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#1
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Re-using Container Soil
We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would
like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed |
#2
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Re-using Container Soil
On Aug 27, 9:54 pm, "Ed" wrote:
We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed I toss it into the compost for a year. While it's depleted of nutrients, the texture is still superb, and I wouldn't waste that. Chris |
#3
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Re-using Container Soil
On Aug 27, 9:54*pm, "Ed" wrote:
We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed I reuse mine but amend by removing top few inches and adding dirt and fertilizer. |
#4
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Re-using Container Soil
On Aug 27, 9:54*pm, "Ed" wrote:
We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed We reuse ours by putting into a flowerbed that needs amending. Our soil is heavy clay and the good texture of the potting soil plus some compost and peat is renewing it. Nan |
#5
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Re-using Container Soil
On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:54:49 -0400, "Ed"
wrote: We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. Not good to re-use potting soil. The soil is most likely depleted of nutrients and may contain diseases. |
#6
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Re-using Container Soil
On 8/27/2008 6:54 PM, Ed wrote:
We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. Several things can go wrong with reusing potting mix. Nutrients are depleated by the plants that were growing in it. Its organic components are further decomposed, changing the nature of the mix. Salts can build up from both tap water and fertilizers. When I repot a plant, I might reuse half of the old potting mix and add fresh mix for the other half. (See my recipe for do-it-yourself potting mix at http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html.) As mentioned earlier in this thread, the half of the old mix that I don't reuse I put in my garden. It still has more organic matter than my adobe clay soil, and any salts will leach away. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19) Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/ |
#7
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Re-using Container Soil
In article , "David E. Ross"
wrote: On 8/27/2008 6:54 PM, Ed wrote: We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. Several things can go wrong with reusing potting mix. Nutrients are depleated by the plants that were growing in it. Its organic components are further decomposed, changing the nature of the mix. Salts can build up from both tap water and fertilizers. When I repot a plant, I might reuse half of the old potting mix and add fresh mix for the other half. (See my recipe for do-it-yourself potting mix at http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html.) As mentioned earlier in this thread, the half of the old mix that I don't reuse I put in my garden. It still has more organic matter than my adobe clay soil, and any salts will leach away. "Reusing" pot mix should probably be restricted to recycling it into the main gardens. The reason NOT to do so would be because it was a badly chosen & never a good product to start with. It's unfortunately very common for potting soil products to mix in with lots of non-soil ingredients, like polymer pellets or other alleged super-absorbant toxic trash that is frankly a scam on gardeners. They usually appear as white speckles in packaged soil mixes and should be strictly avoided in favor of true organic potting soils. Polymers are the equivalent of mixing styrofoam packing peanuts into the garden, & Frank Shields of the Soil Control Lab in Watsonville California has shown polymer products actually retard moisture retentention and can kill some plants (killed cucumbers in test samples). "Super absorbants" sold with the promise of cutting down the need to water much are one of the half dozen worst tricks played on gardners by scam artists posing as garden supply companies, whose real goal is to take something that would otherwise cost a lot to dispose of as toxic waste (like polymers or rubber) & sell them to easily conned gardeners for an enormous profit. But the issue of nutrient depletion in a pot full of dirt is a red herring if "reuse" is in the garden rather than the next pot. Even sand or peat mixed into soil can be profitable to gardens, nutritionally inert ingredients being important to overall soil health. And the small amount from a planter scattered about is at worst innocuous. One exception I would make to reusing soil mediums one pot to the next pot is some of the stuff used for epiphytes -- orchids or orchid cacti. Some "large chunk" mixes of rock-bark-etc are void of nutrients to start with and as good second time around as first time, and can even be steam-sterilized without injury to its worth. -paghat the ratgirl -- visit my temperate gardening website: http://www.paghat.com visit my film reviews website: http://www.weirdwildrealm.com |
#8
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Re-using Container Soil
On Aug 27, 9:54*pm, "Ed" wrote:
We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed Add coarse organic material, such as sifted compost loosely shaken through 1/2 - 3/4 mesh to replace organic material that has been consumed.. What happens to your old container mix is the organic material is consumed or breaks down into a fine muck. Because fine muck lacks decent pore space for the roots to respire you need to also add coarse pearlite or masons sand to open things up a bit. In addition before adding the new materials I would really flood old stuff with water to leach out the salts that buildup. Use new mix for seed starting as the seedlings are more susceptible to diseases like damping off and the like. If you tend to overwater then add more coarse sharp sand or peralite than you think you might need, it drains faster and adds pore space. |
#9
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Re-using Container Soil
"Ed" wrote in message m... We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed I reuse mine for several years unless it looks like it's starting to compact. It then goes to the compost pile and I start again. A little composted cow manure is added each spring when I loosen the soil to plant the flowers. |
#10
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Re-using Container Soil
Chris wrote:
On Aug 27, 9:54 pm, "Ed" wrote: We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed I toss it into the compost for a year. While it's depleted of nutrients, the texture is still superb, and I wouldn't waste that. Chris I usually compose my container's soil at the end of the season (late October). I make sure that it is well mixed with anything else in the compositor. By spring it is ready to use again. -- Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A) To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen Digital Camera - Pentax *ist DL Remove NO_WEEDS_ in e-mail address to reply by e-mail |
#11
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Re-using Container Soil
"Ed" wrote in message m... We have a lot of planters, containers, and large pots full of annuals. Would like to re-use the potting mix. Any input would be most appreciated. -- Captain Ed leveling out the lawn & filling hollows. rob -- Posted on news://freenews.netfront.net - Complaints to -- |
#12
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Some things can go wrong pot mix and reuse. Nutrients depleted plant is grown in it. Integral part of its further decomposition, changing the nature of the portfolio. Salt can be established from both water and fertilizer.
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