Pots with weeds in?

DorsetMark

Hi All,

Newbie gardener here, trying to get back into things. The soil in my garden is not conducive to growing vegetables/flowers well, very weedy and full of rocks etc, so for a few years, we grew courgettes, cucumbers, peas, etc, in pots in the garden, and had good fun doing it. 

Usually at the start of the season, I'd buy more seeds, then a few 120l packs of soil and start fresh... however the pots i have at the moment are full of weeds from the winter... if the soil can sustain weeds, is it worthwhile me taking the weeds out, cleaning the soil best I can, and using that... I was going to buy some more soil but didn't know if it would just be a waste of money?

Appreciate your thoughts!

JennyJ

I replied on your other thread!

JennyJ

Repeating here in case you don't look back at the other one.

I think I would take out a layer from the top (including weeds and any weed seeds that haven't germinated yet) and mix some fresh compost in with what's left of the old. You might find that you need to feed a bit sooner than usual.

DorsetMark

Hi Jenny,

That's brilliant, thank you. I will definitely do that. I'll buy some tomorrow morning I think.

I feel like I've lost all my knowledge, so will spend a few weeks doing some research and getting ready, and will plant end of March/April to get it going hopefully...

Be a good way to keep me out of the house and focused on something thats for sure!

rachelQrtJHBjb

I have incredibly stony soil (gravel extraction going on next door) so for new areas I've adopted the no dog method pioneered by Charles Dowding. In a nutshell, you lay cardboard down and put soil/compost on top. Only the worms mix the soil below with the soil above, meaning the stones do not come to the surface. You should be able to cultivate shallow rooted crops this year and, if you keep adding compost, you will get to depth where you can plant root crops such as potatoes, parsnips. etc.

Fairygirl

I'd agree with @JennyJ. The soil will need some extra nutrition, so remove some of the old stuff and add some new. The old stuff can be used on beds/borders or in  compost bin, depending on what you have 

Obviously - it depends on the type of veg as to how much food they need, so just try and judge it depending on how well the plants are growing. It might be worth keeping note of what you do and when, and how well the crops do compared to 'normal' conditions.
Perhaps you could do a trial with seedlings/plants in a pot of completely  new  compost, and some of seedlings/the same plants in a 'remixed' one. 

war garden 572

you could heat treat the soil and kill the weed seeds
if you have an old metal pot and bbq  grill
put soil in pot wet it put the lid on and cook 1 hour
on grill. it can be done in kitchen oven but that could be messy.  
it is an old school technique I  learned from my ww2 garden studies. 

Dovefromabove

Heat treating the soil will destroy all the helpful invertebrates and beneficial bacteria 😢 

Buttercupdays

Could work out expensive too!

Fairygirl

I thought we'd moved on a wee bit since the 1940s....

Dovefromabove

Fairygirl said:

I thought we'd moved on a wee bit since the 1940s....

Some of us have … some like to keep reinventing the wheel. It takes all sorts.