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bobjw

Recycling & Reusing Composted Potting Mix

bobjw
9 years ago

Im thinking of getting a tumbler composter for the purpose of recycling and reusing potting mix. My question is will this be effective in destroying plant roots, diseases, garden pests as I add fresh organic material to re-energize the potting mix?

Comments (5)

  • Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
    9 years ago

    Unless your tumbler is larger than any I've ever seen, I don't think so. You can check in the Soil, Compost & Mulch forum, but my understanding is that you need to have a hot compost pile of about 3-feet by 3-feet by 3-feet to kill diseases and weed seeds. That is a cubic yard, or 27 cubic feet, or about 200 gallons. Most of the premade composters people buy are too small to heat up enough. They do work as cold composters, but that can take 6-12 months or more, and it doesn't kill diseases or weeds.

    I have a Compost Wizard tumbler that I use to make my soil mixes. It works great for that. But I am not strong enough to handle more than about 25 gallons of mix at a time. I do cold composting in one of those black plastic bins. I never add left over solanaceous plants or diseased material to it. I use mostly shredded fall leaves, disease free spent plants and left over 5-1-1 in it. It takes about a year to get decent compost from it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Soil, compost & mulch forum

  • johns.coastal.patio
    9 years ago

    I use a cheap 33 gallon trash can for extra mix. Even that is small if you are emptying large pots. But as a place to leave dryish soil/compost for a season i think it works. Easy to store, move. Could be put in the sun for heat.

  • gardenper
    9 years ago

    There are some that would reuse the old soil just by adding compost and other fertilizers.

    But if you want to use it in your compost pile or bin, I would still suggest that it should go in at the recommended ratios. For example, don't just dump all your old containers at one time, making a huge addition of dirt. Instead, make a pile of old dirt, and add as needed whenever you have some greens to add in.

  • nil13
    9 years ago

    How is letting the container medium decompose more going to rejuvinate the medium?

  • david52 Zone 6
    9 years ago

    You can 'solarize' the soil fairly easily which would go a long way towards sterilizing it for re-use. Find some of those clear, large, transparent trash bags. Take the soil of one or two containers and spread it out flat in the bag, maybe 3 inches deep, then tie up the opening to slow the heat loss, and put it out in the driveway on a sunny day - it gets too hot to touch.

    Try googling "solarizing potting soil" for some articles - they use normal black plastic trash bags, the technique is used to sterilize the pots, etc.