For the past several years I have brought in about 100 geraniums, 25 peppers, and assorted other plants in the fall to winter over until I could put them back out next spring. I re-potted them into 2 gal and 3 gal black plastic nursery pots. For media I have used garden soil, potting soil, and even a product called "nursery mix" that seemed to have a lot of sand in it. But in all cases the containers (media) stays too wet, air doesn't get to the roots, the soil compacts, and I get soil gnats. Cutting down on watering doesn't help. With a little light, the geraniums actually bloomed and peppers tried producing fruit, so heat and light and air movement in my garage are o.k....but I have problems with the media.

I thought about using saw dust, but a nursery guy said it would compact like press-board. I thought about a mix of bark and potting soil, but was told this is not a good idea (don't know why). I am on a limited budget. Any recommendations?