Kevin

I was thinking about the same thing recently. Thinking about their natural habitat - there is no one to p/u anything. I believe in keeping pots clean of any debris since it is much smaller environment, confined, very often inside (house or GH) and it is much easier to get pests-insects invasion or disease - likely no natural predators and different growing conditions.

But when reusing gritty, I do the same - pick up larger roots, and do not worry much about small ones. They end up being the organic component of my mix (very small :). I do soak the mix thoroughly with hot water and/or some bleach and rinse well.

How do you handle it? Anyone else has suggestions?

I saw the roots as a small organic component as well.

Honestly I didn't even bother washing or bleaching my mix. If it looked fine and the plant was healthy, I just reused right away as if it were new.

It's a little different if the pot had pest troubles (like mealybugs), then I would microwave the mix before reusing it. Haven't had that problem in a long time though.

Not really sure if it's the best practice, but that's my method! Would also like to hear what others are doing. =)

i am probably the laziest gritty mix-user ever (i neither rinse nor sift my mix...oops) so I just kinda pick out whatever is big enough to notice and pick out and then back in the pot it goes. i'm probably not the person to model your use after, but i haven't had any problems yet.....

I am so glad that someone asked this question, and particularly glad to see that several of you long-time experts have voiced the same concern. I have wondered about it for awhile. I learned about gritty mix here on GW and have been using it for nearly two years now. But -- it's expensive and tedious to make and I do want to re-use it when possible. I always wondered about those broken root fragments. I too pick them out as much as possible. I don't bleach, but I do wash and flush heavily in a kitchen strainer (which seems to eliminate tiny fragments) and then lay the mix in the sun to dry. Like others, I consider the tiny root fragments my "organic material." So far I haven't seen any problem from re-using it. But thanks for all the info and advice. It's reassuring.

If you let used gritty mix dry out COMPLETELY, then pour it into a tub of water, the a very large % of the organic fraction (bark & roots) will float to the top so you can skim with a strainer. You might want to rough it up a little with your hands to break any root connections to heavier soil particles that will make the roots sink along with the particles they're attached to.

Al

Crenda - I did a similar thing, but in my tub. Just shook it a bit and then grabbed the root pieces that were at the top of my mix. Now that spring has started, I think lots of us are going into repotting mode.

What was your intention with washing with hot water? After half a year to a year of watering, I think my mix ends up being much cleaner than it was before it went into the pot! Haha.

K8 - Sift your mix! But if it's working well then don't bother. =)

I never rinse my mix either, seems like such a chore. Sedimentation in my pots hasn't become problem yet? At least, that's how I've justified in keeping with the lazy way.

Robin - Fully agree about all the effort and cost that goes into making these mixes. Good to hear it's holding up well after two years!

Al - That's a really good idea. Do you end up replacing the bark (after X years) or typically reuse it again? Just curious.

I'd also like to mention that the idea of not repotting plants in gritty mix for several years now seems a bit far-fetched to me. I can see it for some sensitive species like Mesembs or maybe Adromischus and possibly trees, but the vast majority of my plants have become root-bound in a mere 6 months!

Are you all experiencing this as well?

I often leave plants in the same mix for 3 years, sometimes even longer if it's an old, slow growing bonsai.

I don't reuse the gritty mix - just make new. For the last 15 years, I've been able to buy prescreened fir bark in 1/8-1/4" size that required only a quick shake over insect screening to rid it of dust, but my source dried up and alternate sources want so much for fir bark I can't make myself pay the asking price. So now I'll be screening pine bark and Turface for my mix. I'm lucky in that I can have the guys at work screen it on slow days during the winter ..... which is part of the reason I don't blink at using new mix instead of reusing used soil.

Al

@ al-- see, if i could get my students to do the screening, i would! but i'm not sure their parents would appreciate my using them for menial labor....

K8, play it up as a character building excersise with a dash of self discipline, maybe something about sustainability and horticultural education. Maybe you can even get grant funding. ;)

That's precious, Kim.

I own a glazing contracting business, so the guys that work for me have to be good mechanics and skilled at problem solving, so it doesn't take them long to figure out screening Turface on slow days and getting paid is better than going home and not getting paid. The real reality is, we try hard to keep from having to cut hours when it's slow in the winter (we havent for the last 5 or 6 years). One way we do this is by finding things for the guys to do that we can't afford to have them to do when we're busy. The shop gets a good cleaning, the showroom might get repainted or floors stripped and waxed, equipment gets torn down and parts replaced, Turface gets screened ......

Al