8 Uses of Old Potting Soil
If there's one thing my country-sprout colleagues and I have in common, it's our obsession with composting everything that dares to move, our hatred of waste. I know hate is a strong word, but believe me when I say we will go to ridiculous lengths to reuse garden items. and include used potting soil. Now that annuals are growing out in hanging baskets and containers, you don't have to discard the dirt. There are a few ways to repurpose that now-empty potting soil real estate.
Reusing is good for the garden and helps keep your gardening budget in check (or, if you're like me, free up some money for more perennials.) I will be cleaning in late October. Most of these pots on my deck are annuals (marigolds, mallows, chamomile, cornflowers, nasturtiums), mums, husk cherries, and various types of radishes (I grow them to harvest their seeds for winter sprouts).
Should I sterilize my potting soil before I reuse it?
Before we begin, a word of advice: If your potted plants are affected by any diseases or pests that are prevalent in the soil (such as flag borer), it's a good idea to dispose of the potting soil with your household waste. If you really want to give this diseased potting soil another lease of life, you should try disinfecting it through a process called "solarization." It's a fancy term that means you put the soil in a plastic container and heat it in full sun.
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Recommends a temperature of 158F or higher for 30 minutes or 140F or higher for an hour to remove mold and bacteria. According to the same source, solarization works to control soil-borne fungal and bacterial pathogens such as Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, Phytophthora root rot, tomato canker, and southern blight. I'll admit that I've never gotten around to solarizing potting soil for three reasons:
1. It doesn't get hot in the summer where I am. Indeed not as hot as the California summers where this research took place.
2. I have serious reservations about using potting soil that has been "heated" in plastic, and I try to avoid plastic as much as possible in the garden.
3. I don't have time to carry around a thermometer in the middle of summer. Other garden chores take priority.
If you are running a heated composting system, my hat is off to you! You are my hero. In my suburban garden, despite my best efforts to get the proportions right, my compost pile is always too small to heat the property. But if you believe your compost is warm enough, you can try mixing it into the infected potting soil.
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5 Ways to Reuse Potting Soil in the Garden
Even if your potted plants have been disease-free all summer, you still need to do a close inspection of the potting soil. I will be using this pot again for bulb planting this fall, so I had to clean it first. I removed (and composted) the old plant material and sifted the soil with my fingers to remove any remaining roots.
In my case, it paid off big time. I found slug eggs hidden under the first layer of leaves and roots. If the plants you grew in this potting soil show no signs of fungal or bacterial infection, and you've already inspected the pots and removed the eggs of insects such as slugs and snails, here are some tips. Dirt can be reused:
1. Use it to add bulk to larger containers.
A large container can quickly absorb a lot of potting soil. Still, sometimes a larger container does the job. When I run out of space to garden in my small backyard, I often use large pots to grow plants like hollyhocks and sunflowers. It would have taken about 150 liters (about 5 cubic feet) of compost to fill this container, so I came up with a lasagna compromise. I started with a layer of twigs underneath to slow rain shrinkage, followed by a layer of used potting soil, leaf mold, and fresh potting compost. I repeated the layers (minus the branches) until I reached the top of the pot. Then I added fresh garden compost to the top ten inches.
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2. Use as a base for new garden beds.
Under the same principle of reuse as filler, if you're creating new raised beds this fall, you can add used potting soil to the mix. Again, the best method is to start with cardboard and alternate layers of old soil, leaf mold, kitchen scraps, and compost. Finish it with a layer of dry leaves or pine needle mulch. Or a more in-depth explanation, Linsdey has written an excellent one
3. Mix with compost and use in containers.
Used potting soil still has some vigor, especially if you've been using it for a year or two, and is often available ready-made from plant nurseries for fall arrangements. To revive it, add some compost to make it even more nutritious for the next round of plants. Before you do, sift your compost to remove any non-decomposable material, then mix the compost with your used potting soil. This year, I'm using my homemade compost in the herb boxes around my gazebo, so I had to buy garden compost to mix with the potting soil. I usually use equal amounts of each and stir vigorously to mix them as much as possible. Now I have a full pot that I can use for spring bulbs or transplanted perennials. I use some of my other mixes to overwinter tender perennials (like geraniums).
If you have no use for the whole pot, store it in a safe place until you're ready to plant your annuals next year.
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4. Spread it in your flower beds and borders.
That means you don't have any extra compost to mix. Or you don't trust the source of your potting soil and don't add non-organic potting soil to your organic vegetable garden. You should then sprinkle the used potting mix over your flower beds, spreading it out as evenly as possible. If the soil is compacted due to previous root growth or because it has not been used for a while, you may need to add a little water and remove large pieces by hand.
Before mulching beds and borders for winter, add used soil and mulch liberally on top.
5. Add it to your compost bin.
I've left this as a last resort if you don't have the time or inclination to revive your old potting soil. Then you can recycle it by adding it to your compost pile. Dump it into your compost bin, break it up if it's all in one clump, and try to spread it evenly. If you can wait until it's time to turn your compost and add it, that's even better, especially if the soil has been sitting and drying out for a while.
What should I do with potting soil if I don't have a garden?
Oh, I've been there, man. I rented for many years before and in between homeownership. In some places, I was lucky enough to have a balcony that could be filled with containers. Elsewhere, I grew plants in the drain (a useless old drain). Even when I didn't have a balcony, I grew houseplants indoors and got an annual repotting session to keep them healthy and the soil well-aerated. So even when I didn't have a garden to play with, I always had a need to find a use for potting soil.
If you live in an apartment, here's what you can do with your used potting soil
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There are two ways to reuse your potting soil:
1. Do not use it for seed starting.
Well, I know we all want to save a buck, soil is soil, right? No, not really. Don't risk poor seed germination by using the wrong soil. Whenever possible, seed starter fertilizer should be used when sowing seeds in blocks and pots. The soil should have the right amount of nutrients and not too much water standing around the seed.
2. Do not use it without correction.
I've been guilty of this before and dropped a baby plant in a pot of annuals I've discarded. It didn't end well. It's not bad, but it's not spectacular either. The plant grew a little more, but compared to its siblings, I had fertilized the new pot.
I figured that the amount I would have to spend on compost to improve the potting soil used was putting me in a false economic situation. So I transferred the stunted plant to fresh compost after a month. Lesson learned.
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