How are you breaking up compressed Bales?

Hi Everyone . I recently was gifted a few bales of good quality medium. I would like to use them but find breaking it up a pain plus inevitably dust gets away and in the room which is making my ocd twitch lol. How are you going about preparing compressed bagged medium for use?

Water in a storage tub. Place the bale in. Let it soak. Break it apart.

I was wondering if he was referring to coco bricks, or say Promix / Sunshine bales...

Not bales of mids? Dang.

Chip Green said:

I was wondering if he was referring to coco bricks, or say Promix / Sunshine bales...

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Is there a difference? Never used promix.

Dry bales suck, it there is a little moisture they are heavier but they break down without dust. I just open the end so it stay on and the sides contain the dirt. I then use a garden hand rake to rake off an layer then I scoop that into pots, and repeat. If the soil is too dry I put it in a bucket and mix it with nutes first so it will hold water.

If I was doing a lot of bales an would probably use a cement mixer and just huck them in and let them break down in there.

Also save the bottom have of a bale bag and you can use it to slide over and cover a partially used bale.

Thank you everyone for the reply. I will definitely be adding water to help with the dust. Is there anyway to break up all the smaller clumps? I can these screwing with the consistency of the medium and possibly end up with sections that unevenly retaining moisture. Maybe even effecting the way the roots fill out ? Maybe just thinking too much about this and just get on with it lol. Thanks again everyone

Realbax said:

Is there anyway to break up all the smaller clumps?

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Using a garden rake if you aren't too aggressive you don't get any chunks.

Sometimes ya just got to get your hands dirty

Renfro said:

Dry bales suck, it there is a little moisture they are heavier but they break down without dust. I just open the end so it stay on and the sides contain the dirt. I then use a garden hand rake to rake off an layer then I scoop that into pots, and repeat. If the soil is too dry I put it in a bucket and mix it with nutes first so it will hold water.

If I was doing a lot of bales an would probably use a cement mixer and just huck them in and let them break down in there.

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Cement mixers for soil building...ONLY way to go!

Make a screen table from a 2x4 section of expanded steel sheeting - The kind that is NOT flat works best...... This will break up sections of bales and scrubbing the used soil that you pull from the pots - for reuse. Works great.
Just put the screen table over a plastic tarp...
Dampen the used pot shaped soil first - no dust, Same for a bale.

Realbax said:

Thank you everyone for the reply. I will definitely be adding water to help with the dust. Is there anyway to break up all the smaller clumps? I can these screwing with the consistency of the medium and possibly end up with sections that unevenly retaining moisture. Maybe even effecting the way the roots fill out ? Maybe just thinking too much about this and just get on with it lol. Thanks again everyone

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I get the big 107L bales of promix and try to keep them sealed up so they don't dry out but eventually they do.

Clean a 1gal milk jug and use a pin to poke holes in the cap. A push pin for cork boards is good as it's easy to hold and thicker than most pins. Keep it fairly full and you just turn it over and water sprays out from the weight of the water. Spray down the top of the bale a bit before raking some out. I use one of those small 3 prong weeding tools for that job. Spray it again before taking out the broken stuff and putting in a tub or whatever you want to mix it up in. Most of the clumps break up easy once moistened and easy to break up by hand. I'll mix some nutes in my spray water and use the same while repotting so they are all fed and ready to fill the new mix with roots.

If I'm doing a larger amount I'll lay a tarp on the shop floor and just flip the tarp around to mix it all up. You want it moist enough that it holds together like a snowball when squeezed but not dripping water.

A cheap dust mask helps if it's real dry. Doesn't bother me but the wife can't stand the dust.

Renfro said:

Also save the bottom have of a bale bag and you can use it to slide over and cover a partially used bale.

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I bought some of those larger, heavy duty garbage bags for that job and other ones like it. Can fit a big bale in there and seal it up.

OldMedUser said:

I bought some of those larger, heavy duty garbage bags for that job and other ones like it. Can fit a big bale in there and seal it up.

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I just like the slip on cover, it fits really tight. Just don't shave off more than you wanna use so its still a solid block.

If i need a large amount, the night before I need it, I put the bale, still in its packaging, in a contractor trash bag, cut the top of the package open, dig a hole into the middle of the bale with my hand and pour some water in, maybe a gallon? If the water runs out, the the trash bag collects it. Close the bag up and let it sit overnight. The next day it's almost completely hydrated. If I only need a little, I mist the bale with water as I break it up.

So I used a few different suggestions. I think I was too concerned with getting every clump broken down and having it as consistent as possible . Like I said bit ocd . Thanks again for all the suggestions .

HitemwiththeHine said:

Not bales of mids?

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3rd Monkey said:

Is there a difference?

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As I skimmed through, this is how I read it.

Odin* said:

As I skimmed through, this is how I read it.

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I read "good quality medium" and that's just where my head went lol