How To Re-Use Old Potting Soil! (Step By Step Guide)

How To Re-Use Old Potting Soil! (Step By Step Guide)

Step-by-step guide how to re-use old potting soil! Do you reuse your soil? What fertilizer and/or amendments do you add into it? Let me know in the comments section below!

Soil testing podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2anA_SLm1I

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50 Comments

  1. @PapaDave24661 on April 14, 2024 at 8:20 am

    I think I over fed on my last run and fried my plants. Should I do a flush before reusing? Soil has been dry for months. Or is it best to toss it. Thank you in advance.



  2. @cowboyblacksmith on April 14, 2024 at 8:20 am

    JMS, just look it up and utilize it. Why don’t more people know about this? You use native bacteria and fungal growth from rich native soil that are adapted to your particular region and multiply it exponentially. Bio char, yet another more permanent way of making excellent soil and you make it free. So many videos on how to improve soil that need expensive store bought stuff aren’t helping the gardening community much. Seaweed if you’re near an ocean is another great addition, free and chock full of micro nutrients and minerals, even fermented into a concentrate. Animal manure, remember that? Leaf mold every Fall can be made for free. Bokashi composting, chock full of bacterial wonder. Vermicomposting, do that too. Nature doesn’t shop at big box stores to improve the soil, you don’t need to either. I’m broke but probably have better soil now than all of these commercially added amended soils. And yes, I even pee in my stuff, everything gets utilized and for free.



  3. @DiscGolf_Viking on April 14, 2024 at 8:22 am

    Are you looking for a certain temp range when doing this?



  4. @blizzard_of_Za on April 14, 2024 at 8:22 am

    Been going on year 7 of reusing my soil. I do add worm castings and compost along with pro mix and bumper crop every other year I’ll dump it in mortar tub and mix in new soil and shrimp meal and crab meal. Along with some rose and flower mix from down to earth. Along with 1 oZ of myco. Let sit in 0pots for 10 days or more to cook and the plants get better and better. The soil get fermented fruit and plant juice 1 x a week and some microbial boost ie mikrobs or recharge 1-2 x a month and alway after I top dress with shrimp and crab meal in early flower after that it just ferments and molasses water. Last summer I only feed. My plants 1 time in early august and they were ripe and beautifully faded by mid October some earlier some later. I will always be loyal to the soil I’ve grown in coco and had to PH up and down and that was a pain In ass and the smoke was dogshit.



  5. @doingwhatiwant5959 on April 14, 2024 at 8:23 am

    Can u reuse soil if u use Fox Farm nukes?



  6. @kylehansen639 on April 14, 2024 at 8:23 am

    Dude thank you for all you do. The consistency and the info has been and will be amazing. Good work man



  7. @roywarriner8441 on April 14, 2024 at 8:25 am

    I re use soil, I mix one third fresh pro mix hp one third fresh worm castings and one third used soil, I reamend with rice hulls, Gaia Green, biochar and a bit of neem seed meal. I reuse soil in my veg containers in summer.



  8. @captain7767 on April 14, 2024 at 8:28 am

    I like to add a few ammendments, perlite, keep it fluffy. I pur banana peels in the soil when I refill the pots

    I also add two hand field Red Wiggler Worms to each 20 Gal pot.
    I will put avocado, banana, cantaloupe. Whatever I have just under surface to feed the worms.
    I never germ8nate or transplant any more. Just push seed direct into ply.
    Have to know how to water that way.
    Keep seed area moist
    When sprouted…..a few drops on stem. The
    The next dat go about 1 inch away n make a circle of water to encourage roots to stretch.
    I use 2 liter sprayer to keep top of pot moist
    After they get about 1” all I feed is Tea = chicken poop, worm poop, compost…..molasses



  9. @swigmoneyy3706 on April 14, 2024 at 8:30 am

    @Mr.grow it u da fuckn 🐐 GOAT



  10. @ownsil4728 on April 14, 2024 at 8:30 am

    Could I use the same compost I use in my garden for my grow?



  11. @deliasaboya4520 on April 14, 2024 at 8:30 am

    I do exactly what you did but I don’t remove the soil, I leave it in the pot



  12. @deadizbetter on April 14, 2024 at 8:30 am

    If soil is only good for 1 use then the planet would be fucking lifeless. The shit people actually believe. Pit the damn beneficial stuff back into the soil ffs



  13. @blizzard_of_Za on April 14, 2024 at 8:32 am

    No till top dress I don’t even take out old plant stump. It breaks down and feeds



  14. @mikegodwin9852 on April 14, 2024 at 8:32 am

    Farmers been reusing the same soil since….. Forever



  15. @greasemonkey1880 on April 14, 2024 at 8:33 am

    I had a fungus gnat issue on my last grow. I have a black rotating compost bin I’m going to dump it in as an experiment to see if the summer sun heat will kill off the little menace. If it works out, I’ll amend it, gets some bio back in and rerun it.



  16. @A.Jay.86 on April 14, 2024 at 8:35 am

    So if I used liquid nutrients doni flush it until ppm is the same as my tap water and then add amendments and let lit for 2 weeks?



  17. @juliehewes8982 on April 14, 2024 at 8:36 am

    Great video thanx for the lesson on reusing my soil



  18. @PinewoodFarms11 on April 14, 2024 at 8:37 am

    How you did it is the best way. No till makes no sense. Mixing all the fertilizer in thoroughly and breaking up all the roots is the way to go. That soil will be as good as new



  19. @Midiman54 on April 14, 2024 at 8:37 am

    I never throw my soil out, I pretty much do a simple blend like yours Chris except🎉 I add a neem meal, humic acid and crustacean meal. Love your show and much thanks for what you do for the community.



  20. @markc3197 on April 14, 2024 at 8:38 am

    Love your channel your sub count is no measure of how valuable your info is



  21. @atnupacas on April 14, 2024 at 8:39 am

    So do you add perlite and worm castings every time you re-use the same soil? Does perlite disintegrate or something after each grow?



  22. @CharlesMeador-gp4bd on April 14, 2024 at 8:39 am

    Thanks for all the info ! I empty bags. Add 3 gal used soil 1 gal coco coir, 1 gal my compost (could replace with 1 gal used soil)10-15 lbs worm castings, 1 gal peat moss, 1 gal perlite, 10 tbs seabird guano, (I usually use bat guano 0-5-0 16 tbs but all I could find at the time was the seabird guano 0-11-0. Dolomite lime as need for PH and Cal- mag. I fill bag with what is close to subcool’s super soil 1/2 way then this soil the 2nd (top) half. Great smoke just a little behind on yield. MAKES 7-8 gal of soil.



  23. @loverboy18k on April 14, 2024 at 8:41 am

    Interesting ive never heard of cooking the soil to help create life before you started but im an indoor to outdoor grower and im just dipping my hands on indoors and i might be applying this technique one year now.



  24. @christianbelonga7402 on April 14, 2024 at 8:41 am

    i love to reuse soil, it seems a waste to toss it, 3 runs same soil!



  25. @sparky8823 on April 14, 2024 at 8:41 am

    I toss my old potting mix in the outdoor garden for my pepper and tomatoes



  26. @wizzz88 on April 14, 2024 at 8:42 am

    would it be cheaper to just buy new soil, anybody?



  27. @MrGrowIt on April 14, 2024 at 8:43 am

    Do you reuse your soil? What fertilizer and/or amendments do you add into it?



  28. @sunnybeachwalks4k2022 on April 14, 2024 at 8:44 am

    It’s fine to re use soil if you haven’t got a root ball and most of the soil isn’t touched like in a fabric pot



  29. @lorenzoayala3352 on April 14, 2024 at 8:44 am

    What kind of straw should I buy ?



  30. @garrettbusby2684 on April 14, 2024 at 8:44 am

    Ik like 10 people that would have stopped watching the moment you said moist lmao this is very useful info people waste so much money not reusing soil



  31. @derikforreal on April 14, 2024 at 8:46 am

    It was an honor and privilege to meet you at the Redman and Methodman concert/after party. I greatly appreciate all the education. It has helped change the trajectory of my life. Thank you so much 🙏🏼 God bless.



  32. @413TomaccoRoad on April 14, 2024 at 8:48 am

    Good info. Woo hoo!



  33. @growingwithjoy on April 14, 2024 at 8:52 am

    Any of my old indoor soil goes directly into my compost bin & I use for my outdoor plants which always tend to need far more soil than indoor plants anyway 😁



  34. @Deimian22 on April 14, 2024 at 8:53 am

    Was the reused soil fertilized organically or minerally? Is the process the same for both organic cultivation and mineral?



  35. @markmanning9163 on April 14, 2024 at 8:53 am

    I always reuse my soils.. I’ll have 100 lts of soil from the last grow..all I do is let the soil dry out and remove the roots from the last grow..first I’ll add (25lts of organic potting mix) then I add ( 1/3 worm castings 33lts ) then (1/8 bone meal 12lts ) (1/16 garden lime aka calmag 6lts) and ( 1/8 perlite 12lts ) and turn it every 3rd day for 6 weeks..and I normally keep doing the same for 5 to 6 grow cycles



  36. @anonymousfx5254 on April 14, 2024 at 8:53 am

    Soil is only good for 1 growing period and then you should throw it away? – Seems like a good marketing move made by companies selling soil. In reality as long as you add new nutrients into it, it’s good to go. You don’t see soil being replaced in nature annually and yet it’s giving good results year by year. + for those whose concerns are – Roots from old plant, well roots are absorbing Nitrogen so they are good for futures growth anyway, especially given that Nitrogen is vital for vegetative stage of growth.



  37. @Alex-ej3by on April 14, 2024 at 8:54 am

    Can I do this on a smaller scale with a plastic storage box? Just mix it regularly for air?



  38. @MasSmokes on April 14, 2024 at 8:55 am

    Is it completely necessary to let it cook or can I just amend, plant, and water as necessary?



  39. @Sidebranches on April 14, 2024 at 8:57 am

    I have a 2 year process for a killer results 😊



  40. @anothervisionprod on April 14, 2024 at 8:58 am

    Love the insightful video as always



  41. @mikehancho1613 on April 14, 2024 at 9:00 am

    Really need some help here so my last run it seems like i got tobacco mosaic virus maybe?? or something like that that sould i toss all my soil and pots? Online it says it will go away outdoors after a year or two



  42. @sgransar on April 14, 2024 at 9:03 am

    I hate hydrophobic soil! I think soil should get along with water. @1:50.



  43. @coreybrown964 on April 14, 2024 at 9:03 am

    Tryna figure that one out now. Right On



  44. @rickjimenez9014 on April 14, 2024 at 9:05 am

    Great video. I’m learning alot from these videos.
    Keep it up.



  45. @solekickergaming5081 on April 14, 2024 at 9:05 am

    when re-using my old soil i have been adding my home made compost to old soils from the year before and then keeping the mix in 27 gal covered containers that i moisten and leave in the dark for weeks , sometimes months . sometimes i will add manure to the mix when i put it into pots along with perlite and have recently been using worm castings as well at about a 1/5 ratio . i rarely use any nutrients during veg if at all and mostly concentrate on nutrients during flower at low concentration. so far , so good.



  46. @mattg4934 on April 14, 2024 at 9:08 am

    Is cooking necessary since your amendments dont look hot ie didnt see bone meal or manure



  47. @craigversheck7835 on April 14, 2024 at 9:10 am

    This was an interesting video. I was thinking about recycling last years soil with some new base soil, and possibly some "ammendments".
    I did notice that my root structure was very dense (but not circling the pot), evenly spread out, dense, and lively. I was rather shocked after harvest and took a look at the roots.
    This observation gave me great knowledge about what was working with how I grew.
    With that being said, I started to think about what roots from harvested plants may contain within them? And if they’d help or hurt the next batch of soil using the old soil and roots?



  48. @kpwaterfield on April 14, 2024 at 9:10 am

    What did you mean by Cooking it?



  49. @destinyblankenship8438 on April 14, 2024 at 9:11 am

    I use down to earth and I make a super soil



  50. @kennyrobman7390 on April 14, 2024 at 9:19 am

    The roots from the previous plants are okay to leave in it ?