I have several flats of potting soil that I used this spring to grow
seedlings for the garden. Should I dispose of this potting soil or is it O K
to reuse it in the fall for more seeds?
Al
> I have several flats of potting soil that I used this spring to grow
> seedlings for the garden. Should I dispose of this potting soil or is it O K
> to reuse it in the fall for more seeds?
I would use fresh potting soil for sowing seeds. The amount needed for
sowing is small, and seed can be expensive, so fresh soil is good insurance
of success for minimal expense. I do save old seedling tray soil and soil
from annual container plantings for inclusion in new potting mixes. It has
been grown in organically and unless harboured diseased plants is fine to
reuse, just as garden soil would be. I usually mix 2 parts new soil mix
(including compost, etc.) to one part old soil in making soil mixes for
potting up seedlings and transplants. It hasn't caused any problem for me.
On the contrary, besides being good economy I think it helps introduce
beneficial soil organisms into the container environment. For small amounts
you can add it to your compost pile or into a flower bed or whatever.
Cheers!
--
Bob Carter - bcarter@wkpowerlink.com
Kootenay Bay, BC, Canada - Zone 6b
--
I'm not a witch doctor-- I'm only a folk medic.
Dear All,
I am sorry to hear that some people have had such problems with potting soil.
I suppose I have been very lucky. I bought some at Frank's Nursery for my
potatoes and tomatoes in containers, and they seem to be doing fine. (In fact,
because I started my tomatoes indoors in February and put them out early
because I could bring the containers in if I had to, I already have tons of
flowers.) I had intended to find the ingredients to mix my own potting soil,
but this bag had the ingredients listed, and they were the same ones I had
been told to use. Since I don't have a lot of room for mixing (and do have two
kids under 3), I opted for the ready-made.
Perhaps buying only what has satisfactory ingredients listed would be a good
idea, or perhaps I just got way lucky. Since I'm now worried about potting
soil, and the soil I have seems to be safe, can I re-use it next year, or is
that begging for trouble if I don't compost it first?
Stephanie
srmfergie@aol.com
Thanks Carol and Brodie, I'm glad to know I can boost the purchased
mix with only a little of my own compost. The mix is without fertilizers
and was tough to find on a large scale. I found Kelp meal, is this the same
as Seaweed?
Can I overdo it on the compost tea? I guess I'm still thinking with a
chemical mindset. It's not so much the nutrients in the tea, it's the
critters,
right? I used some on sick looking transplants and they looked much better.
Thanks.
Eirica
Clarifications. I meant boosting purchased compost with your own compost
tea. My own opinion is that soilless potting mixes are trouble, but I
suppose compost tea enhanced soilless mix has got to be better than plain
soilless mix. Growing in soilless mix is basically doing hydroponics in a
pot. Next time, you might do better to plant in municipal or commercial
compost. I buy my compost in seven-and-a-half cubic yard units from
American Compost in Portland, Oregon, and it has been great for
seed-starting. Not all municipal and commercial composts are alike,
however. You might try buying a tiny amount of compost from whatever
source you are considering and try starting some seeds in it before
committing to buying a large amount. And don't use composted sewage
sludge. I know a local garden designer/landscaper who uses it in her work,
but it can have nasty amounts of heavy metals in it. I asked a few local
compost companies for a copy of the lab tests that were done on their
compost (it must be a local regulation because all the companies seemed to
have such a report), and they all gave me copies of the reports at no
charge.
Kelp is a type of seaweed. Couldn't tell you which brand or form is most
effective, but I've been watering my veggie seedlings with Maxi-Crop added
to the water. In my garden beds I've sprinkled dry Down to Earth brand
kelp meal, which has a fertilizer value of 1 - 0.1 - 2. The bag says you
can add one teaspoon per each gallon of potting soil before planting, and I
plan to try that when I use up my current supply of Maxi-Crop. Portland
Nursery sells a 20-pound bag of the Down to Earth kelp meal for $22.95.
Pricey to spread throughout the entire garden, but worth it to me because
eating mineral-rich produce from my garden is cheaper than swallowing trace
mineral supplements myself. A twenty-pound bag might not go so far in the
garden at a pound per hundred square feet, but it will treat an whole lot
of potting compost. I've heard that seaweed provides natural plant growth
hormones as well as N-P-K.
I think in the future the kelp meal will be the only fertilizer I buy
besides compost, since I am attempting to make gardening as simple and
uncomplicated for myself as possible. Of course, gardening is very, very,
complicated, but I let nature do those parts -- I just do the easy stuff.
I don't have the slightest idea how to create life, but I'm getting better
at observing nature in action and taking a minor supportive role in the
nurturing of the life in my garden ecosystem.
I guess you could overdo the compost tea if you tried hard enough, but it
would be harder to do than overdoing chemical fertilizers or fish emulsion.
Compost tea may not have the high N-P-K numbers of bought fertilizers, but
what nutrients it does have are very easily assimilated by the plants, so
it is a fertilizer as well as a beneficial soil life booster.
Carol (and Brodie)
zone 8
Thanks Carol and Brodie, I'm glad to know I can boost the purchased
mix with only a little of my own compost. The mix is without fertilizers
and was tough to find on a large scale. I found Kelp meal, is this the
same
as Seaweed?
Can I overdo it on the compost tea? I guess I'm still thinking with a
chemical mindset. It's not so much the nutrients in the tea, it's the
critters,
right? I used some on sick looking transplants and they looked much
better.
Thanks.
Eirica
OK. This is going to be pretty pathetic. I was watching a show on Home
and Garden ... "Grow It". It's filmed at The Disney Institute in Florida.
The episode featured African Violets and she showed a plant that was totally
limp but had been watered properly.
She claimed that growers add - something - to the soil to help the plant
absorb water. And that after a few months the - something - is no longer
effective and that the plants then are unable to absorb water. So at that
time no matter how much you water, the plant just can't use it and goes
limp. She claimed that you can save the plant by repotting with "regular"
potting soil. It was NOT and issue of overwatering thus drowning the roots.
I don't know if this referred to African Violets only or any plants.
Anybody, Kay?, have an answer. I wonder if I should repot every plant, of
any kind, when purchased. With the talk of Streptocarpella might be good
to know. Sydney
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Could be a wetting agent of some kind. Personally, I've never used 'em,
and my plants do just fine UNTIL the salts (from water and fertilizer)
build up in the soil to the extent that the plant can no longer extract
water from the soil. At that point, you either need to repot with fresh
soil or remove the salts by leaching with copious amounts of water.
Kay Lancaster kay@fern.com
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