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How to Recycle Potting Soil
How to Recycle Potting Soil. Good quality potting soil is the secret to healthy plants, but if you're an avid gardener with more than a few containers, replacing potting soil in your outdoor containers every year can become prohibitively expensive. Next spring when you prepare your containers for the season's beautiful summer bloomers, give your...
Good quality potting soil is the secret to healthy plants, but if you're an avid gardener with more than a few containers, replacing potting soil in your outdoor containers every year can become prohibitively expensive. Next spring when you prepare your containers for the season's beautiful summer bloomers, give your budget a break and recycle last year's potting soil. Recycling potting soil takes a bit of time, but the cost saving is considerable.
Things You'll Need
Large bucket
Large baking pans or disposable aluminum pans
Wheelbarrow
Peat moss
Perlite
Slow-release granular fertilizer
Plastic storage bins
Allow last season's plants to die down completely. Pull the dead plants carefully from the container. Hold the roots over a large bucket and shake the plants to remove the clinging potting soil. Discard the dead plants or throw them on your compost pile.
Empty the contents of the planting container into the bucket. Pick out any remaining roots or plant debris.
Empty the bucket of potting soil into a large baking pan. Disposable aluminum turkey roasters or aluminum pans work well, are inexpensive, and can be discarded when the job is finished. Fill the pans to within one to two inches from the top of the baking pan and don't overfill. Most ovens can easily hold two large pans.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the potting soil for two to three hours. Repeat until all of your containers are empty. Baking the soil will eliminate bacteria, disease, pests and weed seeds.
Dump the baking pans into a wheelbarrow and allow the potting soil to cool. Mix in a small bag of peat moss, approximately one-half bag of perlite and one-half cup of slow-release granular fertilizer for every five gallons of potting soil.
Store the recycled potting soil in plastic storage bins.
Tips & Warnings
If you choose not to recycle your potting soil, put the potting soil to good use by adding it to your compost bin or sprinkle it on top of flower beds or vegetable garden plots. Avoid wasting the potting soil by throwing the soil in the trash, as most potting soils contain nonrenewable resources, including peat.
Potting soil used to grow houseplants can also be recycled.
