Reusing Living Soil: How to Re-amend Soil for the Next Cycle

In this guide: No-till · Low-till · Full-media mixing · Amendments · Re-amend steps · Soil testing

What makes living soil stand out from other growing systems is its ability to be reused cycle after cycle, season after season. Reusing soil can reduce the need to buy fresh growing medium after every grow. The key to keeping it healthy and productive over multiple cycles is maintaining a balanced supply of nutrients and organic matter.

Although living soil contains a diverse reserve of nutrients and organic matter, plants draw on these resources as they grow. Replenishing what the soil needs helps maintain its fertility and biological activity.

Re-amending living soil helps restore nutrient balance, support microbial activity and prepare the growing medium for the next cycle. The right approach depends on your soil volume and growing container.

Starting fresh instead of re-amending used soil? Explore our Living Soil Potting Mix. Still deciding between compost and a growing medium? Read our Compost vs Living Soil guide.

The three main techniques for re-amending living soil

There are three main approaches: no-till, low-till and full-media mixing. Each has its place. The best choice depends on your soil volume, growing container and how thoroughly the amendments need to be distributed.

1. No-till: top-dressing

No-till involves applying amendments to the soil surface and allowing moisture, microbial activity and natural decomposition to incorporate them over time. By minimising disturbance, this approach helps preserve soil structure and established biological networks.

Surface applications may not distribute amendments evenly throughout the root zone, particularly in smaller containers or under intensive cultivation.

2. Low-till: amending the top layer

Low-till involves gently incorporating amendments into the top six to ten inches (15–25 cm) of soil, where roots, organic matter and biological activity are often concentrated. This improves contact between amendments and soil while leaving the deeper layers relatively undisturbed.

For many growers, this offers a useful balance between even amendment distribution and preserving soil structure. Incorporating amendments disturbs the upper layer, so work gently and avoid turning more soil than necessary.

This approach is particularly suited to re-amending larger pots and beds between growing cycles. It lets you incorporate amendments where they are most needed without unnecessarily disturbing the full soil volume.

3. Full-media mixing: amending the entire soil volume

Full-media mixing involves emptying the container and thoroughly mixing amendments throughout the growing medium before returning it to the pot. This distributes amendments throughout the soil, making it a practical option for smaller volumes of 30 litres or less, where surface application or mixing only the upper layer may not provide sufficient distribution.

Although more labour-intensive and disruptive, full-media mixing can give a more consistent result when replenishing smaller containers between cycles. It also gives you an opportunity to assess the condition of the soil before re-amending.

What to use to re-amend living soil

You can use individual amendments to create your own blend or choose a pre-mixed re-amendment blend. Both approaches have advantages, depending on your experience and how much control you want over the process.

Individual amendments give you more flexibility to tailor your approach to the needs of your soil or chosen plant. This requires an understanding of what each amendment provides and how different inputs work together.

Pre-mixed blends offer a convenient alternative, combining multiple amendments in carefully formulated products. Our Replenish Mix, Veg Mix and Flower Mix are formulated to work with our living soil, with options for replenishing soil between grows and supporting plants through vegetative growth and flowering. Each blend reflects years of research, development and real-world growing experience.

Individual amendments offer more control, while pre-mixed blends simplify the process and may reduce costs. Whichever approach you choose, the goal is the same: replenish what your soil needs to maintain a healthy, productive living-soil ecosystem.

How to re-amend living soil

When re-amending used soil with our Replenish Mix, we recommend 50–100 g per 45 litres of soil, depending on the demands of the previous crop and the condition of the soil.

Observing your previous crop can help you decide how much to replenish. Consider its overall health, growth and whether it began to fade towards the end of the cycle, which may indicate declining nutrient availability. Larger, more demanding crops will generally require more replenishment, while soil from a healthy crop that maintained its vigour throughout may need a lighter application. Fading can also result from causes other than nutrient depletion.

Use these observations as a guide rather than automatically applying the same amount after every cycle. Once you have chosen an appropriate quantity, select a re-amendment technique suited to your soil volume and incorporate the mix accordingly.

Soil testing

For professional growers, soil testing offers a precise way to guide re-amendment. By analysing nutrient levels and other key properties, testing can help identify what has been depleted and what remains available. This allows amendments to be tailored to the soil’s needs, reducing the risk of over- or under-amending and supporting more consistent conditions across successive cycles.

Testing has a cost, so it may not be practical for smaller-scale hobby growers. For these growers, assessing the condition and performance of the previous crop can provide a useful guide when deciding how much to replenish.

We offer soil testing through our website for growers who want a more precise, data-led approach to maintaining living soil. Whether you manage a professional growing operation or want to optimise your soil over the long term, testing can help inform re-amendment decisions and support more consistent results.