I live in South East Queensland. We have three large Birdies planters. they've been dormant for over a year and the soil has gone mostly hydrophobic. My question is, is it worth trying to rehydrate the soil with wetting agents? Or should I just start fresh? We're going to make three wicking beds out of the planters by lining them with pond liner. I know soil is expensive so I thought maybe someone has been through the same situation as this before…what did you do and did it work?
Thank you in advance 🙏🏻
by Thebestpassword
2 Comments
I should mention that the beds were previously used as Hugelkultur beds (not a good idea).
“planters by lining them with pond liner.” – Don’t do this, unless you are doing a wicking bed situation. You’ll just end up with soaking wed beds or a flaky pond liner in your bed.
1. Take out the weeds
2. Mix up the soil so its not a clump
3. Buy soil that matches the plants (i.e. veggies soil) you want to grow
4. Buy or put your own compost. Add in anything else you want – perlite, clay/sand, greens.
[https://www.milkwood.net/soil-type-calculator/](https://www.milkwood.net/soil-type-calculator/)
[https://www.milkwood.net/2021/09/22/how-to-build-healthy-soil-for-your-best-ever-veggies/](https://www.milkwood.net/2021/09/22/how-to-build-healthy-soil-for-your-best-ever-veggies/)
5. Fill, water and mix well