Help Please! Vegetable garden in Pots; Which potting mix to use?

18 years ago

I am having a huge container garden this year, everything is going to be in pots. I am trying to figure out which potting mix I should use. I am buying in bulk from a nearby garden center. Here are the mixes they offer; they recommended the garden mix for veggies in containers....but from what I have read here, it sounds like a bad idea (doesnt sound like a good drainer). Here is what I have to choose from:

1. Garden mix: 2/3 mushroom compost 1/3 topsoil

2. Potting mix: 1/2 fine bark 1/4 pumice 1/4 turf mix

Which should I go with? Are either any good? Should I do some kind of mix of the two? Please help me out, I need to start getting these pots set up soon...and the people there (at the garden center) seem to know less than me! ....and DEFINETLY waaaay less than you guys! Thank you for your help, you are truly a wealth of information.

Tiara

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Comments (5)

opal52
18 years ago
Veggie_Delight, try posting your question on the Container Gardening Forum. You should get an answer there.
wormgirl_8a_WA
18 years ago
Hey, I just randomly wandered over from the container gardening forum :)

Veggie delight, definitely go with their potting mix. Drainage is different in a container than in the garden, making garden mix a terrible idea in a pot. And that potting mix actually sounds GREAT. Way better than most any other bagged product you could buy. Some of us on the container forum go to great lengths to mix up a similar product ("Al's mix").

You are lucky to be able to buy that pre-mixed, and you should get excellent results. Overwatering will be virtually impossible. Be aware you may have to water every day in the height of summer, but it'll be worth it.

Good luck!

Jenn
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tomncath
18 years ago
I spend a lot of time at the Container Forum, just happened to wander over here! I recommend you post on the Container forum and talk to Al (Tapla) and JAG (Justaguy). The first mix will definitely be frowned on, the second mix is preferable if those are your only choices...with 50% fines it may retain water longer than optimal but that depends on your particular microclimate. Ideally you should need to water every day, means the mix is well drained with good gas exchange and fresh oxygen to the roots daily, think of container gardening as a cross between hydroponics and aeroponics...if you find yourself only needing to water every 2-3 days due to moisture retention then you won't have an optimal root environment and best results possible. Good luck.

Tom
jessicavanderhoff
18 years ago
1/3 compost, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 vermiculite!
kathy5
18 years ago
I got bucket tomates here.. easy as pie. 5 gallon bucket (well cleaned out) drill 1/8 inch holes (about 8-10 for drainage)in bottom, small pea rocks (about 2 1/2inches), my own ground dirt mixed with Miracle grow potting soil, tomato plant/ etc, then mulch. This makes easy so if I need to move my plant around my patio (less sun/more sun). I know this can work, my brother(his is in the ground) and I planted the same plant at the same time... mine is bigger!!! Good luck to anyone who trys this, Kathy