Potting Mix for containers survey...

I just participated in a thread about potting mix vs potting soil. I thought it would be interesting to see what potting mixes everyone prefers...not homemade...commercial. I am using Miracle Gro not for any reason really other than I have had success with it, it is easily available and it;s a habit I guess. What do you all prefer?

What commercial brands do you prefer for soil ammendments? I need to find some manure or something to add to some beds....or what else??

I've been using Sam's Choice Potting Mix. It works ... I've used Miracle gro and Scotts and not seen any great diff.

I'm still experimenting with ammendments, trying to find a combo that will make this hard nasty clay into actual soil ... I can dream can't I? I use homemade compost, store bought cow manure, mushroom compost, gypsum ... it all helps, but nothing really does the job.

It seems that building raised beds is my only real alternative.

Cheri'

Thanks for this thread! Everything I grow has to be in containers, so this is an important subject to me.

I have been using "Gardener's Gold" potting soil, adding perlite for drainage. My plants do seem to thrive on it!

But after reading this board, I am going to give the ingredients list a good scrutiny next time I go to buy some. (I'd do it right now but I'm out and I threw the bag away.) i sincerely hope there is no human doo-doo in there =:-0

I really like Whitney Farms. I use their seed starting mix and love their steer manure. My plants love it too... LOL.

Ok, so what would be good for my 5 Earthboxes? I got some inexpensive (1.00 for 40 lb) soil at WalMart and it's terrible. The only things that thrived in the boxes were broccoli and celery ... tomato roots were pathetic, yellow squash died, etc. Since I've heard good things about the boxes on other forums at DG, I wonder if it's the soil. Any ideas?
Thanks, Eileen

for containers I use Berger BM-6 the high porosity mix...
it's 80% peat 20% perlite, fert starter charge, wetting agent, calcitic and dolomitic lime.

I generally add more perlite as needed (i find it to water, than dry a soaked plant).

Drew

For large raised beds, I use a mixture of 1/2 regular soil (either purchased or moved from another location in your yard) and 1/4 peat moss and 1/4 aged steer manure. Then if I need to add more, I add the aged steer manure. After the plants take off, I sprinkle the beds with Osmocote. Last year all of the plants in my raised beds did great! I grew everything from perennials to various herbs to tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, okra, lettuce, swiss chard etc. Actually some of the annual seeds that I sprinkled in to fill in spaces got way taller than the package stated (cosmos, larkspur etc.)

If you start with a good mix, you will have great results for years.

i do only container gardening and use a mixture of equal parts potting mixture and compost. i do, sometimes, add a bit of those silicon granules to the mix for water retention and change the soil yearly when possible..

The only mix I have handy is 'Professional Jiffy-Mix' from Jiffy Products of America, Inc., which I am using for starting seeds. The bag says, "This soilless mix is composed of sphagnum peat moss, horticultural vermiculite and lime for pH balance."

I use the jiffy mix soiless mix for seed starting, and Miracle Grow, when I transplant, and in any pots in the yard. The seedlings seem to thrive, and I've never had a problem, with them getting burned.

I've never heard of Whitney Farms or Berger BM-6...are they regional? We seem to only have the national brands...Miracle Gro, Scotts, etc. and the Franks have their own mix, which in my opinion stinks...it packs too much. What does one look for when they are looking for ammendments to soil? Manure, compost etc. I mean. Isn't a mix like Miracle Gro sufficient when used with a good fertilizing program for containers?

all i have used is miracle grow

I got some of the best potting mix from my aunt's nursery it was really cheap but of course i think she gave it to me at her cost 5.00 25 pounds i think it was professional something in a pink bag. it drains good too good. i have to water a lot. I added a soil conditioner i got from her with cow manure aged to one of my beds that has clay last year everything did really well in it I will do this again this year I had my husband till it in for me before i planted . I tried gardeners best from walmart lately I didn't like it I will go back to MG I wish peters had a mix i could get around here i here they are good. i put worm casting in with some of my Brugs last year but didn't see much difference. My local nursery uses mushroom compost and i must say every time i get stuff from her and go to plant them I will find very large earth worms in with the soil so it must be pretty good stuff.You can't beat getting earth worms with your plants that is a plus in itself if they will stay were you plant them!!LOL

I bought a pallet of Mushroom compost last summer (got a real good deal) and mixed it with shredded oak leaves and topsoil and compost, to fill my new raised bed.

The thing with mushroom compost is that it is very alkaline. So you have to balance that with other amendments. I added lots of coffee grounds, and the oak leaves help, too.

So far, everything is doing great in that bed. I wouldn't use it near my Azaleas, tho.

Cheri'

Berger is a peat harvester in Canada.
They are a company like Premier, Fafard et el.

It is a growers mix, I do not think it is available at walmart or some other place like that.

drew

In Jersey it's good ole' Miracle Grow and Magic Earth, both are good, but both are pricey. So it depends on the size of your container(s), rule of thumb, good drainage and soil that's the least hassle, self feeding, time released fertilizers etc. You'll have to water it on a daily basis, but other than that, it works well in all conditions and it's weather and temperature friendly. Good luck, Danny

For seed starting and indoor plants, I stick with the "professional grower's mix" available at Home Depot. It's peat and perlite and not much else. I go thru two or three large (40 qt.) bags a year (in fact, I'm heading out to get one this afternoon so I can pot up my 'maters, peppers and some annuals ready for cell packs.)


I "recycle" this product into my outdoor containers: anything left over from seedlings (residue in the cell packs, leftovers from seedlings that didn't make it, etc.) gets dumped in big covered trashcan and scooped out into windowboxes and pots for the outdoor stuff. Also into the containers goes well-rotted compost (bagged or homemade), leaf mould, rabbit "berries" - basically whatever I can find to add some humus and fertilizer to the sterile mix.

I too learned the hard way to steer clear of those 40-pound bags of cheap "potting soil/garden soil" a lot of places sell each spring. It's usually nasty, mucky stuff that isn't worth any price if it kills your plants ;o)

Thanks Terry, I love the big covered trash can idea for recycling the expensive potting soil from seed starting etc.
Usually I would put this in my compost pile but mine takes years to break down due to lack of attention... this way I could use it the same year.

Eileen

I like the container mix a local family-owned garden center sells. They mix it themselves and sell it in very large bags for a reasonable price. It is disease and weed free and includes the rock wool for water retention, plus a time-release fertilizer. http://www.great-gardeners.com/

This message was edited Mar 10, 2004 3:52 PM

eileen, I can't take the credit for it - I think Badseed was the one who tipped me to its ability to be recycled. (And was I ever thankful for her tip - it gets expensive to throw it away or even add it to the compost pile, then turn around and buy potting soil for the containers!)

I did find out - sadly - that our Home Depot no longer carries the mix I've come to depend on. So....a trip to the Farmer's Co-op turned up a slightly more expensive namebrand version of the same thing. Sigh. Oh well - it's still less than buying the itty bitty bags of Jiffy mix like I used to when I was only starting a few flats each spring.

I use Pro-mix for my containers and seed starting . I did find some seed starter at Walmart this year that I really liked but I was out of my other and didn't want to make a trip to get it to finish up my seeds. I liked it but couldn't afford to buy all those little bags to do them all. I like the pro-mix because it so much lighter if you plan to move the big pots around. I recycle all mine from my seed trays etc into my containers or into to raised beds like Terry said above.

I use professional pro-mix for seed starting, have real good luck with it so far, I used to use Jiffy Mix but can't find it locally anymore. I use the Miracle Gro potting mix for hanging baskets and pots, the plants do really well in it, but I find it a little heavy for seed starting tiny seeds like impatiens, snapdragons, etc.

I'm a 65 year old master gardner thats tried everthing and i think a product called " super soil" has all the qualities needed. I USE THE PRODUCT FOR HANGING BASKETS AND I USE IT IN THE GARDEN. EXCELLENT.

I've used that cheap Wat-Mart stuff. I mixed in a lot of peat moss, bagged humus (also from Wal-Mart), perlite and vermiculite. I came to the conclusion that I was spending a lot of time and effort and $ fixing it up. So this year I've been using Sam's Club copy of Miracle Grow, mixed with coir that I buy in a brick and re-constitute with water. So far, so good.

I liked the potting mixture Lowe's used to sell. Dave called it the kind with the time-release fertilizer "Green Bag" and the kind without "Blue Bag". They don't carry it any more - too bad, because it was great. I can't remember what the brand was --- Dave, Trish, Terry, do you remember?

GW, I can't remember its name, but you're right they don't carry it anymore (at least not here.) HD dropped their "professional grower's mix" too. I guess they're all moving toward the all-in-one mixes that have soil retention material (coir, etc.) and fertilizer already added. Sigh. If the trend continues I'll soon have to make my own with peat and perlite, unless I can continue to find independent nurseries with reasonably priced bulk-size bags of mix. (I really don't like the stuff with fertilizer mixed in - it tends to get that nasty mold on top really fast with seedlings...