soil vs potting composts
I wonder if anyone has any views, or even knowledge of research, on whether
there is a certain critical mass / volume of planting container above which it becomes pointless to use man-made potting mixtures and feasible to use good old garden topsoil; or a minimum volume below which soil becomes unuseable? I ask because I have a planting area which is entirely self-contained (solid concrete 2ft down, enclosed by brick walls) containing soil which seems to have worked fine for the last 3 years (with garden compost and seaweed added), and also have a big container which is going to need about 6 sacks of John Innes or whatever to fill it - can I use soil, keep it watered and put up with weeds? If so, would you add anything to stop it drying out and/or setting solid? Duncan |
soil vs potting composts
In article ,
Duncan wrote: I wonder if anyone has any views, or even knowledge of research, on whether there is a certain critical mass / volume of planting container above which it becomes pointless to use man-made potting mixtures and feasible to use good old garden topsoil; or a minimum volume below which soil becomes unuseable? I ask because I have a planting area which is entirely self-contained (solid concrete 2ft down, enclosed by brick walls) containing soil which seems to have worked fine for the last 3 years (with garden compost and seaweed added), and also have a big container which is going to need about 6 sacks of John Innes or whatever to fill it - can I use soil, keep it watered and put up with weeds? If so, would you add anything to stop it drying out and/or setting solid? There is no specific volume, and it depends on your soil. My soil is 60% sand, 18% silt and 22% clay, so is a first-class basis for a John Innes compost. My standard one is two buckets of soil, one of garden compost and half a bucket of old soilless (commercial) compost. If I have none of the last, I up the garden compost. Compost is as compost does. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
soil vs potting composts
Duncan writes
I wonder if anyone has any views, or even knowledge of research, on whether there is a certain critical mass / volume of planting container above which it becomes pointless to use man-made potting mixtures and feasible to use good old garden topsoil; or a minimum volume below which soil becomes unuseable? I ask because I have a planting area which is entirely self-contained (solid concrete 2ft down, enclosed by brick walls) containing soil which seems to have worked fine for the last 3 years (with garden compost and seaweed added), and also have a big container which is going to need about 6 sacks of John Innes or whatever to fill it - can I use soil, keep it watered and put up with weeds? If so, would you add anything to stop it drying out and/or setting solid? Totally unscientific, but if the planter is more than about 6 inches deep I either use garden compost on the bottom or garden compost for the whole thing, depending on the robustness of the plants I am going to put in it. -- Kay |
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