Can potting soil be sterilized?
by
Laurie
+3
My veggie garden is in big pots and containers. Is there a way to "sterilize" the potting soil so it can be reused. I know you are not supposed to replant tomatoes in the same area, but potting soil is rather expensive.
you can bake it in your oven, but it smells horrid and it's really cheaper to reinvest in new; you can take the 'used' and have a separate compost area where you will not be using for tomato or potato in the future - you can use for shrubbery, flowers, etc a good compost pile can get pretty hot!
sterilizing wouldn't be the issue. Its that plants use up nutrients in the soil, so it is depleted for the next season. You can find people selling and trading their compost that you can mix in with the original soil, and get additives, mike calcium, nitrogen, etc. to add to the soil as well. Another thing that may work is planting the tomatoes in soil that you didn't use for tomatoes the previous season. But it would be a good idea to beef up the used soil anyway.
The reason you don't reuse it is because all the nutrients have been used up by the plants. You can reintroduce nutrients back into the soil with compost. Add a nice layer on top at the end of the season, you could also add seasoned manure. Add some lyme let sit for the winter. Before planting again next season turn the soil add some more compost and you are good to go.
I would dump it all out and add compost, and cow manure.
The reason you rotate crops is twofold. One is so that nutrients can be rebuilt in last years bed by growing "soil fixing" plants such as peas for nitrogen. The other reason is because plants grown over and over in the same spot creates a resort for pests. They all know where to go for food after awhile and leave successive generations behind.
Use last years tomato dirt for this years beans, and so forth. Move your Planters to another area of your yard. I have three separate beds on my 1/4 acre property that I keep in rotation and it seems to be working.
Hope that helps
: )
I have been using the same soil in the same pot for tomatoes for 4 years. Each fall I dip out about 1/4 of the soil and put it elsewhere, add compost and lime and lots of leaves on top over winter. Some cow manure before putting plants in and every year I have a great harvest.