Hi all, I'm wanting to put in some tomato plants and such, into the containers I used for the spring garden. So my first step has been to try to refresh and improve the soil. This is what I've done:
Into a garbage bin:
1/3 full of homemade compost.
1/3 full of the soil mix from the old containers. (That was about 1:1 compost and topsoil, with a few handfuls of sphagnum peat mixed in).
perlite*
*The last batch of container mix was too heavy and easily saturated/compacted (live and learn), so this time I also added most of a bag of perlite, which was all I had on hand. It was probably about 6 qts.
Now it seems lighter, so I'm happy about that, but I'm wondering if it should be lighter still, and I'm a bit concerned that some of the soil dumped from the old containers smells slightly sour. Not too bad, but a little.
So, 2 questions:
1. Should I buy some more perlite or something else to lighten up the soil even more? Is there ever a problem with soil mix being too light? I think the bigger problem is usually too heavy when it comes to containers, right?
2. Is there something I could/should do about the slightly sour smell, or is it something that will resolve itself now that it's mixed in with the compost and perlite?
Okay, I think I sneaked an extra question in, but hope you can help. After being out of town for the last 3 weeks for the most part, I'm itching to get started on my fall garden!
Thanks!
Lise
containers and sour smell
Other people might have a much better way to do this, but you could try this if you're in a hurry. I recycle a lot of container soil, too and I sterilize it by putting it about 3 - 4" deep into a huge Rubbermaid tub, mixing it all up and adding whatever amendments I want, then wetting it pretty well. Then I cover it with clear plastic tucked in around the edges and let it sit in full sun. Every day, I stir it up, pat it down and cover it with plastic again. I haven't checked the temperature but at midday, it's too hot to hold your hand in there for long.
I sterilize small amounts of rooting or seed-starting mixes by putting the wet mix into a 2½ gallon zip-lock bag, squeezing out as much air as I can, then zipping it up and flattening it out. I lay that in the sun for a day on one side and a day on the other.
I haven't had any trouble with damping off, weeds, bugs or sour smell in the finished mixes since I started doing this. I don't add any garden soil to container mixes, so that might change the results. Good luck! :)
Elizabeth
Add some compost to help keep it from compacting. It helps drainage and breaks down slowly to enrich the soil as well. You can pour some peroxide in the sour smell and that will kill a lot of nasties. Throw in a handful of powdered sulfur as well. It will kill anything that might have fungus growing.
Thanks for the tips.
Quilter_gal, I do already have compost in the mix (about half), plus I did add another bag of perlite, so it *feels* pretty light at this point. Certainly lighter than the last go-round. I mixed it in a big plastic garbage bin and put the lid on and it's been cooking here in the San Antonio heat for a few days. Maybe that will do it!
Fool4Flowers. I thought I'd read somewhere about using hydrogen peroxide to eliminate the sour smell and I do have some -- I'll try to google to see what amount/ratio makes sense, but if you have an idea on that, please do share. Once I got everything mixed, the sour smell seems to have dissipated, but I'd like to try the peroxide anyway. And I'll look for powdered sulphur, too.
Lise
I meant to add that I appreciate your responding to this thread. I wasn't sure anyone would, since there are other forums for containers and vegetables. My dilemma was that the container forum seems to be mostly flowers, the self-contained vegetable forum seems to focus on earth boxes and coconut coir or other "systems" of one kind or another and the regular vegetable forums seem to be mostly about growing in beds. I'm sure they would all give a shot at the answer and I like all of the forums, but anyway, it felt like a toss-up where to put this question and I'm comfortable here since Texas gardeners seem to do a bit of everything and are generous with their advice.
So anyway -- that's why! (in case anyone was wondering!). LOL.
Thanks again.
Lise
I know what you mean. There are a few forums where I feel comfortable enough to post - the rest, I pretty much just read. This is one of my favorite forums. Even though I'm not a native Texan, I've been married to one for almost 30 years (gave birth to one, too! ;) and I'm very happy to finally be living back here. It's been my favorite state since I first saw it.
I'll bet that San Antonio sun will cook out any nasties hiding in your mix and you won't have any trouble with souring.
The peroxide dissipates so as long as you use it before you plant anything and water it a couple of times amounts aren't too terribly important. I just add about a 1/4 cup per watering can. When I grow cuttings in water in the window sill just a couple of drops work. You can also mix in some activated charcoal like you use in fish tank filters so absorb any remaining smell. They put that in the bottom of terrariums to keep the soil sweet.
Thanks, Fool4Flowers.
I think the sour smell dissipated on its own once I dumped out the old pots and mixed it in with things that drain. But I will keep that in mind.