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#1
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Potting v Gardening soil
As a newbie gardener, I am confused between gardening and potting soils
as sold in the stores. Obviously, plants can grow in gardening soil, so why it can't or should not be used in a pot? What's the difference? |
#2
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Potting v Gardening soil
On Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:57:38 -0500, AKT wrote:
As a newbie gardener, I am confused between gardening and potting soils as sold in the stores. Obviously, plants can grow in gardening soil, so why it can't or should not be used in a pot? What's the difference? You're not supposed to use either potting or gardening soils in containers. Containers require a potting mix (big difference) because a container is a closed environment which is very unlike growing plants in mother earth. For more info on this see this article on the gardenweb website in the container gardening forum. Around 4 years ago I read this and switched my container garden to a pine bark based potting mix which I make myself. This article is still generating comments and questions all these years later. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...1724775.html?6 |
#3
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Potting v Gardening soil
Thanks, but what is potting soil for if not for plants in the pots?
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#4
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Potting v Gardening soil
AKT wrote:
Thanks, but what is potting soil for if not for plants in the pots? I was looking forward to your getting a variety of answers. I'm no expert but I use potting soil for house plants and plain old cheapest bagged topsoil for my container grown tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. |
#5
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Potting v Gardening soil
On Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:36:01 -0400, Frank
wrote: AKT wrote: Thanks, but what is potting soil for if not for plants in the pots? I was looking forward to your getting a variety of answers. I'm no expert but I use potting soil for house plants and plain old cheapest bagged topsoil for my container grown tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. I found nothing better than home-made potting soil. Not exactly sure what is in the bagged products, but these bags (including Miracle Grow) are not consistent. Bagged soil should be heated to kill insects, mold and bacteria. I heat mine to 300 degrees. |
#6
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Potting v Gardening soil
"Phisherman" wrote in message ... On Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:36:01 -0400, Frank wrote: AKT wrote: Thanks, but what is potting soil for if not for plants in the pots? I was looking forward to your getting a variety of answers. I'm no expert but I use potting soil for house plants and plain old cheapest bagged topsoil for my container grown tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. I found nothing better than home-made potting soil. Not exactly sure what is in the bagged products, but these bags (including Miracle Grow) are not consistent. Bagged soil should be heated to kill insects, mold and bacteria. I heat mine to 300 degrees. Many bagged soils, composts, mulches, and manures are clearly labled either "sterilized" or "nonsterilized", the sterilzed costs a few pennies more but I'm not about to waste fuel cooking many cubic feet of soil at home, nor am I willing to spend my time and energy at so frivolous a task when I can buy soil already sterilized so inexpensively. And I've found the national brands to be reasonably consistant, as consistant as any claimed to be custom mixed at some local nursery. |
#7
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Potting v Gardening soil
In article ,
Phisherman wrote: On Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:36:01 -0400, Frank wrote: AKT wrote: Thanks, but what is potting soil for if not for plants in the pots? I was looking forward to your getting a variety of answers. I'm no expert but I use potting soil for house plants and plain old cheapest bagged topsoil for my container grown tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. I found nothing better than home-made potting soil. Not exactly sure what is in the bagged products, but these bags (including Miracle Grow) are not consistent. Bagged soil should be heated to kill insects, mold and bacteria. I heat mine to 300 degrees. 180F (internal temp) for 20 min. will sterilize the soil. I usually sterilize in 2 - 3 quart quantities (without internal thermometer) for 30 min. -- - Billy "For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En2TzBE0lp4 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050688.html |
#8
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Potting v Gardening soil
On Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:36:01 -0400, Frank wrote:
Thanks, but what is potting soil for if not for plants in the pots? I was looking forward to your getting a variety of answers. I'm no expert but I use potting soil for house plants and plain old cheapest bagged topsoil for my container grown tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. While you can certainly grow all those plant using plain old topsoil in a container, your plants will do much better with a properly structured container mix. When I started gardening in containers I used topsoil and for the most part things grew. Then one year we had a very hot summer and bad drought and I had all kinds of problems with all my plants due to what the plants grew in. The next Spring I researched what I could do to improve the garden and ran across that article. After changing to that mix my plants grow a lot better now and much more resilient to environmental extremes. I would suggest going to part 1 of that article (the link I pointed to was part 8) and read the comments because there is a lot of technical addendums there. I don't use the exact formula suggested in the article, I settled on a modified version. Due to the size of my container garden ( 200 cu.ft.) and that it sits on top a 2 story roof, it is impractical to replace all that mix every year. So I need to recycle mix from year to year. My formula is: 2 parts pine bark fines (it has to be the very small pine bark mulch which can be hard to find) 2 parts year old mix 1/2 part perlite + fertilizer (depends upon the plant this mix supports) The pine bark and perlite provide structure to the mix so that it has lots of air pockets for the roots to grow and breath, drainage so that water doesn't pool and drown the roots, but not too much drainage so that it dries out too fast after watering. |
#9
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Potting v Gardening soil
"AKT" wrote: Thanks, but what is potting soil for if not for plants in the pots? Potting soil is a mix, all soils are a mix... those labeled potting soil are generally a lighter less dense mix that enable more air to reach the roots in a confined space of a pot. But regardless, you can and should amend all soils to best suit what's planted... you shouldn't use the same soil mix to pot cacti and violets. And remember to repot often and use fresh soil. |
#10
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Potting v Gardening soil
brooklyn1 wrote:
: remember to repot often and use fresh soil. Repot how often? Is the old soil good for anything, eg, as topsoil in the lawn/garden, or should it be just discarded? |
#11
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Potting v Gardening soil
"AKT" wrote in message ... brooklyn1 wrote: : remember to repot often and use fresh soil. Repot how often? Is the old soil good for anything, eg, as topsoil in the lawn/garden, or should it be just discarded? I use spent potting and seed raising mix on my lawn to patch parts of it from time to time. I sieve out the big stuff and bung that on a garden and then use the finer stuff to seed new grass in to. Works fine. rob |
#12
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Potting v Gardening soil
"AKT" wrote:
brooklyn1 wrote: : remember to repot often and use fresh soil. Repot how often? Depends how quickly the plant outgrows its pot, you do not want your plants to become pot bound. My general rule is to repot once every 1-2 years... the organic matter breaks down so the soil compacts. Is the old soil good for anything, eg, as topsoil in the lawn/garden, or should it be just discarded? No matter where you discard spent potting soil it will end up as dirt somewhere on the planet so you may as well sprinkle it in your yard. |
#13
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Potting v Gardening soil
"AKT" wrote in message ... brooklyn1 wrote: : remember to repot often and use fresh soil. Repot how often? Is the old soil good for anything, eg, as topsoil in the lawn/garden, or should it be just discarded? I use spent potting soil mixtures to mix into my compost pile. Everything here is recycled. Nothing is wasted that can go into the gardens. -- Kelly.......... If you're a past or present resident of NYC and want to share past experiences and current events with others from NYC, check out this free message Board: http://members6.boardhost.com/QueensNYer/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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