OrganicLit said:

I have a very very mild sewage smell in my new living mix. We are 22 days into the cook. To my understanding a sewage smell in a soil mix means lack of oxygen or poor drainage. Ive fixed the issues but I'm wondering if ive done something to my soil that has ruined it. Any info is greatly appreciated.

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If you fixed the problem and if it wasn’t an overwhelming smell, you should be ok imo.

Just to be sure, i would brew a fresh ewc tea and introduce good microbes once more.

OrganicLit said:

I have a very very mild sewage smell in my new living mix. We are 22 days into the cook. To my understanding a sewage smell in a soil mix means lack of oxygen or poor drainage. Ive fixed the issues but I'm wondering if ive done something to my soil that has ruined it. Any info is greatly appreciated.

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What have you done to it that you think could have ruined it? To me a good organic mix smells like shit. Have you ever taken a whiff of earth juice? I mean, most of what goes into an organic mix IS shit..

You want to watch for a smell of methane gas that could be an indicator of anaerobic conditions. But a shit smell is normal I think. I could be wrong... We need more info on what exactly is in your living soil and how you're treating it.

too wet probably, i did it last year. i just added some more peat/perlite mix to lighten it up and help it dry out quicker. no major ill affects.

To me soil has a sweet earthy smell, if thats even a real smell, well whatever. it should never smell close to sewage.

i think if you turn the pile and let air in anything that has gone anaerobic will settle down and behave. Have you already added airation? Are we talking soil or compost? I’d stir that shit up either way. If it’s soil you need less water and more airation. My 2cents.

Dirtbag said:

What have you done to it that you think could have ruined it? To me a good organic mix smells like shit. Have you ever taken a whiff of earth juice? I mean, most of what goes into an organic mix IS shit..

You want to watch for a smell of methane gas that could be an indicator of anaerobic conditions. But a shit smell is normal I think. I could be wrong... We need more info on what exactly is in your living soil and how you're treating it.

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cloudyhelads said:

i think if you turn the pile and let air in anything that has gone anaerobic will settle down and behave. Have you already added airation? Are we talking soil or compost? I’d stir that shit up either way. If it’s soil you need less water and more airation. My 2cents.

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Its soil. Following the revs recipe. Ive ran this a few time but this is my first time mixing inside. I used a tote. I didnt put enough drainage holes and water settled. So I added holes and a little more perlite.

Dirtbag said:

What have you done to it that you think could have ruined it? To me a good organic mix smells like shit. Have you ever taken a whiff of earth juice? I mean, most of what goes into an organic mix IS shit..

You want to watch for a smell of methane gas that could be an indicator of anaerobic conditions. But a shit smell is normal I think. I could be wrong... We need more info on what exactly is in your living soil and how you're treating it.

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Very good points. Thanks for info.

Now, this part is a little iffy. Just because we put shit into the ground a shit smell is not something normal.

The shit we use should be well aged manure or compost of any kind. These are shit in the sense that, its material that has been digested before we put it in to our mix but we also age it and let it get colonized and digested a second time by soil microbes. We don’t use the shit as it is.

A shit smell is usually because of anaerobic conditions. Its not something you want. A faint smell will not kill your plants probably or they won’t mind it at all maybe. Who knows. But its better to take it as a sign of your soil being less than optimal so you can take the necessary precautions.

Again just aeration and a tea could easily solve your problem. EM is great too. Especially in clay heavy soils. Humus, humic and fulvic acids should provide aeration to your soil too. Soil is not my choice, peat all the way.