RF wrote:
Chris wrote:
On Jun 8, 10:04 am, Nanzi wrote:
On Jun 7, 3:37 pm, RF wrote:



Last year I grew about fifteen Lacinato or
Dinosaur kale plants in 16" pots and had a good
crop. I ate them regularly 3-4 times/week for
about 9 months.
This year I removed the plants from the pots and
it seems that the roots are only a
fraction the size of the pots - about 6-8"
diameter- suggesting that there are still lots of
nutrients in the old soil.
Last year I bought all the potting soil and now
I'm preparing to plant again and wondering if some
of the old soil could be re-used this year with
the new potting soil. Has anyone tried this before?
I now have a batch of 10 - week-old seedlings
ready for transplanting. The previous plants had
no diseases and the only bothersome things were
whitefiles and white butterflies. I live in north
California.
Comments appreciated.
When I reuse potting soil I add Osmocote time released ferts to it
prior to planting. Have had good results.
Nan in DE

I kind of do the same thing. I will mix it 50-50 with compost if I
have enough around, or with topsoil from my garden center if I have
to. I also toss in a short handful of 10-10-10.

Chris

Thanks Chris - that's good to know.


I did some repotting today and found a solution to
my initial question.
I scooped out the soil from last years pots until
there were no more traces
of roots. Usually that was roughly about half the
soil. I refilled with new soil
and transplanted.