I also leaf feed with a solution of 1 tbsp dish soap to a spray bottle of water to control soil gnats. So far so good! Sure, nitrogen is great for any plant, but caffeine will stunt the growth of your plants. After all, it IS a natural herbicide. Jump to How-To. Continue to Content. Tools Optional: Trowel. Get rid of any existing plants, roots or other debris in the soil. Sterilize your potting soil by leaving it in a black garbage bag during hot weather.
Leave this bag out for 4 to 6 weeks to effectively solarize it and get rid of threats including weed seeds and bug eggs. Put your sterilized soil on a tarp or large container where you can amend it. Use a trowel or gloved hands to fluff up the soil, make it less compact and encourage good airflow. Mix fresh potting soil or compost with the existing mix. Add fertilizer to the soil such as fish and seaweed or use an organic, slow-release product. Rinse them off and let them air dry before you load them into your trunk.
You may also want to give the store a call to tell them how many and what size seed trays you have, just to make sure they will take them off of your hands. Surely there is something you could do with them, other than throwing them away.
Clean them up really well and you can use them for craft supplies. As long as the supplies are larger than the drainage holes in the tray, you are all set! Though it may not be an elegant and crafty idea, you can use your used seed trays to catch your caged pet droppings.
Getting one or two more uses from them is better than chucking them straight into the bin. If you come up with a clever way to repurpose your seed tray, perhaps you will consider sharing your idea with other gardeners.
Manufacturers are often proud of this fact and will label the packing with bold lettering, making it easy to spot. If you have not found this label on your plastic seed tray packaging, you can find out if your seed tray is recyclable by checking the bottom or side for the internationally recognized recyclable symbo l stamped directly onto the seed tray itself.
Along with the symbol of the triangle formed from arrows, you will see a number. The number is a code that helps to differentiate different types of plastic. All recycling facilities do not accept the same materials. If your container has the recycling symbol, but you cannot find a number on it, that means that it is a material that is deemed an acceptable material at any recycling center.
To find out which ones your community collects, contact your city hall or your trash collection service. Click here for an article we have sharing more in depth information on recycling seed trays if you wanted to read more about it. Growing tired of buying and using plastic seed trays for your sowing needs?
Well, have we got the solution s for you! Creative, fun, and different. If you have ducks and rabbits but have always kept them separate, you may wonder if you could bring them When using a chemical agent, application and dwell time are only part of the process. After that, depending on the type of media involved, thorough drying might be necessary.
Bleach - 10 per cent solution for a minimum of 30 minutes followed by multiple rinses. Hydrogen peroxide - A diluted 35 per cent hydrogen peroxide solution is required for sterilization. This product is not found at your local drug store. It is sold through food service retailers and may be available through hydroponics outlets.
At high concentrations, H 2 O 2 is an effective bactericide, virucide, and fungicide. Always use safety precautions when using concentrated hydrogen peroxide. When using heat to kill pathogens, temperature and duration are critical factors in processes that can be pretty diverse:. Oven - Heating is a popular method for pasteurizing and sterilizing soilless potting mixes.
It will also kill seeds, insect eggs, and larvae. For example, pasteurization is effective at eliminating the fungus-like organism pythium , responsible for fusarium wilt , but is less successful at combating some pathogenic fungi known to cause damping-off and numerous forms of root and stem rot.
If you plan to heat treat media in your kitchen, be forewarned. The procedure can produce a sour odor that lingers. This only works for small batches of up to two pounds or so. Microwave pasteurizing has the advantage of being faster than oven treatment, and a microwave can be temporarily relocated to reduce odor problems. Sterilizing in the microwave can be problematic, however.
Microwave ovens heat quickly, but they sometimes leave cooler spots that are hard to detect or eliminate. Be aware that these methods are equal opportunity options. They kill beneficial as well as destructive organisms. Solar - Outdoor solarization is another way to pasteurize media that uses heat—in this case, sunshine. In this method, media is moistened, covered with clear polyethylene tarp material, and left to steam in the sun on a hot day.
You can test the temperature using a candy thermometer. Adding additional layers of tarp can increase the temperature somewhat. Covering the soil for a longer duration can be helpful, too.
One day is effective, but leaving the tarp in place for a week to a month can yield even more impressive results. To sterilize media outdoors, solarization should be coupled with a chemical agent. The big advantage to most modern growing media is that it is inert. It provides a blank or relatively blank slate. This makes the dirt much lighter to carry and move around.
You can either allow the soil to dry out in the pot or in a separate container like a trash can or wheelbarrow. We prefer using a wheelbarrow because it's easier to move around and more surface area is exposed to dry out faster. Another reason to remove the soil to dry out is in certain locations with freezing temperatures, planters can crack if left outdoors.
So by removing the soil, you are winterizing your planter at the same time. Step 2 - remove any old stringy roots and branches from the soil as possible.
Those are unlikely to decompose before the next time you need to use the potting soil. You can leave old leaves and other organic matter in the soil as that should decompose no problem. Step 3 - the following spring it is time to pasteurize the soil. The easiest way to do this is to put the soil into a black trash bag and lay it out during a hot day to solarize it. Getting the soil temp to degrees for at least 30 minutes should kill any old pathogens, insects and seeds and ensure the soil is now sterile.
According to Laura Pottorff, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Horticulturist and Plant Pathologist, you can pasteurize soil in the oven in batches at degrees F for a half hour at a time. We do not do this method though, because this process can stink up your house pretty fast with an earthy odor.
Step 4 - Time to add nutrients back into the soil. There are several things that can be done to help revitalize the soil. But that can still leave the soil deficient of nutrient content.
You can also add more compost to the soil. We recommend 1 part compost to 5 parts soil, to ensure the soil will still drain well. Step 5 - Fertilize once you plant new plants in the reused soil. This will ensure the plant gets enough nutrients throughout the year. A slow release fertilizer that lasts all growing season is the best option. Use according to directions, and be careful not to over-fertilize the new plants.
If you are growing plants in containers that come back each year, like an arborvitae, hydrangea or any other perennial plant, you can take some precautions to ensure the soil in those containers is good enough for those plants. Drainage and nutrients are the two main considerations in this scenario. Be sure to add fertilizer each year. A slow release fertilizer that lasts all growing season is the best bet. But liquid fertilizers also work just fine. More than likely the plants will need extra nutrients in order to grow properly.
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