Potting Soil Storage?

Question

I live in a condo and love gardening - I know: it sucks big time... so to cope, I have lots, and I mean lots, of potted plants on my patio.

I want to reuse the potting soil for next year but don't have a shed, or a basement, or a lot of room to store the soil over the winter - any suggestions?

Answer 1

It's not a good idea to re-use potting soil. It can carry all kinds of bad stuff (bugs, diseases) to your new plants. It's really not that expensive, and if you use a lot, go to a good nursery supply and ask for a compressed bale of Pro-Mix. They'll know what you want and for under $20 you'll have enough to last you quite a while.

http://www.premierhort.com/eProMix/Horti...

For storage, I'd suggest using plastic garbage cans with a tight lid. I use the 30 gal. size ( a bale of ProMix fills almost two of these).

Answer 2

Does this mean that all the plants are dead and you want to reuse the soil for next spring?

The best thing is to keep the soil in a dry location.  Seal it well.  Then in the spring, before using, sterlize the soil.  You can either "bake" the soil in the oven (google this for good websites) or you can smother the soil with clear plastic.  This smothering will kill off any pests in the soil.

Answer 3

you prob already know that the soil of a plant that died of some disease or bug infestation is not soil that you'd want to save, right?.... so the plastic trash can with lid or a rubbermaid tub should do ya pretty good..... remember that this will be weight all in one place rather than spread all over your balcony... you might consider this going down on the ground level for safety!!....