Stop Buying New Potting Soil! This Simple Trick Renews Old Soil for Almost Free. Stop buying new potting soil after every growing season! In this video, I'll show you how we renew our old potting soil using leaves, kitchen waste, compost, and mulch. This simple and cheap method helps us reuse our old container soil without replacing everything.
We remove the weeds, take out some of the old soil, add organic matter and compost, then put the soil back and cover it with mulch. After watering, we leave it for a little while before planting again.
If you grow vegetables, flowers, or other plants in containers, try this method to save money and make better use of the soil you already have.
Just remember that fresh organic matter takes time to break down, so give it more time if needed before planting.
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People usually buy new potting soil after every season or two.
It is very costly and changing all the soil
in your containers is a lot of hard
work, but we don't do that every time. Let me
show you how we renew our old potting soil
without spending much money and our plants grow very well in these
containers. First of all, we are going to remove all
the weeds and any unwanted plants growing in our container.
We don't want these weeds to grow back so remove them properly
Including their roots.
After that, we are going to remove around 30
to 40 percent of the soil from the top.
Keep this soil in another container
because we are going to use it again in just a few minutes.
There
is no
need to
throw
it away.
Now we have some empty space in our container
and we are going to fill it with organic matter.
If you have green leaves, yellow leaves,
dry leaves, kitchen waste, or fruit peels,
you can use those. We have some leaves
and other organic waste available,
so we are going to put a good layer of that in our container.
Try to cut the bigger pieces into smaller ones
because they will break down faster.
Don't use cooked food, meat, or anything oily.
We only need plant-based organic waste for this.
After adding the organic matter,
we are going to add a thin layer of compost on top.
This will help the organic matter start breaking down,
and the compost will also add nutrients
and beneficial microbes to our soil.
Now remember the soil we removed earlier?
We are going to put that same soil back into the container.
Just spread it over the organic matter and fill the container again.
After filling it
with the old shells,
we are going to add another
thin layer of compost on top.
So now we have organic matter
underneath, our old soil
in the middle, and compost on top.
Now we are going to add mulch.
We have sawdust, so we are using that. You can also use dry leaves
or another suitable mulch if you have it available.
Mulch is very useful because it
helps keep moisture in the soil.
When the sun is too strong, the soil dries out quickly,
but this layer will help protect it.
It also protects the soil surface when we get heavy rain.
Now, one thing you should know
is that the soil level will decrease a little with time.
This happens because the organic matter
underneath starts breaking down.
So don't worry if you see the soil level going down after a few weeks.
You can add some more compost or soil later. After adding the mulch,
we are going to water the whole container properly.
The soil needs moisture for the
organic matter to break down,
so don't let it dry out completely. At the same time,
make sure the water can drain properly
because we don't want the container staying too wet.
Now, leave this container for around 10
to 15 days before planting anything in it.
Keep checking the soil during this time
and add water whenever it starts drying out.
