Reusing your potting mix the following season

Originally Posted by Yak54

When I started growing in grow bags 3 yrs. ago I also wondered about re-using the Pro Mix from them the next season. Upon reading Epic Tomatoes written by our friend Craig, he says not to do it in the interest of keeping soil born disease from transferring to the soil mix. Well my whole reason for having to use grow bags is exactly because of soil disease in my in-ground garden plot that I used for more than 25 yrs to grow tomatoes. So I decided to not risk shooting myself in the foot and take the advice of someone I respect. And I can say I no longer struggle with bacterial disease in my grow bags. I know Pro Mix is expensive but my growing success is worth it. But to each his own.
Dan

I did this for years, too, but now I want to scale up the number of tomatoes I grow and I’m running out of places to dump soil that’s done for tomatoes and already been used for other crops. I’m to the point where mixing, sterilizing and reusing my own 5-1-1 is the only economical way to go. My homemade vermicompost will be enough for all the fruit trees and berries if I don’t use it on the tomatoes.