Wow so many different choices to planting in pots and adding soil amendments It’s mind boggling what to do..Ues a I agree totally on the raised beds 🆚 pots..I started with fiber pits this year and want to save the dirt for next year I guess I’ll add my Tomato pots dirt to the raised bed for other veggies with Compost next year and start the Tomato’s next year in new potting soil mix with compost and a little bit of Worm Castings some the price of a 10lb bag is thru the roof these days This is May 30, 2020 I ran into this old post trying to figure out what to do with renewing my Soil of my Tomatoes 5 of them in 15 gallon fiber pot’s Only to learn I can’t reuse any of the Tomatoes dirt again for 2 Years OUCH!! This is going to be expensive growMing Tomatoes in fiber pots I took them out of the raised bed this year Because in 2019 we got so much rain the Tomatoes got diseases and died I even planted my entire garden this year from seed because of that bad season..I wish I could find a cheaper way to reuse the dirt from the tomatoes What if I use the Tomatoes dirt in the fiber pots with fresh compost and grow Kale or Collards etc. In them over the fall and winter or Spinach Lettuce etc. Could I then reuse the soil for the tomatoes by adding a good Compost to the soil with some worm castings?? Thx for any advice if anyone is still following this OP God Bless & Take Care Sheila

The soil in our area is heavy clay, with a pH of about 8.2. I've amended with many things, but it was the peat in the end, that was able to keep the clay from re-clayifying :o) . In other words, the very fact that it doesn't break down easily, can be useful. I have been able to grow root crops as a result, which is very useful ... because in addition to soil issues, our community garden has rat and mice issues. The rodents tend to stay away from roots unless they are really, really hungry. So although I cannot grow tomatoes there, I can grow virtually any root crop. Since peat is acidic, it helps (marginally) with our pH issues. Perhaps a lasagna bed without peat, on top of the clay, would have been a better choice, but I am not at all regretful for using peat moss. I haven't looked into the sustainablity of using peat. When I lived in Indiana, and in Wisconsin, I never used the stuff, but the soil was very, very different. Differences in soil type may be one reason that there are a diversity of equally valid opinions on the use of peat. The man I bought the last bale from, called it "the worse junk you can put in your garden." The two men I spoke with later (a master gardener in the area and a nursery attendant) both recommended it. My experience has been good with peat. As far as advice: I'd probably pull out the dry pockets altogether, bag them, and save them for use as needed down the road - say when your friend wants to put in a blueberry bush or something. Then mix in as suggested, so that it will not form dry pockets.

To those who don't do X because of global warming: That's great. However you need to realize there is nothing YOU can do that doesn't involve polluting in some way. If you use electricity you are polluting. If you produce waste, you are polluting. If you drive a car, your polluting. If you buy gas, you are polluting by supporting petroleum companies. If you buy groceries from the store, you are contributing to pollution via product transportation. If you exhale you are polluting. Lastly my favorite, if you are using more than one square of toilet paper per sitting, you are murdering vasts amounts of trees. Now I'm all for conserving and taking care of the Earth. I love nature (obviously otherwise I wouldn't be here at this forum). The point is, unless your living as a nomad in a forest somewhere you really aren't going to help the pollution problem. What needs to be done is pressuring our governments to invest in and use renewable and waste free resources. Until then bickering about using a gas lawn mower to mulch leaves does nothing. Telling people to use one square of toilet paper does nothing, the trees are already chopped and refined into toilet paper in the shelves of grocery stores. None of this stuff will change until fossil fuels and non-renewable resources are banned and discontinued.

don't forget to use a layer of shredded papers in there too - better there than in the landfill. Almost any office will give you their bags of shredded paper. Also check with coffee shops/restaurants and ask them to save their coffee grounds for another layer - you can use about anything. Hunt around for leaves from last fall and so on - just anything you can get your hands on will be wonderful. Good luck from Michigan!