Raised beds offer numerous benefits, but over time, they can become compacted and depleted of nutrients, leading to stunted plant growth and decreased yields. To rejuvenate raised garden bed soil, follow these steps:
- Add compost to the soil each spring to replenish nutrients and give it better structure.
- Reconsider tilling for small gardens or raised garden beds, as it disrupts soil structure, creates more erosion, and kills earthworms. Mix DTE fertilizer to top 1-3 inches of soil, set up a recurring event reminder in your calendar, and add 3 cups of all 6-10-7 organic fertilizer (feather meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal, kelp meal, granular S.O.P, and bone meal).
- Reuse old soil in pots, planters, and raised beds by starting the season with a special boost of fertilizer.
Topping off raised beds with a 1″ to 2″ layer of compost in early spring is the easiest way to feed a long, gradual supply of nutrients to plants. A good rule of thumb is to replace or add 15 to 20 of compost to the existing soil in a raised bed.
In summary, cut old plants out, add meal amendments, and add a thick layer of compost to the top of the soil. To completely fill four raised garden beds, add a 50/50 blend of compost and topsoil. Tree limbs and sticks not only help to lessen the impact of soil on plants but also contribute to overall plant health and productivity.
📹 2 Easy Methods to Revitalize OLD Potting Soil
1. Clean out any large roots, screen for grubs, etc. 2. Add some fresh compost or potting mix 3. Add slow-release organic fertilizer …
How to make old soil good again?
The incorporation of organic compost and slow-release fertilizers can enhance the quality of aged potting soil. The gradual release of nutrients provides sustained nourishment for plants, preventing a sudden surge in growth. The loosening of old soil also facilitates its revitalization by providing oxygen to the roots, thereby promoting healthier and stronger growth. It is recommended that slow-release nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers be used.
How much fertilizer should I add to soil?
Fertilizer is essential for plants to grow, providing light, moisture, and nutrients. It is recommended to use 2 to 3 pounds of fertilizer per 100 square feet of garden area, or 2 to 3 pounds if the soil has not been tested. Nutrients come from fertilizers, compost, or manure. Fertilizers can help plants grow well if a lack of nutrients is the cause. Plants grown in poorly drained soils, excessive shade, or in competition with tree roots will not respond to fertilizer. Fertilizers can be organic or inorganic, with organic fertilizers like manure, bone meal, and cottonseed, and inorganic fertilizers, which are human-made products with higher nutrient content.
Can I use potting soil that is 2 years old?
Old potting soil loses value over time due to decomposition of ingredients like peat moss. However, it can be revived to health. This article discusses the process of potting soil degradation, three FAQs, and the consequences of using old soil. It also provides an eco-friendly alternative to conventional peat-based potting soil, offering a sustainable solution for gardening. Reviving old soil is a simple and effective solution for maintaining soil health.
How much fertilizer to use in raised beds?
To properly fertilize your garden, it’s crucial to know the recommended amount of fertilizer. It’s recommended to use two to three pounds of fertilizer per 100 square feet of garden area, with two cups of fertilizer weighing one pound. If you’re concerned about the amount of fertilizer you’re adding, it’s best to apply less than more, as too much can kill plants. Schwartz Greenhouse offers online garden supplies, including vegetable plants, perennials, and annuals, and can provide more information on fertilizer.
Can you put too much fertilizer in soil?
The application of excessive fertilizers can result in irreversible damage to trees and plants. This is due to the alteration of soil chemistry, which leads to an elevated concentration of salts. Additionally, the detrimental effects of these chemicals extend to the disruption of beneficial soil microorganisms. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to carefully read and adhere to the instructions provided on the fertilizer label.
Can I add fertilizer to old potting soil?
Porosity in potting soil refers to the presence of air pockets and drainage space. Used soil is compact and requires a slow-release fertilizer to last three to six months. For larger containers, removing the top 6 inches of old soil and replacing it with new soil can save money while refreshing the upper area and aiding root growth. However, gardeners should avoid reusing potting soil if they had problems with diseases, weeds, or insects last year, as viruses, fungi, and bacteria will remain in the soil long after the plant’s life.
How often should I change the soil in my raised garden bed?
Raised bed soil can last up to 10 years if well-maintained and regularly amended with organic matter. Poorly maintained soil may only last a few years, and contaminated soil with chemicals or heavy metals may not be viable for gardening. If you’re unsure about the longevity of your soil or if it needs replacement, having it tested by a soil laboratory can help you make informed decisions about improving it and maintaining its longevity.
Can I put new soil on top of old soil?
To improve the garden’s height, dig around the plants, lift them, and place new soil in the holes. Set the plants back in the desired height, ensuring the newer soil is placed by the roots to set them higher. Add soil to raise the bed, then replant perennials, cutting down taller plants to 4-6 inches to focus on rooting. Place irises at their current level and use a root starter to water them for an extra boost.
Replant the plants as soon as possible to ensure roots set before winter hits and keep the area well watered until the ground freezes. This will help the plants get roots set before winter hits and ensure a healthy and vibrant garden.
How do you rejuvenate old raised bed soil?
Gardeners with raised beds often find themselves struggling with reduced soil levels after a hard winter. An annual top dressing with compost or rich topsoil is the easiest way to refresh the soil, as it helps maintain productivity. Chris Enroth, a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator, recalls growing in his first raised bed, which he found had exceptionally well-groomed plants. However, after a successful growing season and a standard Midwest winter, Enroth realized the need for routine maintenance and care, particularly regarding soil.
How often should I change the soil in a raised bed?
To properly maintain soil health, follow these steps:
- Replenish soil between seasons, after every harvest.
- Dig with caution, testing the soil by forming a fist-sized ball and dropping it. If the soil falls apart, it’s dry enough to work with without damaging the structure.
- Till the soil, gently raking it with a garden fork to break it up and prepare it for organic matter. This will help ensure the soil is ready for the organic matter to be added.
Can you reuse soil in a raised bed?
Potting soil can be reused, but it is of the utmost importance to understand the conditions and precautions that must be taken to ensure its continued efficacy. Over time, the soil loses nutrients and structure. However, with proper care, it can be restored to a state suitable for multiple planting seasons.
📹 How to Amend Raised Bed Garden Soil for Continued Health
Even healthy soil needs regular amending to keep it rich in nutrients. Spring & fall are the ideal time for that. Learn what works …
I’ve found that emptying the pots at the end of the season into a bigger bin, then tossing in a good amount of alfalfa meal and bone meal, wetting it down, and then letting it sit in the sun for about a week until dry has worked wonders. Basically a quick and dirty compost, but adds lots of awesome nutrients.
It is so impressive, how you make a sponsored article, of a quality, where it doesn’t get pushy or cringy. This was informative and serious, and just showed off the product in a really good light! Really great advertising, actually! You did well by viewers and sponsors both. THey should Throw deals at you! 🙂 And thank you for the tips!
I have a pet bunny and his poops have done wonders for my porch container garden! He’s litter box trained so I just take a scoop every so often and top dress my soil or mix it in to a new pot. It’s a “cold” manure and also helps build up the organic matter in my soil. Bunny feeds the herbs, herbs feed me and the bunny!
I live in a condo in the midwest, and I’ve been growing in the same potting mix for 8 years. Every spring I dump the pots onto two tarps, keeping the soil type separate. I keep the roots in since it adds structure. Then I add worm castings I make, a couple 25-pound bags of compost, rotted manure, a healthy amount of organic fertilizer, etc. to each pile, mix well, and then re-pot. I plant tomatoes and peppers in the greens/ squash soil and the rest in what my peppers and tomatoes grew in the previous year. Hoisting, dumping, re-filling, and re-hoisting all those 5-gallon containers is a drag first thing in the spring. Still, since the land I have to work with is 1) very, very, very small, and 2) heavy clay with a rocky hardpan about 3 inches down, container gardening is a god-send for this urban gardener. At least I can grow food… and lots of it. I’m a growing fool, starting dozens of starts from spring until fall, and microgreens all year long. PS. If anyone else is pressed for space, I’d recommend a Garden Tower planter. It’s a barrel-sized planter with pant-spaces recessed into the sides and an integrated worm composting tube. Below is a link to the product. (PS. I get nothing for this, I am not an affiliate… it’s just a great little product for urban growers). gardentowerproject.com/product/garden-tower-2-50-plant-composting-container-garden/
I’ve had success for years mixing old potting mix with fresh stuff, compost, and some all around fertilizer. As long as what I planted the season before didn’t have any serious issues that can be transferred to new plants. But I only reuse soil for a couple of years before dumping it out and fully refreshing.
Just wanted to say that I’ve really appreciated your articles, along with 1-2 other YouTubers. Having this extra “home time” on-hand has led me into expanding my veggie garden – I’ve tripled it! – and your articles have been incalculable. Wish I could show you the current harvest of peas, berries, and cukes, but just take my word for it that they’re extensive. Thank you, Kevin!
Thank you! I did enjoy the article. I used to discard the soil in my pots. What a waste! Now I sorta do what you do. After winter, I’ll add stuff to the soil (chopped leaves and desiccated roots, fresh soil, composted material) and I wet it down like you did. This spring, I will let the revised soil sit a while as you recommended. That makes sense.
When remixing dirt from planters we go under the tree and add the top layer between the leaves and the soil. This layer is amazing, and if we need extra dirt we dig into the next layer just a little. it’s renewable and doesn’t cost a thing. In fact this is how garden soil is made, but factories use leaves from city collections to make it and then sell it back to us, so they take our money going both ways, we must break that cycle!
Great info here. I think I’m going to start adding a touch of the blood meal now after seeing this. I noticed that the peat and coir in potting soil starts getting a little more dense from being broken down over time, so I usually add a touch more perlite too to lighten it back up a bit if that makes any sense.
KEVIN!!!! Thank you so much for this tip. I used items I already had on hand. Using an old screen, bone meal, Baccato potting soil, worm castings, and some cactus potting soil, the soil already looks and smells much better. I purchased some chicken meal and perlite yesterday; I’ll add those products in a couple days. What surprised me most was that, as you directed, I did not use a significant quantity of any of these products. That in itself saved me a lot of money. In addition, because of the weather, I did not spend much time out in the garden these past three days. But with just those four additives to the soil, it did not clump up and was pleasant to deal with. As you said, it takes a little time, but the rewards are great!!! Thanks again.
Some times at the end of a season I will dump piles of potting soil on the ground! This allows mother nature to take over a little. I also add some sandy clay from the yard. It helps with water retention. I also drive down the road to a curb that the street sweeper doesn’t get to because of shrub over growth! The organic material that builds up there has tons of worms (fat ones) and castings! It is a beautiful thing. I have a poor soil in the yard so sometimes I dig up a square yard and remove about half of the soil. I replace the soil I took out with organic debris from the curb side!
I empty my containers (from my greenhouse) in the fall into a big compost, the compost gets kitchen waste and yard waste all year. The old soil basically sits in with the compost all winter then when it thaws in the spring I mix it all up and add it back to the pots and garden beds. Seems to work fine. I do one tray at a time micro greens all year too which seem to build up the compost really well. The micro greens I always use new soil from a bag as there is less chance of getting bugs in the house where I grow the micro greens. Good as always article!
I sometimes add cocopeat and/or paddy husks to mine, especially store bought potting mix or soil that’s exhausted. they seem to always clump up after a few rounds and get waterlogged. Thanks for the articles, if it weren’t for gardeners like you i’d be among the many tossing out good soil and spending money on buying more just cos i didn’t know better. And this way i keep getting more and more usable soil at home. Keep em coming!
Just an Enthusiast not a pro and longtime recycler of potting mix these are very good tips. Something else to consider I think in addition to fertility is to identify the nature relative to it’s intended use. Is it too heavy or too light, to coarse or too fine, two moisture retentive or not enough? I can make pretty much anything work with amendments and blending several Planters or pots together.
The soil company was smart for letting you do this article because I watch hours of articles and Epic Garden is on point with ALL THE articleS THAT I HAVE SEEN AND I HAVE HIM ON MY CALL BELL SO I GET TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GROWING IN ALL MEDIUM. So now I get to try his new rejuvenation of my old soil and add the upper brand to get a better soil.
Thank. You. For. This. article. It’s been my biggest question as I’ve invested in potting soil in my grow bags during this first season I’ve been growing a veg garden. I’ve always been told you can’t reuse potting soil but that has always made zero sense to me. If in-ground gardeners can amend their soil why shouldn’t I be able to for container gardening? The issue is few resources tell you how. Your small space garden is the most similar to my style I have to do. I KNEW you must have a vid on this. Thank goodness. 👏🏼✨
A big yes to grow bags, or any system for beginners in small apartment. I am one of many turning into gardening only recently, and would love to try growing edibles. Your article on how to grow even with little sun light inspired me to try, but I really have zero idea! Thanks and congrats on getting even more new subscribers. Well deserved! Greetings from Ireland.
I really appreciate your knowledge and advice and how you show it. I used to have land to garden in. Now I’m a apartment dweller. Today I am going to look up epsoma. I recently bought some Vermont compost. Will see how it does. Take care of yourself during these troublesome times. Let’s keep gardening. ✌️🌎🐸
I would always just take a big storage bin, put some new mix and add the old mix after sanitizing it to get rid of possible fungus, bugs, and missed eggs. I figured eliminating any beneficial microorganisms etc wouldnt be an issue since it would be mixed with some new. .ms in my situation with having major pest and fungal issues, the pros definitely outweigh the cons if any. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with the world. It truly has been a major help with
Hey Kevin, So just a random thought, at the end of the year if I put a load of old leaves and stuff that is usually put in my compost (veg and stuff) on my raised beds and covered with cardboard would that all get dragged down into the old soil by worms over winter and improve it enough for the next year of growing? Thanks
Thanks so much for your article, that was super helpful 🙂 Can you tell me what I can do with the soil if my plant ended up having blight or the wilt? Is there a way to sterilize the soil after that? Also, I have pots that grew summer squash that were attacked by SVB. I read they can overwinter in the soil. Can I just plant a different type of vegetable in that soil? Thanks!
Omg I think I asked you this question in a comment a few days ago! So happy you had a article coming on the topic! I have a balcony and no downstairs space or other outdoor space. i want to start gardening and was wondering if old soils should just be trashed into dumpster or greenwaste or used/sent somewhere else.
For my raised planting box for vegetables, when the season is over, I dig up all the roots. Then bury some vegetables waste and water down with dilute fish emulsion to prepare the bed for the next planting season. After perusal the article, I may add small amount of other organic slow release fertilizers recommended. I do have worms in my raised bed. Thanks.
Hi there I add water from my duck bath to my plants as a form of liquid fertiliser, it will rejuvenate the most sickly plant but don’t over do it as it can also kill your plant. I do believe in revitalising potting soil. Adding the soil to the compost heap can revitalise it. I noticed you said remove dead roots this is carbon material that can rot down as long as it is not diseased.
If you use red worms, they’ll do just fine in small containers! I keep many bonsai and I ALWAYS have red worms in my bonsai pots (very shallow, often small) in my organic-loving trees (many trees are planted in inorganics like lava rock etc). But those worms show up because their eggs happen to get in to my occasional use of my castings. I never put worms in on purpose… no need… they appear anyway!
I was resurrecting an old Cottage Garden. I read somewhere to add green sand to revitalize the soil in the Spring. Also Rock phosforus for the minerals. The Green Sand is a form of Kelp. I used the worm casting potting soil mixed with Manuer and Peat Moss for my container Garden. I have to say the Green Sand was a great way to refresh old bulbs, 👍🙌! JO JO IN VT 💕😄
I add finely crushed eggshells, finely cut small banana peels, any citrus peels, also carrot peels, as they come out of my kitchen, always cut real small, and add them directly around my plants, covering with little dirt or potting mix right away. It can compost around my plants as they grow, and that works for me. Same with any lower leaves from taller plants, or other yard waste, I cut it small and surround my plants with it. In the fall I do thesame with dying plants, nothing goes to waste.
Thank u ❤️ I truly appreciated your help I’m gonna try it n get back to u. Living in FL our soil is beach sand 😒n very difficult to grow anything. I’ve made my own compost however plants are still dying therefore I’m going to try your method n see how it turns out 😎👍 hope it works 👋☺️have an amazing day. Peace 🙋🇺🇸☮️❤️
What a great topic! I used to take old, dried up soil from dead plants and very unceremoniously with a large spoon mixed in earthworms and leaf litter from the yard. I made sure the leaf litter was fully buried and left the mix out to get rained on. I then planted my herbs in that and they would usually take off.
So, you probably have a article on this issue that I haven’t seen yet, but what I’m dealing with is transforming a bed that’s just white/grey/beige clay into a vegetable garden (hopefully). I’ve read that I should remove about 16 inches of material, then work some pea gravel in, and then add a mix of the clay and organic material that gradually shifts from mostly clay to mostly compost. The bed is about 4’ by 6’. Thanks for these articles!!!
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! I just watched the most WORTHLESS article–I got more out of your DESCRIPTION than I did out of that article!!!!! I’m going to try the easy route for now, as I’m basically a beginner, but will keep your vid on hand for future reference. I hope this helps. It’s for indoor plants, & my soil is soooooooo dry & hard. Like I said, I’m a beginner! 😬😬😬 Thanks again!
I also have worm castings thru my worm factory which Ive been using for years. So good quality castings is what you want to use and not castings that is not ready like you showed here. Also the percentage of casting could or should only be 1/4 of the mix or less it doesnt take much to make a huge difference on down the road. People should be aware that worm castings is not an overnight fix, its like a time release agent and a few worms in does not matter so dont sweat it if you do raise or develop your own castings.
I’ve recently gone from big garden where I composted in ground, to only having a balcony to play with. So far I’ve got a few herbs in small pots and have today just planted some different varieties of kale seedlings into a larger pot. I only want to have edibles / bee attracting companions as it’s premium realestate 😉 I’m a recent subscriber and am loving your articles so look forward to being inspired and educated 🙏😊
Thanks for this article. It’s my first year gardening and all I could get was farmyard manure compost for container gardening. So I haven’t used potting mix, or soil, and am getting a decent harvest for a newbie. Can I renew the compost in the same way? I’m planning on using some of it for a raised bed and some of it for containers again.
Great article. I have a question? I want to refresh the soil in my pots in the spring. Last year I dumped all my pots and buckets on to a tarp on the driveway and mixed in some mushroom compost. I also put in all the other stuff (granulated organic fertiliser, etc, etc) But I have a friend who keeps horses. He’s got a mountain of straw and horse poop that’s been there for 3 years years now. I used some of it last year with no problems. Can I forgo the mushrooms compost and use the this composted horse poop instead? (it’s free!) Thanks again for this article and I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you for your articles! I’ve been inspired! I LOVE that you have a front yard garden. I’ve wanted to do this for years. I just don’t get why we have lawns. I hope to learn much more from you. I’m going to see if I can find some berries to grow in containers and amend the soil for my potted plants.
Have you grown celery? I had a beautiful plant started from the bottom of the celery I cut off. It had the leaves and was really healthy. I put it in a pot and the leaves part kept growing up tall but I never got any of the stalk part that you chop up to use for cooking. Even as cold as it is, it has fresh leaves coming thru what was frozen recently so it seems like a hardy plant. How tall of a pot would you use and how much space do you leave on top of the dirt before the top. I was using a tall pot I originally had a tomato plant in a few years ago..
enjoy your website, always one of my go to (s) for tips. I have been emptying my pots into my composter every fall, breaking it up and mixing, rarely need to buy and has never thrown any out. Wasn’t sure if I was going it right but was working for me… thanks for the info just bought some organic fertilizer to add this year 🙂
Would you recommend doing this if you had any pest problems on the previous plant like leave miner, aphids? What if you had powdery mildew? I’m restarting from scratch with some plants that had problems and I wasn’t sure if it was OK to reuse the soil. The way my space is it’s hard to have a compost pile, but I can dump compost into our City collection.
This was very helpful, as all your articles I’ve watched. Thank you! I have a question related to reusing soil… reusing pots. I use cloth pots for my containers, similar to those shown in this article. Is there anything I should do at end of the season to prepare them (clean, disinfect, etc) before reusing?
I use the same soil since years. 1. 1/5 manure in the bottom. I use 1 year old sheep manure. 2. Fill pot up with old soil. Done. 3. to get old soil: dump 6 pots of old soil in cement mixer, mix 10 minutes. add microrisol fungus, lime, bit of epsom salt if neccesary. done. roots with trunk goes with the manure in the bottom of the new pot., it all rots during the grow. it will be mixed up next time in the cement mixer to vitalize the old soil for the next grow. 4. always collect the leaves in a big container filled with water. let the leaves rot for a year. it will stink a lot. add some sting nessel or fertilizer if needed. dilute the solution with water to fertilize the plants once a week. thats it, works wonders. 5. result is bio quality product grown in high bacteria and fungal soil.
As winter approaches, I lay down a bed of straw on top of my mulch pile and then pour out the spent pots of soil on top. The last layer is a bag or two of mowed leaves/grass. There is a time when it’s nearly 50/50 and wet. Give it some bone meal and a high nitrogen fertilizer and in the spring it’s a super soil again. We have cold winters, so you have to use the time wisely.
Thanks for sharing your experience I don’t know how I’d learn without people like you. I had never had a garden but I’ve made my own compost bin now and I’ve managed to trim hedges, cut grass but so many plants I’m still trying to figure out how to trim and maintain. Mostly what was left was all hedges,trees,dead strawberry’s in trays in the green house, but there were still some green leaves so I trimmed,watered and put outside front door for regular watering.even if no strawberry this year I have loads for next season. I don’t know how they flower but I trimmed all runners and took away all dead plant life. the owner died 8 months ago during winter so how does that affect these plants? Many are cut to branches sticking out of pots,rubbish? I bought a lavender bush yesterday should I trim all lavender to encourage new growth. Can I harvest the seed? I was going to trim as advised despite losing my lovely flowers ..I’m told I’ll get a better harvest of lavender if I do.
In the beginning of the article, I noticed that you have bamboo poles and some sort of metal hooks…what are they? I just cut a bunch of bamboo for this same purpose and was going to use string, but your idea looks much better. What are they called? I need to get them! By the way, I’m a fellow San Diegan (NC) and a biiiig fan of yours now!
Would diatomaceous earth help kill bad bugs in my soil? We just moved (zone 6b) into a house with a garden plot that sat fallow for 3-5 years… I am currently picking rocks out of the soil and have a load of manure ready to add in. I am getting compost going, and plan to put healthy dirt around each individual plant … I also have some winter rye to sow for next winter as green manure. I don’t have time by amend it ALL for this growing season and I figure whatever grows, grows! I thought the DE may kill any bug that tries to bother my plants. I have heard that it doesn’t hurt pollinators as long as it’s only in the dirt. ?? I have noticed a lot of (live) fire ants, silk worms, beetles, etc in the dirt, as well as snail shells. There ARE a lot of worms, which I was happy to see. Please advise!!
Hello from Canada Kevin. I have recently found your site and I love it. I come to your site all the time for information and tips. I have a question that I don’t know where to ask…. This winter I was feeding rabbits and bought a bale of hay. My immediate neighbour lost plants due to these critters. Now I’m stuck with lots of hay and don’t know how to get rid of it. If I mix it into my gardens, would that not attract the rabbits back? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Keep up with the articles. Love them.
I’ve only been gardening for a year. I went nuts for flowers, not veggies. It’s been great. We have very limited outdoor space and use only containers. What I do is have potting soil available (always a need to re-pot my growing babies or be ready for any rescues from the street to be potted ASAP) in a re-purposed baby bath tub.. There I also mix food scraps. It’s not really a compost thing, just “feeding” the soil. When a plant is done, I throw its soil back in the tub and give it a good mix with the older, fed soil. I’m pretty sure we have a very lively soil because everything thrown in there disappears withing a week or even less. It’s all mixed in and we don’t have the kinds of animals like raccoons here, nor have I ever seen one bird go anywhere near there. It’s probably not enough, especially for veg, and we’ll have to look into more additives if we try veg too, but I think it works well for what it is.
Thank you for this article! I have been looking for good information on how to revitalize my used potting mix (Espoma). I have been using Garden-tone so I’ll use that and I just bought worm castings! I just started some arugula from seed (my first time-kinda late but it’s San Diego) and wanted to give it the best chance of survival with some great soil. Fingers crossed! Great article!
Hi, I am here to find out how to keep most of my soil in my planters, BUT, just HOW to “refresh” the soil, in them. I do NOT just have some POTS to rejuvinate. I have some LONG planters that are about 6 feet long and about 15-20 inches deep. I have grown plants in them last year, BUT, I want to refresh the soil without just replacing it all. That would be quite expensive. I have some compost that I have made, and then blood meal, bone meal, Lime, bat guano, soil acidifier, and also some granulated fertilizers. I also have some “bunny manure” too. I do NOT have any worm castings though. So, I will just try to use my additives plus some new soil to “top off” my existing planters.
I make so much ways to re use my soil It depends on my mood actually and depends whether the plant I will plant in it is heavy feeder or not Firts this refresh is fir planting heavy feeders 1-old soil 2-humic acid(organic)it boosts up the soil like crazy if the soil is too clayy or to sandy it fixes that it makes the soil keep moisture more help chelating the minerals for the plant Then I add compost or vermi compost Whith some chemicals as super phosphate calcium And potassium sulphate
Hello! I have a pot (without drainage holes) that I accidentally neglected and while I think I can save my begonia, I’m wondering if I can still save my waterlogged soil, that smells like sulfur. I’ve dumped soil for this before (I promise I will drill some holes in my pots to cope with this Florida rain) but I wanted to see if I could get away with letting it dry out a bit and mixing it in with some new potting soil or if I should just get rid of it? Thanks in advance for the advice!
Is it true those white grubs which look like shrimps squirming their feet hidden deep in the soil turn into the June bugs? I’ve seen a few while planting a beautiful butterfly magnolia full of teeny blooms right now. They are so yucky to see! Magnolia is a beauty. Neighbors stop by to see fully in bloom.
Just saw this article. I plan to follow your advice. But I need to know… 1) I plan to purchase and use the chicken, blood and bone meal as you suggested but instead of the actual soil like worm castings, I have a gallon jug of liquid worm castings. Can I use that? If so how much? Refresh: for 5 gallons of tired old soil you showed us to use small handfuls 2 Tablespoons ish of each “meal food” mixed in. So how much liquid would I use to that ratio? Thank you. L-o-v-e your articles!!!!!
I am new to gardening. I don’t have alot of money. I want to stay small. I have in the past a few 5 gal bucket tried to plant tomatoes and in a little bigger bucket tried to grow potatoes. It had not worked out very well. I usually get a few tomatoes and a few potatoes but that’s it. How do I get this growing better? Where do I start? Thank you for your help.
Hi Kevin, hope you’re safe and well. I have to repot a Parlor Palm that I haven’t repotted in two years. Is it ok to refresh this soil or should I just start with all new soil? How old is too old to refresh lol? Btw can Parlor Palms be air-layered, I ask because the trunk is literally bare boned and I was just curious? Thanks for any input.🤗🙏🏼🙏🏼
Planted forget me nots in the soil trays,do I it them in garden or wait for seedlings then plant. West of Scotland garden. No teacher,no experience,no friends, help anyone. Full landscaped garden with tons of strawberry plants I’ve rescued. Bought new flower pots will they be okay to plant in sunny open area?
I planted under a grow light last year in starting potting soil and virtually everything grew. This year I haven’t had a single plant come up. I’m using the same everything from last year so I’m assuming the soil went bad somehow? Or maybe there’s a specific light off in the grow light? I changed the potting soil today so we’ll see if that’s it. If not it definitely narrows it down.
This was helpful! Question! I have some soil that been sitting on my porch for about 1 maybe 2 years. 2 bags is unopened and the other has never been opened. They have been sitting there through the seasons. Is it okay to use it as-is or do i need to add more fresh soil and fresh compost to it like you suggested?
I have a 55 gallon tank and fancy goldfish. When I do a water change, I snake the hose out the front door and into my front garden patch. The year I planted tomatoes out there, I had a bumper crop. One of my elderly neighbors asked me what kind of bushes I had planted in front of my house and when I told her it was tomato plants, she didn’t believe me until I brought her over to see for herself. I ended up sharing my bumper crap with her and her husband.
I apologise if this is something that I missed, but could you point me to a article (I’m just assuming you did one) on containers for gardening? I have been overwhelmed with trying to fix up my yard in the first place. I have several pots (plastic, Terra cotta, some kind of plaster ones left behind). I was wondering if I have to put plastic containers inside the Terra cotta ones because of drying out (I moved to AZ, desert is new to me. I sucked before too😂). Thank you for your attention 😊👍
Kevin, I am a first-time vegetable gardener I have put together some raised beds and I would like to use some dirt I cleared out from another project . Could I use this free dirt an amended it with other bags of compost and so on so I can started growing . What would you recommend. Ps love your work big guy!!
If you did have plant issues that may have been soil-borne, but it was in containers, can you wait a certain amount of time and then revitalize the soil? Or still best to toss it? Like, idk maybe it’s so long a wait that it isn’t worth the risk to have around at all, but if I (hypothetically 😅) let my whole container garden die off from various known & unknown issues, got burnt out/frustrated with waste, let everything just sit around in the FL heat for a year or so, and then became remotivated to try again but with like a negative budget & v little unused soil/amendments left…? 😅
So… I was sort of “winging it” and reused the soil from some failed flowers that we still had hanging around. I tried what my grandma does and just toss the fruit into the moistened old soil. My kids asked to plant a few fruits that had started to turn, but didn’t prepare, just tried to salvage what we had out back. Is this still safe to use or are we just starving the new seedlings? It’s been a 8 months, only 2 out of 4 have started to sprout leaves 🌱. Extra-green rookie mistakes. 😬
I’m in the northeast & often find, when preparing my leftover soil, that ants have taken over! It’s pretty disturbing & at first I’d toss the whole pot including the soil, away. I was told the soil is reusable & ants aren’t a threat. Any thoughts? I’m wondering if taking this advice is why I’ve had lackluster yields the last few years.
Thank you so much for your informative article. It’s nice to see a brand of potting soil other than M*racleGro – which arbitrarily contains mystery fertilizer. My local stores pretty much don’t offer any choices. It looks like a monopoly here. To create potting soil, I had to purchase a bag of top soil to mix in, since I can’t find any plain potting soil without additives. I would love to see the brand which sponsored you here come to the store in Oregon! As for worms, where I live, they will migrate into pots through the drainage holes. I can create compost in a plant pot by layering compostable material, layered into the pot with dry leaves to create layers.
There is a product you can buy that uses enzymes to break down the old roots also you can use seed sprout tea to increase the bioavailability and to speed up the decomposition reducing the need for additional fertilizer also you can incorporate mycorrhizae that also reduces the need for fertilizer mycorrhiza doesn’t work in soil that contains lots of phosphorus. This is part of the no till method the other part is using nitrogen fixing plants like kale and top dressing like compost mixed with grasses or hay . I don’t know how well this method works in small containers though.
This is my first season attempting to reuse soil. Second season growing my own food. We’re talking hundreds of gallons of pots and the small birdies raised bed. I already have organic worm castings, slow release organic fertilizers with chicken poop in them and azomite. I think I have a little blood meal. I’m concerned about not using the right amounts or ratios and ruining my growing season.
Thanks for this amazing article. Super helpful. What is your opinion/experience on “baking” the old soil to sterilize it first? I have heard this suggested (and even insisted) a few times, so I tried it this growing season. I will do it again if I have to, but it was a LOT of work to process the dozens of gallons of soil that I use in my container garden. What are your thoughts?
I’ve noticed the soil level in my containers going lower and lower which I assume is from decomposition of organic materials. Any advice on how to add potting mix into a container without disturbing the root or moving to another container? What i do is squeeze some mix into the sides but that barely does anything to elevate the soil line.
I am confused about the second method with the screen. It’s the soil that goes through that you want, right? You had so much soil on top it looked that that’s what you use. Also – what do you do about a perennial that is in a really big container that you can’t dump out?! Perhaps just take some out and revitalize it?! Thanks!
I have seen both pro and con for leaving old mulch in place and simply covering it with new compost. I’ve seen it suggested that you till in old mulch with compost and organic fertilizer and cover with new mulch. I’m not sure which method is best. In the past, I’ve collected the mulch in my blueberry planters, added new compost and reapplied the old and new mulch together. I like that they make the case for not tilling in the article. Newest research suggests you leave the ground alone, huh.
Love the tips. In the past I’ve made a ditch down the center to add our proper raw kitchen waste to feed the red wiggles. We now live in the woods and I built 2 no dig beds on top of the clay soil we have. The soil that’s actually in the woods isn’t clay but beci6se of the pines and douglas fir it’s most likely acidic, right ? Anyways last year was my first garden which was destroyed by packets about the time they started to become productive.