im in the same exact possition as you...first year gardener....potted in strait miracle grow....didnt know any better....soil was compact and wouldnt drain

yuck

i heard about the sand too....but i just repotted...i just mixed in some black gold (which you probably dont even need) and some vermiculate

really i think if you just remix your soil with either vermiculate or perlite (which you can find anywhere) youll get the result youre looking for and should be good

I highly recommend and have had excellent results with just about any soil from a hydroponics store- like Fox Farm or Happy Frog container soil. Happy Frogs $16-18 per 1.5 cu ft. Not the cheapest, but the best performing container mix I have going this season.

Anyone use compost in there soil mix for containers? if so how much, and how much vermiculate should i mix with the soil?

sambo, I THINK, and I'm no expert, but i think a good mix should be about one third compost, one third potting soil and about one third vermiculate....at least thats about what im using, but if im wrong someone please correct me i dont want to give out false info

Vermiculite collapses and and quickly becomes useless. Use perlite instead. For containers I use about 1/3 potting soil mix, 1/3 bagged compost, 1/3 fine or shredded pine bark for excellent drainage. To that mix I add some course sand, bone meal, wood ash and blood meal. Everything grows like crazy. When growth starts to slow I fertilize with fish emulsion and alternate that with different Miracle Grow products.

I am one of the few people I know who successfully grows plants in containers and use organic nutrients. I do not recommend organics in a container for more than 1 season, otherwise the soil will lock up, water won't drain, and the plant will literally drown. That being said, here is a simple recipe that works great.

4 parts fertiloam red potting soil
4 parts summerhill chunky professional potting soil
1 part perlite (do NOT use vermiculite)
1 part worm castings
1/2 cup blood meal
1 cup bone meal (not steamed)
1/2 cup cottonseed meal
1 cup epsoma organic
1 cup greensand
1/4 cup soft rock phosphate
1/2 cup alfalfa meal
1.5 cups dolomite lime pelletized
1/2 cup roots brand microrrrhyza

mix all the above thoroughly and store it in a large tote
add 1/2 gallon distilled or non tap water with 1 table spoon molasses or honey and sprinkle over top of mix. Cover for atleast 2 weeks up to 6 weeks.

This works great, and only needs good water, and mulch with grass. End of season, either recycle into garden or mix with new mix at ratio of 1 part old to 4 parts new.

I also put a layer of composted cow manure on bottom of container 1" -2" and a layer of shredded leaves on top of this.

It works, but can be quite expensive unless you grow many containers and buy in large quantities to keep cost down. This works in all containers 2.5 gallon on up, but the best results come with the use of 6 gallon to 14 gallon containers. tImO