Re-using last years soil....?....

Last year I used some "Roots" brand original potting soil in 20 gallon fabric pots...(Perlite, Coco Fiber, Peat Moss, Composted Forest Material, Pumice, Worm Castings, Bat Guano, Soybean Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Kelp Meal, and Greensand )


Through out the grow I addded Dr Earth 5-5-2 in tea and/or top dress once every 7 to 10 days (Feather Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Kelp Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Potassium Sulfate, Seaweed Extract, mycorrhizae/probiotics).

Right before and into the middle of flowering I added Dr Earth 3-9-4 as top dress and in tea once every 7 to 10 days....(Fish Bone Meal, Feather Meal, Potassium Sulfate, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Seaweed Extract, micronized humic acids).

The soil also recieved EWC tea with mollases about once a week, occasionally top dresed with EWC.



It was my very first grow and I was pretty happy with how my herb turned out so I intend on following a similar method of growing this next time around and plan on using more of the same soil (roots original) and fertilizer....using last years soil mixed up with some fresh material.



The soil from last year is still in the 20 gallon fabric pots outside (nor-cal, zone 9b, partial sun/shade). I only pulled the stalk and main portion of the root ball out, but the smaller/finer roots remained in the soil.

I'm assuming this soil is still "rich" and will work again this year mixed with a little fresh soil along with some amendments/ferts added?

Here's what I plan on doing...I'm curious if this sounds reasonable to you fellow organic/live soil growers...?...


I will be growing two more plants this year, so I will be needing 40 gallons of more soil. I plan on buying roughly 40 gallons worth of the Roots original soil and blending/mixing it up with the 80 gallons of last years soil along with some of the same Dr. earth's dry fertlizer and some other amendments like guanos, plant meals, insect frass, some nettles (my backyard is chock full of em' at the moment), perhaps some myco & probiotic stuff (though there is already some of that in the Dr. earth.

I'm also assuming I should have all of this mixed up and allow the soil to sit for some time before plants are placed into it?...How long ahead of time before planting should this be done, or is it not too big of a deal with something like what I'm planning on doing?...And I'm assuming giving the soil some compost/mollases tea a few times while it sits before planting isn't a bad idea?



Does this sound like a reasonable way to re-cycle last year's soil and keep it going?






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If it was me I would top dress the existing containers, disturbing the soil as little as possible. I would make sure there are plenty of earth worms in there. Obviously this can only be done when it is warm enough for beneficials to thrive.

I’m sure the plan you describe would work fine too!

Sounds like a plan.


Consider mixing your own instead of using Roots.
I like Roots, but if your buying the amendments anyway.
You can get premixed amendments from KIS , BAS, Amazon...a bit of a mark up, but you're not having to buy volumes of everything.
Let is sit a couple weeks. Let the guano get absorbed a bit.

I like doing my pots ahead of time.
I use a smaller pot to form my transplant hole. Then I plant chia. It gives me an idea of how things will grow and in my mind, it gets everything flowing. (Stoner science?) I then smother the chia out by covering it for a day. I plant a couple days after its uncovered. The transplant will fit perfectly in my preformed hole.


A few things I may do different, but it sounds like a good plan.


Better to find a good plan and stick with it than to take a bunch of internet advice.

You will get some excellant advice. Incorporate it slowly as you learn. Use common sense.

The chia from a health store will that germinate easily, or are you buying chia intended for germination?

moses wellfleet said:

The chia from a health store will that germinate easily, or are you buying chia intended for germination?

Click to expand...

The same stuff that I eat.
I use it mainly because I already have it.
I used it originally because I like how it jells up, but it sprouted instead, so l use it that way.

nitrogen fixing is nice if available

I pile on buckets of compost makings (mostly banana peels and coffee grounds), and also plenty of bird manure from pet birds, on top of last year's grow pots.

So it's a 32 gallon garbage can, with about 20 gallons of soil and the root ball. I will eventually go out with a break knife and cut out the center of the root ball.

Also it has or had plenty of red-worms.

In the early spring, I do a routine where I wait for a day when most or all of the 100's of tools & things outdoors in the driveway & side yard, have worms under them.

Then I go around collecting redworms and a few earthworms and add them to the garbage cans.

Anyway they help rejuvenate the soil a lot.

Also every pot has some cotton towels on top. That comes with the bird manure, it's just the bottom of the bird cage. The easiest way to clean it, is to throw the entire bottom of the bird cage out.

The soil stays wet.

I m set up just like you except my pots are much bigger and they contain worms. Thru the off-season I will continue to feed them with high quality food ... kitchen scraps, pollard for example. I think of these as fertiliser ... it's just that the worms have to convert it to plant food first.

I foliar spray also and give fish emulsion which feeds the worms too.
The garden should be ready to plant in next season without doing anything else!