Ok so I have about 30 or so plants that I kept and grew most are in 5 gallon pots. I'm only going to continue to grow 3-4 of my biggest ones inside and have decided to just pull out the rest and re-use the soil and posts next year. I picked up a worm farm thing and about 10 pounds of worms that should arrive some time next week. Do I simply add the old soil and worms to the worm house or do I need to add additional fertilizer or anything else? The soil did have a small amount of fert mixed in initially. I plan on adding misc kitchen items as compost as well. Will this work? Haven't had much time to read on composting or worm farms, but I will as time allows. I just want to get it setup and running sooner than later.
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soil composting soil for next years use?
- Thread starter LGHT
- Start date
yup it'll work just dont pack the soil down to hard or add to much at 1 time it may smush the worms.
Did you buy Red Wigglers? Not sure they will digest the soil itself, as they pretty much like softer things like coir and paper, with just a little soil or compost added for grit.
You may want to make the worm castings that way and then mix into the used soil to revitalize it down the road.
Another option is to also buy earthworms that do digest the soil, and combine the two methods.
You may want to make the worm castings that way and then mix into the used soil to revitalize it down the road.
Another option is to also buy earthworms that do digest the soil, and combine the two methods.
I don't think you should put garden soil in a worm farm, it's normally used for kitchen scraps.
Here's how I reuse potting mix:
Dump it in a pile and let it dry out
Push it through a 1/2 or 1/4 inch screen, toss any roots, leaves, etc..
Amend with worm castings, bone meal, etc...
It's a lot of messy work, but I can't in good conscience dump good mix in the trash. I think the longer you let the screened soil sit in the sun the less likely you are to have problems. Still, I wont be re-using any soil on peppers this year. Peppers, tomatoes, eggplants get fresh, then it gets reused on basil, bananas and landscape plants.
I don't know about what sort of space you have, but I'd look into getting a bunch of large, dark colored rubbermaid bins or trash cans. Dump the soil out of the pots into the bins, then when you have time screen it into the other bins. Put the bins in direct sunlight as much as possible and hope for the best.
Good Luck
Here's how I reuse potting mix:
Dump it in a pile and let it dry out
Push it through a 1/2 or 1/4 inch screen, toss any roots, leaves, etc..
Amend with worm castings, bone meal, etc...
It's a lot of messy work, but I can't in good conscience dump good mix in the trash. I think the longer you let the screened soil sit in the sun the less likely you are to have problems. Still, I wont be re-using any soil on peppers this year. Peppers, tomatoes, eggplants get fresh, then it gets reused on basil, bananas and landscape plants.
I don't know about what sort of space you have, but I'd look into getting a bunch of large, dark colored rubbermaid bins or trash cans. Dump the soil out of the pots into the bins, then when you have time screen it into the other bins. Put the bins in direct sunlight as much as possible and hope for the best.
Good Luck
I do plan on remixing some worm castings, fert, guaona ect with the old soil to revitilize it, but I also wanted to get my worm castings going so I can not only get some good compost out of it, but also help the soil. I guess I'll try and just use half the soil for the worms and the other half will sit in a large trash can in the sun. I haven't ordered the worms, but would night crawlers work better than red wigglers?
Unfortunately at the time I didn't, but I converted a large empty trash can into one and just kept the worm farm separate. I quickly realized that the worm farm wasn't going to be enough for all the soil I had so I just put the excess in the trash can and I toss in the kitchen scraps etc in there. Since I don't have a yard / garden / dirt anywhere in my town home I don't have the luxury of making a pile so the trash can will have to do. I will probably use that for next years plants and get new soil for this year since it hasn't been going that long. I don't think it's getting enough air so I will probably just drill a bunch of holes in it. Should work the same as those fancy balls with a million pieces you have to put together.
I disagree with Zander. The roots and other organics add immensely to to quality of the soil.
What I do with an old pot of mix is to pull up the plant and shake/rub every bit of soil and roots I can off the plant. Take all that mix, pour it into a large tub, and add compost as well as roughage from a potting mix. Stir it up and let it sit until I need it again.
Never get rid of good roots - they are typically full of nitrogen and other important fertilizers, plus they break down and help keep the soil from getting compacted. I plant winter wheat or another cover crop in my garden, mow it in May and till the roots and stubs into the ground. I had my best tomato and pepper crop ever last year doing this, and never once added any ferts after planting.
YMMV,
Mike
What I do with an old pot of mix is to pull up the plant and shake/rub every bit of soil and roots I can off the plant. Take all that mix, pour it into a large tub, and add compost as well as roughage from a potting mix. Stir it up and let it sit until I need it again.
Never get rid of good roots - they are typically full of nitrogen and other important fertilizers, plus they break down and help keep the soil from getting compacted. I plant winter wheat or another cover crop in my garden, mow it in May and till the roots and stubs into the ground. I had my best tomato and pepper crop ever last year doing this, and never once added any ferts after planting.
YMMV,
Mike