Using a good garden potting soil or potting mix
is essential for successful container gardening.
Garden planters are artificial environments for
plants. In order to sustain container plants through
a single season you need to give them a good head
start. The soil in a garden planter or container
has to be of the highest quality in order for your
container plant to thrive, and special care must
be taken to water and feed your container garden
regularly.
Garden potting soil contains rich black loam,
peat, compost, and other nutrients that are specially
mixed together to give the soil good drainage and
yet still retain its ability to hold onto water
long enough to nourish your plants. Many potting
mixes even have plant food and fertilizer already
added to them, which takes the guesswork out of
deciding what to feed your container plants and
how often to feed them.
Many people make the mistake of using ordinary
soil from their yards to fill planters and containers
instead of using a quality potting soil. This is
a mistake for a number of reasons.
First of all, soil from your yard may not contain
the proper nutrients your plants need to grow and
bloom. If you have clay soil it can become hard
and may choke your container plants and kill them.
If you have sandy soil it may not hold water long
enough for your container plants to get the drink
they need to flourish. Or, your soil may be so depleted
or so poor that it cannot sustain flowering plants.
Another reason to using potting soil instead
of regular soil is that garden potting mix is sterile
and free from pests and disease organisms. This
is not true for the soil from your yard, which may
or may not harbor harmful organisms that will end
your container gardening efforts before they even
begin.
Why mess around with dangerous insecticides and
confusing soil amendments when you can easily buy
the best soil for the job already sterilized and
ready to go at a reasonable price? Garden potting
soil is widely available in the spring in 40 pound
bags for as little as $1.49.
In addition to being essential to successful
container gardening, potting soil can also be worked
into existing or new garden beds to enrich them
and increase your chances of success. It's a good
idea to buy more bags of potting mix than you actually
need at the beginning of the season, so that when
you want to start a root cutting, plant a seed,
or just pot up something special for a friend, you
will have everything already close at hand.
Potting soil comes in all kinds of specialized
forms as well, which is great for new gardeners
and people who don't have a lot of space but still
want to get the most bang for their buck when it
comes to container gardening. You can buy African
violet mix, tomato and/or vegetable mix, and even
potting mix for roses and small shrubs.
Check out all the potting mixes available before
you buy. Whether you want to grow vegetables in
a clay pot, flowers in a window box, or topiary
herbs on your window sill, you'll find a garden
potting soil product designed especially to guarantee
your gardening success.
