Potting Soil - Wrong to throw in gardens?

[CanadianLori]

I am now in panic stations. My cousin told me that my raised beds are ruined because I added a lot of potting soil to them when I emptied some of my pots into them last year.

Am I in deep doo doo?

 

[galmal]

I hope not, because I do that to. It seems a waste to me to throw away perfectly good soil - in this case, soil that isn't full of rocks, weeds, clay, etc. (Existential question - can you ever really throw away dirt?) I can't imagine that it would make a difference - since you obviously had other plants growing in it. It's never seemed to bother my flowers before. Of course, this is the person that can't get a vegetable to grow to save her life - so maybe???

 

[Chuck]

I am now in panic stations. My cousin told me that my raised beds are ruined because I added a lot of potting soil to them when I emptied some of my pots into them last year.

Am I in deep doo doo?

Did the plants in those emptied pots die of some mysterious disease or fungal infestation? If they did you probably are in deep doo doo. If they didn't all you did was add more organic matter to your beds and the more you do that the better your beds will be. Having said that some folks grow plants in potting soil using nothing but MiracleGro or some other microbial murdering chemical concoction for years and the buildup of salts in the potting mix has become severe. Adding this to your beds will be a detriment to your soil. But you don't do this................I hope

 

[CanadianLori]

No, just one use potting soil and the plants were healthy no nasty stuff.

I guess I'll just add some more regular garden soil in the spring to make me feel a bit better about my having dumped the pots. I still have a lot of pot contents that I haven't knocked the soil out of the dead roots so I will put this back in some containers instead of dumping them too.

I had heard about not reusing the pot stuff and that is why I did what I did. Oh well, this could save me some money if I amend it before putting back in pots.

 

[Chuck]

No, just one use potting soil and the plants were healthy no nasty stuff.

I guess I'll just add some more regular garden soil in the spring to make me feel a bit better about my having dumped the pots. I still have a lot of pot contents that I haven't knocked the soil out of the dead roots so I will put this back in some containers instead of dumping them too.

I had heard about not reusing the pot stuff and that is why I did what I did. Oh well, this could save me some money if I amend it before putting back in pots.

Why don't you dump all of the old potting stuff into a pile and pour molasses or some other type of carbohydrate like stale beer or coke on it. You could even pour simple syrup and achieve the same thing of increasing the rate of decomposition. After 2 or 3 weeks add the whole thing to your compost pile

 

[CanadianLori]

I don't have a compost pile. Sorry, just not enough room.

All of my scraps go into a green bin which goes to the giant municipal compost pile.

Forgot to mention that I figured my current pots collectively hold 500 liters of soil and I bought another 10 pots this winter -just for the heck of it..

 

[Owdboggy]

And of course you always remove all the potting compost from your plants before you plant them in the garden..........No? Of course not. Heard some rather silly advice given on Forums, but this one is a goody. We have frequently used old potting compost as a mulch on our garden and it ain't killed anything yet.

 

[CanadianLori]

OTE="Owdboggy, post: 44933, member: 1804"]And of course you always remove all the potting compost from your plants before you plant them in the garden..........No? Of course not. Heard some rather silly advice given on Forums, but this one is a goody. We have frequently used old potting compost as a mulch on our garden and it ain't killed anything yet.[/QUOTE]


Thank you so much!

I use soil blocks not seedling trays. So much easier, so yes the soil has to go in the garden. I suspect that my cousin sometimes comes up with these criticisms because there's nothing else to make her feel superior to me. Sad that I keep rising to the bait!

silly lori...

 

[Chuck]

OTE="Owdboggy, post: 44933, member: 1804"]And of course you always remove all the potting compost from your plants before you plant them in the garden..........No? Of course not. Heard some rather silly advice given on Forums, but this one is a goody. We have frequently used old potting compost as a mulch on our garden and it ain't killed anything yet.

Thank you so much!

I use soil blocks not seedling trays. So much easier, so yes the soil has to go in the garden. I suspect that my cousin sometimes comes up with these criticisms because there's nothing else to make her feel superior to me. Sad that I keep rising to the bait!

silly lori...[/QUOTE]
What are soil blocks? We don't have them here. Do you make them?

 

[CanadianLori]

They are madeof whatever soil you wish.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the maker but here's one of those dreaded links. ..

Http:// www.johnnyseeds.com/c-455-soil-block-makers.aspx hmm didn't get that right, if you go to their sitr under tools then seed starter you'll see them

And here is a pic if them sittng on a flat tray
And they are in the u.s!

 

[CanadianLori]

Sorry about the garbled type, my tablet is acting up!

 

[CanadianLori]

Okay Chuck, did I just hear you say , I'll be darned. ...

 

[Chuck]

Okay Chuck, did I just hear you say , I'll be darned. ...

I'll be darned. Interesting to say the least. Do you use your own garden soil or do you have to buy special stuff. With the soil around here it is impossible to even make a mudball with it

 

[CanadianLori]

You can use anything that will conform to that sqare. Obviously anything with lots of debris wouldn't work.
I use potting soil straight from walmart, cheap. ..
I have the 4 block maker.

If you watch their video you will be delighted to find that once the soil is mixed it takes maybe 10 seconds to make a four pack!

too cool right?

 

[Chuck]

You can use anything that will conform to that sqare. Obviously anything with lots of debris wouldn't work.
I use potting soil straight from walmart, cheap. ..
I have the 4 block maker.

If you watch their video you will be delighted to find that once the soil is mixed it takes maybe 10 seconds to make a four pack!

too cool right?

Why doesn't the block come apart when it gets wet? Do you have a clay type soil?