Tips for how to use old potting mix
recycle last year’spotting mixfor this year ’s container garden is certainly an economical estimation . However , at the end of the get time of year , a potting mixture ’s fertility is at a minimum , and there might not be enough nutrients for your flowers to be happy and healthy . Adding new intermixture to the old means this season ’s plant will get what they need . Here are some tips to help you be resourceful with used potting mix and still rise a great container garden .
Save potting mix the right way
In declination , pull up any dead plant life and shake out the stem . If you see live adults , cocoons or nut the great unwashed hear to winter in the mix , pick them out . If the plant in the container had a disease , that mix should be bagged up and sent out with the trash . ( Do n’t re - use potting mixes used to get tomatoes because there is a peril of spreading blight to a new crop . ) Keep the rest of the soil tucked away in a garage , cellar or shed for the wintertime .
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Reuse potting mix in spring
In the spring , break up apart the clump of pot intermixture in the vat or overspread it out on a tarp . Add fresh potting intermixture so the proportion is 50 percent older to 50 percent new , and stir together along with aslow - release fertilizer . Or add 25 percent compost to 75 percentage former potting mixture with a couple fistful of constituent additive likefish mealorworm castings . Be sure to mix it all thoroughly so the grain are evened out . Then pot up your container as usual !
Don’t just top off containers with new potting mix
You might be tempted to pullulate new mixture dominate the onetime and call it adept . Yes , plant roots will arise easily in novel potting mix , but they will struggle to spread out into hard , wry , compacted quondam mixture to a lower place . Be certain to break up the honest-to-god cloth and blend good with the new . calculate to the illustration below . See what what a deviation it makes ?
