Wonderful! We do still buy a lot of soil for starting our seeds every season, but it all eventually finds its way into our storage. But, nothing like our early days of establishing our gardens!
Thank you so much for stopping by and giving us a watch. Your support has been amazing and we are humbled that you recognize what we have to bring to the gardening space. Given our cold climate, this is likely our final "full throttle" video of the season. We are going to keep in touch and will be back with more evergreen content next season. Honestly, we're still figuring out what our winter season looks like. But, again, we can't tell you enough about how much your support has meant to us this season. So, thank you for being here, giving us a like & subscribe and otherwise choosing us to help bring light to growing in cold climates and maybe even beyond!
Yay! You just are covering each component that can end of up costing so much money. As I think about the initial lay out of money to get started with the bucket system, potting soil is sure one of them! Glad to know it can be a one time cost! Could you do a video on the composting bins you have created and use?
We are planning a video on our overall composting process as it's pretty interesting. We use wood chips as our carbon component, given that it's our most plentiful carbon resource. For now, we do have an article on it: frostygarden.com/topics/composting-with-woodchips-in-subarctic/
I've been inspired by 'Ivan's Gardening Allotment UK' to use more containers in my mini garden allotment to supplement my raised beds. It has been very successful in its first year so increasing my containers now ready for next spring. Given the increase in compost costs here in the UK I have added more compost bins and will definitely reuse spent compost. Watching your video has reassured me and gives me great confidence that I am doing the right thing. So many 'experienced' gardeners out there advise to buy new compost for containers when you clearly buck that trend. So thank you.
Excellent point and one that should be placed under discretion! We do buy compost, but also make literally hundreds of gallons of our own compost every year. The way we generally rectify it is "professional practices" (and purchased compost), should generally be of high quality and weed free. Our own DIY blend? Much less precise and subject to weed seeds. But, independent of that is re-using our container garden soil. When we add compost back in, it's generally purchased varieties...but so long as you're willing to weed it, any compost will really do. We use our hundreds of gallons of home grown compost in beds that are literally designed to prevent weeds from growing. It's complicated and there is a middle ground you can find between the two philosophies.
@@frostygarden907 thanks for your comment. Whilst I have added spent compost to my compost bins I have plenty of full containers with no where to empty them. Rather than leave empty what are your thoughts on adding a green manure such as field beans to the containers? We do it with raised beds so perhaps we can do the same with our containers. Thanks Lee
I’ve watched several videos about saving container soil and none have given ideas where to store it. I’ll try making something similar to the bins you show. I live in the hot and arid southwest. I will probably have to water them occasional to break down the roots since we don’t get significant winter rains.
Wow, it's a good thing we're marching to our own drum, then! Thanks for giving us a watch and glad we hit your mark! Lots of ideas in how to store soil! Hardware cloth, even cheap chicken fencing, drawn into rounds like a makeshift composter is an option. Literally, any container will do. From totes to garbage cans. We used totes for years, until we found this that really works for us. Honestly, even a pile on your property will work. If the vessel is prone to take on water, we'd definitely recommend establishing drains. But that's about it, appreciate your comment!
I mix my container soil with 1/3 compost by volume and moisten with diluted urine. This allows me to create new additional soil every year to add to the raised beds or make a new container. The plants do fabulously well with this system.
Thank you so much for this information. I live in a cold climate and tried a lot more container gardening this year. As we close up for the winter I was wondering what to do with the container soil and if it could be reused next year. Thanks again.
Eghr... and someone throws *away* their container soil?! 😮 I mean, it literally never even accrued to me to throw potting soil away! I loved plants since I was a teen in an apartment and had windows full of house plants before having an actual (small) outdoor soil space to dig into now. I've been always reusing my soil, just adding fresh one to bigger pots when I replanted my house plants. The only thing I threw away was the thin top layer when it sometimes got salinated. I've never had this problem with outdoor pots. Composting used soil sounds great, although I personally don't have enough space to do it. I either add my container soil to my garden soil to lighten it up or just straight up reuse it in another container, without separating the old roots (critters who compost organics just crawl into the pots by themselves) but stirring & mixing it up with something new - coco, coffee grounds, sand, petite/vermiculite, garden soil (not necessarily all at once).
You might be surprised what people think! The question is usually phrased something like, "How do you afford so much soil every year?" But, I think what we're largely trying to bring to the table here is how to recycle large amounts of container garden soil. It's one thing to have a few totes of soil, another thing entirely to deal with 600+ gallons. Thanks for you comment & appreciate the watch!
I have always added used potting soil to my tumbling composter. It seems to quicken the breakdown of kitchen scraps and I get very dark rich compost. Do you just add the granular fertilizer to your stored soil very spring or do you mix in compost?
Certainly nothing wrong with adding soil to compost! We typically add any fertilizers in the spring. Ferts aren't beneficial to composting. Plus we do store our compost and adding ferts would risk them getting washed out by rainfall. So, we think adding them just prior to planting is best.
The only gardening I can do on my plot is in containers. I use grow bags and Greenstalk vertical planters for everything. Any plants I had that were disease free, I have placed that soil in bins for next year. You mentioned that you don't plant diseased plants in your soil you will overwinter. Am I right to assume that the soil that had my tomato plants in it, shouldn't be reused? Does the same apply for any plants that showed signs of powdery mildew? I assumed I would need to ditch that soil and replace it next spring. I'm curious to know if I am thinking about this correctly.
Good questions! This definitely gets into the "nuance" that's difficult to bring into a video like this. We don't get really concerned about several tomato diseases when it comes to soil storage. Tomatoes are prone to them, especially bacteria based ones, and those will often be killed off by our winter's cold temperatures. If you were in a warmer climate, without bacteria killing temps, it'd be a greater concern. So, things like leaf wilt and leaf spot aren't an issue. If we had a major issue with a fungal infection like blight, we might consider not storing the soil. But, a minor issue wouldn't be a show stopper. Our biggest concern would be for virus based disease, like mosaic virus, as viruses are quite hardy and can survive from season to season.
@@frostygarden907 Thanks for the info! I will study what blight looks like because I'm new to growing tomatoes and am not really sure which diseases they had. Leaf wilt and leaf spot seem right, but I want to be certain. Powdery mildew is fungal, right? So that would be another one not to reuse the soil for.
Sorry for the late reply, YT isn't great at telling us about follow up comments! Yes, powdery mildew is a fungal disease. That's one I might take a chance on, since it only affects the plant above the soil and doesn't affect the soil or roots itself. If you can cut the plant, remove and dispose of it, the soil "should" be safe. I'm way more worried about soil borne fungal disease, such as blight. Glad you're tracking! There's definitely nuance to this stuff and honestly, if you go into that detail, the video won't reach nearly as many people. Most people don't want true detailed information, just enough to get them by. So, that's why I'll happily spend time in comments with interested people!
I don't see any reason why you couldn't, the soil doesn't "need" to rest or anything. You might find the soil quite overrun by roots, which is generally where the overwinter composting process does significantly help. Worst case, you could alternate a spring/summer and fall/winter batch of soil somehow. Thanks for the comment!
Jeff! You’re talking to ME! I’m so DONE constantly buying soil😡 It just didn’t add up 😡… no pun intended 🥲 Thank you!!!!!!
Wonderful! We do still buy a lot of soil for starting our seeds every season, but it all eventually finds its way into our storage. But, nothing like our early days of establishing our gardens!
Thank you so much for stopping by and giving us a watch. Your support has been amazing and we are humbled that you recognize what we have to bring to the gardening space. Given our cold climate, this is likely our final "full throttle" video of the season. We are going to keep in touch and will be back with more evergreen content next season. Honestly, we're still figuring out what our winter season looks like. But, again, we can't tell you enough about how much your support has meant to us this season. So, thank you for being here, giving us a like & subscribe and otherwise choosing us to help bring light to growing in cold climates and maybe even beyond!
Thank you for your informative video & videos
You are welcome! Appreciate your kind comment & for checking us out!
Yay! You just are covering each component that can end of up costing so much money. As I think about the initial lay out of money to get started with the bucket system, potting soil is sure one of them! Glad to know it can be a one time cost! Could you do a video on the composting bins you have created and use?
We are planning a video on our overall composting process as it's pretty interesting. We use wood chips as our carbon component, given that it's our most plentiful carbon resource. For now, we do have an article on it: frostygarden.com/topics/composting-with-woodchips-in-subarctic/
Thank you
Buen programa y educativo.
Gracias. Aprecio tu amabilidad.
I've been inspired by 'Ivan's Gardening Allotment UK' to use more containers in my mini garden allotment to supplement my raised beds. It has been very successful in its first year so increasing my containers now ready for next spring.
Given the increase in compost costs here in the UK I have added more compost bins and will definitely reuse spent compost.
Watching your video has reassured me and gives me great confidence that I am doing the right thing. So many 'experienced' gardeners out there advise to buy new compost for containers when you clearly buck that trend.
So thank you.
Excellent point and one that should be placed under discretion! We do buy compost, but also make literally hundreds of gallons of our own compost every year. The way we generally rectify it is "professional practices" (and purchased compost), should generally be of high quality and weed free. Our own DIY blend? Much less precise and subject to weed seeds. But, independent of that is re-using our container garden soil. When we add compost back in, it's generally purchased varieties...but so long as you're willing to weed it, any compost will really do. We use our hundreds of gallons of home grown compost in beds that are literally designed to prevent weeds from growing. It's complicated and there is a middle ground you can find between the two philosophies.
@@frostygarden907 thanks for your comment. Whilst I have added spent compost to my compost bins I have plenty of full containers with no where to empty them.
Rather than leave empty what are your thoughts on adding a green manure such as field beans to the containers? We do it with raised beds so perhaps we can do the same with our containers.
Thanks
Lee
I’ve watched several videos about saving container soil and none have given ideas where to store it. I’ll try making something similar to the bins you show. I live in the hot and arid southwest. I will probably have to water them occasional to break down the roots since we don’t get significant winter rains.
Wow, it's a good thing we're marching to our own drum, then! Thanks for giving us a watch and glad we hit your mark! Lots of ideas in how to store soil! Hardware cloth, even cheap chicken fencing, drawn into rounds like a makeshift composter is an option. Literally, any container will do. From totes to garbage cans. We used totes for years, until we found this that really works for us. Honestly, even a pile on your property will work. If the vessel is prone to take on water, we'd definitely recommend establishing drains. But that's about it, appreciate your comment!
Thank you for sharing your experience.
You are welcome! Hope you found it useful. Thanks for the watch!
I mix my container soil with 1/3 compost by volume and moisten with diluted urine. This allows me to create new additional soil every year to add to the raised beds or make a new container. The plants do fabulously well with this system.
Excellent! That would definitely work! Thanks for sharing, appreciate the watch!
Thank you so much for this information. I live in a cold climate and tried a lot more container gardening this year. As we close up for the winter I was wondering what to do with the container soil and if it could be reused next year. Thanks again.
Awesome! Glad we caught you in time! This is definitely the way! Thanks for the kind comment & watch!
Eghr... and someone throws *away* their container soil?! 😮
I mean, it literally never even accrued to me to throw potting soil away! I loved plants since I was a teen in an apartment and had windows full of house plants before having an actual (small) outdoor soil space to dig into now. I've been always reusing my soil, just adding fresh one to bigger pots when I replanted my house plants. The only thing I threw away was the thin top layer when it sometimes got salinated. I've never had this problem with outdoor pots.
Composting used soil sounds great, although I personally don't have enough space to do it.
I either add my container soil to my garden soil to lighten it up or just straight up reuse it in another container, without separating the old roots (critters who compost organics just crawl into the pots by themselves) but stirring & mixing it up with something new - coco, coffee grounds, sand, petite/vermiculite, garden soil (not necessarily all at once).
You might be surprised what people think! The question is usually phrased something like, "How do you afford so much soil every year?" But, I think what we're largely trying to bring to the table here is how to recycle large amounts of container garden soil. It's one thing to have a few totes of soil, another thing entirely to deal with 600+ gallons. Thanks for you comment & appreciate the watch!
I have always added used potting soil to my tumbling composter. It seems to quicken the breakdown of kitchen scraps and I get very dark rich compost. Do you just add the granular fertilizer to your stored soil very spring or do you mix in compost?
Certainly nothing wrong with adding soil to compost! We typically add any fertilizers in the spring. Ferts aren't beneficial to composting. Plus we do store our compost and adding ferts would risk them getting washed out by rainfall. So, we think adding them just prior to planting is best.
The only gardening I can do on my plot is in containers. I use grow bags and Greenstalk vertical planters for everything. Any plants I had that were disease free, I have placed that soil in bins for next year.
You mentioned that you don't plant diseased plants in your soil you will overwinter. Am I right to assume that the soil that had my tomato plants in it, shouldn't be reused? Does the same apply for any plants that showed signs of powdery mildew? I assumed I would need to ditch that soil and replace it next spring. I'm curious to know if I am thinking about this correctly.
Good questions! This definitely gets into the "nuance" that's difficult to bring into a video like this. We don't get really concerned about several tomato diseases when it comes to soil storage. Tomatoes are prone to them, especially bacteria based ones, and those will often be killed off by our winter's cold temperatures. If you were in a warmer climate, without bacteria killing temps, it'd be a greater concern. So, things like leaf wilt and leaf spot aren't an issue. If we had a major issue with a fungal infection like blight, we might consider not storing the soil. But, a minor issue wouldn't be a show stopper. Our biggest concern would be for virus based disease, like mosaic virus, as viruses are quite hardy and can survive from season to season.
@@frostygarden907 Thanks for the info! I will study what blight looks like because I'm new to growing tomatoes and am not really sure which diseases they had. Leaf wilt and leaf spot seem right, but I want to be certain.
Powdery mildew is fungal, right? So that would be another one not to reuse the soil for.
Sorry for the late reply, YT isn't great at telling us about follow up comments! Yes, powdery mildew is a fungal disease. That's one I might take a chance on, since it only affects the plant above the soil and doesn't affect the soil or roots itself. If you can cut the plant, remove and dispose of it, the soil "should" be safe. I'm way more worried about soil borne fungal disease, such as blight. Glad you're tracking! There's definitely nuance to this stuff and honestly, if you go into that detail, the video won't reach nearly as many people. Most people don't want true detailed information, just enough to get them by. So, that's why I'll happily spend time in comments with interested people!
Can I use soii from summer for fall/ winter sow?
I don't see any reason why you couldn't, the soil doesn't "need" to rest or anything. You might find the soil quite overrun by roots, which is generally where the overwinter composting process does significantly help. Worst case, you could alternate a spring/summer and fall/winter batch of soil somehow. Thanks for the comment!
good to hear... I've been dumping my soil back in the garden and wasn't sure if it was a good practice, thanks
That's perfectly fine! Absolutely nothing wrong with it. As mention, you can even re-use it as container garden soil as well!