Treating soil

Hi there, I have a huge pile of compost/old soil in my garden from growing lots of potted plants last year. I assumme all the goodness has been extracted out of the soil from the previous plants that grew in it, so i want to regenerate the soil and reuse it. So what is the best way for me to do this???? Thank You Tom :D

 

From your post, I'm assuming that you use a mix of compost and soil in your pots?

If so, you'll need to make sure that your heap of old stuff doesn't contain harmful insects, especially vine weevil grubs. I would spread the heap over as wide an area of unplanted soil as possible. This will let you see what's in it and it will act as a sort of mulch. I wouldn't try and regenerate it in any way, just let the weather break it down into your soil.

Then you'll need to start with fresh compost and if you wish, fresh soil from other parts of your garden for mixing.

 

Hi thanks for the reply, It is just compost not soil (sorry i wasnt clear). Mostly from lots of multi purpose compost bags that i bought at B&Q, which was used in lots of pots to grow stuff. There is so much of it though as i now have a huge heap of it. Would the same method you suggested apply if its only compost and not soil/compost?? Thank you :D

 

I always reuse mine in pots. As Flinty said you want to be sure that there are no nasties in it, like vine weevil. But luckily I have never had that. Bags of compost, that you buy, have no goodness in them when they are first produced. Its simply added in a later process. So I treat mine the same way. I reuse the compost but make sure that I add back some food. I do this by adding in a handful of Growmore, and make sure that I feed my pots regularly with Miraclegrow.

Its a good idea to add some soil to the compost for large pots. It cuts down on the cost and adds weight and material that is not present in compost. Bags of John Innes that you see in garden centres are no more than just a mixture of compost and soil.

 

Thats great thank you ill do that, although ill find an organic brand. Thanks for the info :D Tom