Updated at: 22-04-2022 - By: Sienna Lewis

He is a master gardener, plumber, and farmer who has written numerous books on the subject. He enjoys pest control, aquaculture, and beekeeping as topics for his articles.

It’s not as simple as most people think to get rid of big amounts of old potting soil, especially in urban areas. It’s because you can’t put soil in your garbage cans or dump it anywhere without a permit from your local authorities.

I’ll show you how to get rid of a lot of old potting soil in this article. If you have old soil that you don’t want to revitalize and reuse, read on to learn how to get rid of it.

When You Don’t Want Your Old Potting Soil Sitting Around

It’s not as simple as most people think to get rid of big amounts of old potting soil, especially in urban areas. This is due to the fact that soil cannot be disposed of in household waste containers or dumped anyplace without first contacting the appropriate authorities.

I’ll show you how to get rid of a lot of old potting soil in this article. Learn how to get rid of old soil if you don’t want to revive and reuse it.

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1. Take the Potting Soil to a Landfill

If you live near a landfill, you can dispose of your old dirt there. There are a variety of resources available to you, including online searches and word-of-mouth referrals from people you know.

Soil must be bagged and transported to the dumping ground in a pickup truck after you’ve found it. Soil disposal can be expensive at some landfills; be prepared to pay up.

2. Take It to a Landscape Service Provider

Landscapers are often looking for potting soil, so keep an eye out in your neighborhood. If your location has any plant nurseries or garden centers, you can use them to get rid of the dirt you no longer need.

If you have a huge lot of soil, these firms will only accept it. They also only accept soil that can be easily regenerated or that is suitable for their landscaping projects, which is why they only accept pure (not mixed) dirt. If your soil is exceptional and satisfies the specifications of a certain company, you may be able to get paid for it.

3. Get a Dumpster

I strongly advise renting a dumpster if you can afford it. It’s a quick and easy technique to get rid of leftover potting soil. Dumpster rental businesses and dumpsters capable of holding significant volumes of soil are widely accessible in urban areas.

To use a dumpster, all you have to do is fill it up with soil and wait for the rental company to come pick it up. A landfill or possibly a sale of the dirt is presumably what the corporation will do with it.

4. Hire a Soil Removal Company

Hire a dirt removal firm instead of hiring a dumpster. Because the loading will be handled by the business, this is not an issue. However, the company will charge you for the loading job, so it’s a costly option.

Once the removal charge has been agreed upon, the firm will be able to handle everything–from loading to disposal–on your behalf. If you have a lot of soil to get rid of, hiring a removal service is the best option.

5. Take It to a Soil Recycling Facility

It’s possible to recycle your old potting soil and get it back to its former glory. To be accepted by these facilities, your soil must be free of dangerous chemicals and pollutants. You may be charged a fee if your soil is tested for certain dangerous compounds by a facility.

Once you’ve located a recycling facility, all you have to do is drop off your soil there and forget about it. Afterwards, the company plans to rehabilitate the product and offer it to its customers.

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6. Sell or Give It Away

Getting ahold of free or cheap potting soil is a common goal for those interested in gardening. As a result, you can go out to your social network and see if anyone is interested in buying your old soil. You can also put it up for sale online in order to speed up the process of getting rid of it.

After finding a buyer for your soil, you have the option of either selling it or giving it away. In order to successfully grow plants in it, your recipient will need to rehabilitate the soil.

You can see that potting soil disposal is a little more involved than you might think. It will take some time and money, but I hope this post will help you get rid of that pile of unwanted soil in your yard.

Despite the author’s best efforts, this information should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional guidance.

One way to get rid of potting soil is to upcycle it into something new. Disposing of potting soil does not need tossing them away, contrary to popular assumption. Gardening products like discarded potting soil can still be beneficial, even in greenhouses and gardens where cleanliness is critical to the health of your plants.

Gardeners today have access to a wide range of information for DIY projects that might improve their growing experiences. For example, a variety of extensions offer advice on how to make potting media. You should be able to get the most out of your used potting soil with the help of this guide.

DO THIS INSTEAD OF DISPOSING USED POTTING SOIL

You might imagine that you can just throw away or compost your old potting soil. Disposing of them, on the other hand, isn’t exactly what you want to do. For a more productive garden, consider recycling your potting soil, which is also good for your plants.

UPCYCLING

Add back volume

It is necessary to replenish the volume of old potting soil that has been lost over time while recycling it. This is done by adding fillers and elements that can increase the soil’s ability to drain. Rice hulls, perlite, peat moss, and coir fiber are just a few of the materials that can be used.

Add kelp meal, alfalfa meal, or fish meal to improve soil structure. The substances in question increase the soil’s fertility, making it even more beneficial in the future. Knowing how to reintroduce soil bacteria once you’re satisfied with the volume is an important skill to have.

Add back microbes

It’s important to reintroduce bacteria to the used potting soil to ensure its fertility and prevent deficiency, as well as to increase its volume. As you may recall, the best plant food that microorganisms produce is humus, which is digested organic matter. The question is: how can you reintroduce these helpful microbes?

Compost can either be purchased or made from a variety of natural sources. However, relying on soil bacteria to maintain mineral balance in your recycled potting soil isn’t adequate. You must also put it to the test in order to make any necessary adjustments.

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Add back minerals

As a result of ensuring mineral balance, the soil pH is guaranteed to be within the ideal range at all times. In order to improve your potting soil, you can always use fertilizers, but you should only use organic ones. If you don’t, the microorganisms won’t benefit from them and plants will be more vulnerable to salty soil, which is harmful to them.

If you don’t want to use potting soil, you can recycle it in various ways. You can incorporate them into flower beds and gardens, or just use them to patch up bare spots. Reusing potting soil, on the other hand, comes with a number of dangers.

It is important to sterilize them before utilizing them in order to remove any hazardous bacteria. Put potting soil bags in the sun to dry, but don’t use soil that was previously home to a diseased plant.

HOW TO SAVE POTTING SOIL

In the spring, you can recycle potting soil by combining it 50:50 with a fresh batch. In addition, don’t forget to add compost or slow-release fertilizer to the medium to guarantee that it’s ideal for your goals. Before reusing an old bag of potting soil, make sure to break it up as much as possible with your hands.

Roots can easily develop from the recycled mix. In addition, make sure there are no critters or detritus in the potting soil before storing it for the winter.

WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN RECYCLING POTTING SOIL

Proper plant disposal

The plants will be much easier to remove if you let them die completely out of the containers before removing the soil. Toss the dead plants in your compost pile after shaking off the soil from their roots. In the long run, their decomposition will be a valuable resource.

Soil collection and amendments

Sift the dirt by hand or through a screen to remove any unwanted material. It’s possible to restore nutrients and structure to the old potting soil by adding peat moss, perlite and compost. To get rid of germs, properly mix the potting soil before baking it.

Baking the soil

Before baking the soil, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it for 30 minutes. Soil pathogens and other hazardous organisms are likely to be killed by this treatment. Be careful not to overheat the soil, as this might cause plant poisons to develop.

Storage

The pH level of the soil can be determined by cooling the soil and conducting a pH test. You may alter the pH level of your soil to the appropriate one for your plants by making the necessary adjustments. Before putting the soil away, make sure it is in a cold, dry location.

CONCLUSION

To prevent the spread of illness, properly dispose of any potting soil that previously housed a sick plant. Potting soil can be recycled if you know how to properly dispose of it. You can save pasteurized soil for use in the spring if it doesn’t contain pathogens and pasteurize it in the sun.

You must first learn how to recycle old potting soil before you can use it. As part of this process, the soil is replenished with volume and bacteria as well as minerals. Alternatively, you can use the old dirt as filler in the backyard or incorporate it into a garden or flower bed.