How it looks from my perspective: If the decision to reuse container soils is an economic one, who can disagree with the decision? If you aren't concerned about expense and are willing to go to some minimal extra effort to build a good soil, that is what I would elect to do. Here's why: Container gardeners need to direct primary focus to insuring that the soil they are using will remain able to provide adequate air to roots for the expected life of the planting. Along with the ability of the soil to hold ample air, comes good gas exchange and drainage for rootage. All the other major cultural variables affecting growth are easily manipulated. Water, nutrients, sunlight, and to some degree, temperature can all be controlled easily. Aeration cannot and its consideration is as important as water and light to plant vitality. The breakdown or collapse of soil structure occurs at an exponential rate. If we imagine the usable life of a peat based container soil from a bag, it deteriorates from a reasonably good soil when fresh to unusable after 2 years. It's not unreasonable to expect the soil to lose at least 20-25% of its air holding ability by the end of the first growing season. In the first half of the second growing season, it will lose about another 25% of its air holding ability and in the second half of the second year, near total collapse is likely as the remaining 50% is lost. Though this is an example of an imaginary soil, it is very close to what actually occurs. Another way of saying it is: Even though a soil might be performing acceptably at the end of the first growing season, you should expect a rapidly accelerating collapse in the subsequent year. So, if you use a soil for 1 year and mix it 50/50 with a fresh, similar soil, 50% of the soil will have totally collapsed by the end of the growing season, and the other 50% will have lost about 25% of its ability to hold air. If a soil is not holding enough air, it's holding too much water. Water and air retention vary inversely in soils and when one increases, the other decreases. When soils hold too much water, you have to hope that the plant will use enough water or that enough water evaporates to prevent root rot issues and even minor cases of over-potting can mean terminal misfortune. At risk, I speak out often against the use of compost in container soils. It supplies nearly nothing in nutrients and clogs the soil macro-pores container gardeners should covet. Containers are not gardens and much of what works in the garden can cause difficulties in containers. Additional possible considerations are carry-over of fungal spores, the possibility/probability of insects in various stages (eggs, larvae, etc) and carbonate precipitates from your watering water. A slow soil will also have accumulated fertilizer salts and possibly insecticides that you may have applied and forgotten about last season. I suggest that container soils be turned into the compost pile or garden and fresh soil used in its place unless monetary considerations prohibit. Al

Hello, Jodi! Great to read your posts :-) Al, thanks for posting up your observations and reflections. This year, my Sun Gold container tomato (15-gallon) seems to be larger than ever. I'm using fresh 5-1-1, of course, so that's no surprise. Lime, generous Osmocote up front, a couple treatments of Foliage Pro, and I haven't done much other than water every 3 - 4 days. With my hot peppers in containers, I haven't gotten the results that I did last year, but I think that is mostly due to the fact that I didn't start my seeds until the third week of March! Thus, my plants are quite a bit smaller in stature, and I expect that production will be lower as well. One other variable, however, is the particular 5-1-1 that I used this year. This year, I used one full part of peat-based potting mix (Foxfarm's Ocean Forest product). Last year, I used one half part of potting mix and one half part of Turface for binding and moisture retention. Anyhow, given the difference in seed-starting dates, I won't be able to solidify any conclusions - but I will be returning to the Turface mix...and starting seeds earlier... next season. Josh

Good one Sam! Patsy it isn't so much the plant that is the problem it is the planter itself, the Topsy Turvey. As already mentioned any plant will curve up toward the light no matter what the manufacturer of the planter may say or show in their grossly misleading commercials. But if you are going to use one of them then one of the dwarf varieties of plants works the best. Consider: New Big Dwarf, Husky Cherry Red, Totem or Patio. Transplants for several of those are commonly available. If you want a bigger plant and can provide supports for the branches then go with one of the "bush" varieties like Bush Champion or Homestead. Dave

Your reused soil could be a problem. You can reuse soil but it is usually nutrient depleted and needs amendments, and also it can hold pathogens and larvae. If you reuse soil you should sterilize it by dowsing it well with a few kettles of boiling water, then covering with a heavy blanket or tight fiitting lid to hold in the steam for as long as possible. Let it cool for a day and then it's good to go. A dose of granular plant food (by package directions) will likely be needed. Here is a link that might be useful: Hornworms and HummingBird Moths from ColoState Ext.