After summer garden cleaningWe will keep the containers for our fall planter, but what do we do with the soil?
We can take advantage of the land from our summer crops. It is enough to observe it and follow some basic recommendations.
The first thing to do is empty the pots on a clean surface. I usually use sheets of newspaper that I place on the terrace table. It is easier for me to clean up the remains later by collecting the paper.
The appearance of the land will be decisive in knowing what we must do to reuse it.
If the earth it is dry and forms lumps, we can reuse it. It does not matter if the surface part has a grayish appearance. To do this, you have to undo the clumps that have formed with your hands. If the soil is in good condition, they can be dissolved like sugar cubes, into granites, and will not leave brown spots on the hands.
If the earth has roots and remains of leavesWe will remove them with our hands or with the help of a small rake. It is not necessary to remove the finest roots.
In both cases, the earth is then moistened with a little water and covered with plastic (we can put it back in the pot or put in a bag) and left in the sun for a week to kill the fungi or larvae. that I might have. If your place of residence is no longer sunny at this time of year, there is a homemade trick: put it in a covered container and disinfect it in the microwave for 3 minutes at maximum power.
When we go to plant, we will moisten it again and add a little universal substrate and worm castings as fertilizer.
If the earth has a clay brown color and stain our hands, it will trap the roots of future plants and will not let them breathe. To recycle it, we need to dry it and leave it looser. To do this, we leave it in the pot, water it with boiling water, cover it with a plastic wrap and leave it in the sun for 10 days, until we see that the earth is dry.
If the earth has small insectsBefore using it, we have to disinfect it. The method is similar to the previous one: we add boiling water and also leave it covered in the sun until these bugs disappear (minimum, 10 days). If they don’t disappear, we won’t be able to reuse this land.
In both cases, when we go to plant, it will be necessary to add a little perlite or vermiculite to aerate it, a new universal substrate and the corresponding part of worm humus or manure.
If the plants that we have previously had in those pots have suffered any diseaseWe should not use that soil, especially if the disease of the plant has been due to some type of fungus.
More information – Cleaning the summer garden
