Container Vegetable Gardening
Potting Soil
Vegetables are only as nutritious as the soil they are grown in. Actually “soil” is a misnomer as there is little or no soil in the potting mixes sold in your local garden center. You should NEVER use dirt from your yard in containers no matter how enriched or balanced it may be. It will be too heavy and dense because as you water, the soil will compact more and more and the roots of your plants would not get enough oxygen for optimum growth or be able to take up fertilizer, or, horrors, could lead to rot!
Potting soils (or mixes) should be lightweight and contain at least a good mix of peat moss or humus, (to hold in moisture) vermiculite or perlite. If you decide to mix your own and use perlite, be very careful as perlite is dusty and should not be inhaled nor would you want to get it in your eyes. It is really much easier to buy the potting soil from a garden center!
Depending upon which vegetables you plan to grow, you can add other nutrients to the soil that you buy. A lot of gardeners swear by the addition of worm castings.
til later
Barb
Uncategorized | Barb April 11, 2010
By Robyn, April 14, 2010 @ 2:22 pm
Great information! Over the last few years, I have grown peppers in containers and never thought that much about the potting mix. This weekend, I accidentally picked a garden mix. It is very thick and heavy; too heavy for the pots.
What do you think about organic mixes?
On my way back to the store …