mix up a batch of soil - from bags, wet it, let it sit overnight - then it is ready for use. As long as, you don't buy super cheap, low quality soil / soil amendments - you should not have any problems with pest or weeds. The cheap stuff is no name Dollar Store or Walmart stuff. The Good Stuff is (brandname or product name) : Black Gold, Promix, Happy Frog, Ocean Forrest, Coir 1 Coco, Light Warrior...etc...
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If you are mixing up Super Soil - soil with all the fertilizers your plant will use for the entire grow - at one time. It requires one month to cure (evenly distribute the NPK throughout the whole mix). The receipe for Super Soil in in Subcool's Organic Sub-forum.
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Hope this helps...
Keep it Real...Organic....

Get a premium soil..sterile if possible..I'd advise against any "baking soil" as you'll kill good needed bacteria... when growing buy as good as you can afford.. it pays in the long run.. I've never heard any let sit myself.. but you have to watch your blending (perlite, promix..etc) as a poor mix will leave pockets that can cause nute and burn problems..

I put my organic ferts in a few months before and let it sit in the dark. I feed it compost tea. The longer you let it sit the more readily available the nutes are. HOWEVER letting your soil sit is basically letting it break down. The problem with this is that you then need to add more peat or peralite or coco to make the soil nice and light. So all you need to do is make sure that you have good composted material in your mix. This composted material will have all of the microbs in it. Letting is sit just lets the non soluble nutrients time to break down. Nutes like rock phospate that doens't breakdown over night.