How Do I Add More Soil To My Potted Plant

Yes, You lot Can Reuse Your Potting Soil Instead of Tossing It at the Stop of the Season

Bagged mixes for containers aren't "dirt cheap," so hither's how to make the most of it.

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When your flowers fade, and the temperatures drop, information technology'due south fourth dimension to empty your containers and put them away for the winter. It'due south tempting to continue and reuse the old potting soil, which can exist pricey, especially when you have a lot of potted plants like I do. But this lightweight mix of compost, peat, perlite, and other materials doesn't terminal forever. Plants use up the nutrients in it every bit they grow, and the mix can go compacted and filled with roots. Sometimes pests, diseases, and weeds can take up residence, ready to popular back upward when you replant in the mix. However, yous tin can remedy each of these bug and go some other employ out of your potting soil with a footling extra work.

hands in potting soil

Credit: Guido Mieth/Getty Images

How to Reuse Potting Soil

Information technology's generally fine to reuse potting soil if whatever y'all were growing in it was healthy. If you did notice pests or diseases on your plants, it's all-time to sterilize the mix to avert infecting next year'due south plants. First, remove any roots, grubs, leaves, and other droppings from the former potting soil. And so, decide on the all-time method for banishing microbes and insects.

One technique for sterilizing soil is called solarizing. It involves putting sometime potting soil in lidded, five-gallon buckets ($9, The Habitation Depot) or black plastic bags that are tightly tied shut and leaving them in the sun for 4-6 weeks. The estrus builds upwardly within the buckets or bags just plenty to kill bugs and pathogens.

You lot also can sterilize old potting soil in your oven. Place it in an oven-safe pan, cover with foil, and broil it at 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. (I tried this once, but didn't like the earthy smell it created.) It'southward also important to check the soil temperature with a processed or meat thermometer ($22, Williams Sonoma) to make sure it stays below 200 degrees. Higher temperatures can release toxins. When it's washed, accept the soil out of the oven and keep it covered until information technology cools.

Microwaving is some other option. Put old, moistened potting soil in quart-size, microwavable containers. Cover them with microwavable lids—never use foil—that you can poke ventilation holes in or tin can leave cracked to allow steam to escape. Heat at full ability for about 90 seconds per two pounds of soil. Remove the containers, cover the vent holes with tape, and let the soil cool completely before using information technology.

Once your sometime potting soil has been sterilized, y'all'll need to replenish its nutrients. You can do this by combining equal parts of new potting soil with the sometime and adding a dose of slow-release fertilizer pellets ($23, The Home Depot) according to bundle directions. Or, you lot tin can mix in one function compost to three or four parts of your old potting soil. Besides adding nutrients that plants demand, both the fresh potting soil and compost volition help keep the mix from compacting.

What to Do with Used Potting Soil

Reuse your clean potting soil in containers for vegetables, flowers, houseplants, or whatever you'd like to grow. If you lot're non upwardly for sterilizing and refreshing old potting soil, you still can put it to utilise instead of throwing it out. Information technology tin can exist dumped straight out of your containers and into established beds and borders. I like to utilize mine in my raised beds or wherever I demand to fill in holes or eroded areas in my m. It can also be mixed into compost piles. The onetime potting soil you reuse can help yous save money for what all gardeners desire: more plants.