It is very, very important to thoroughly wet your mix down in the wheelbarrow. Yes. Mix it well with organic matter to create the best growing conditions. And I suspected that special “potting mix” might be just another unnecessary upgrade designed to part a newbie gardener from the cash in her wallet. Why You Shouldn’t Use Topsoil. I was trying to find out if I could just use compost, or if I also need to use topsoil. I have a HUGE bag of compost, but only a small bag of topsoil. Think of how a wrung out sponge feels. Yes, if you feel you don’t have enough potting mix, it would be acceptable (but not preferable) to mix some garden soil into your potting mix if it will be used outdoors. Answer + 2. If you really have to buy something, try a granular or water soluble organic fertilizer. Gravel, leaves or something similar are other good filler options. When I first started planting in pots, I used bags of potting mix from the store. If I’m planting lettuce, flowers, or anything else that has shallow roots, but I happen to have a large pot, I don’t want to waste a lot of my precious homemade potting mix! Worm castings are basically worm poop and it’s one of the best fertilizers for gardening. The options available are plentiful! Reply. on May 10, 2017. Garden soil is heavy, compacts easily, and can cause the roots of your plant to choke or drown if you aren’t careful. Soil is timeless, thankfully! If you just clicked on this article to find out whether you really had to use potting soil for container gardening—the answer is yes—you can head off to the store now while the rest of us talk soil. But I get it if you don’t really want to know all that. 4 answers Marcho Marchev. I am a biologist who enjoys an explanation. Garden soil will make your container heavier and harder to move around. It can consist of peat or coir, pine bark, and vermiculite … Some brands have fertilizer added and/or a product that helps retain moisture—I often buy this kind as our summers can be very dry and I can use all the help I can get. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. But to use manure for fertilizer is for professionals who know the plants and what the plants are SHOWING that dictates what they need more or less of. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Another trick for large pots is to put a small pot upside down in the large pot to take up space. In the meantime, I think if I do something like 75% compost, and 25% topsoil, then that sounds like it could be okay right? Here is an article I wrote explaining the full process in detail: DIY Potting Soil and Seed Starting Mix to Save Money. A couple other questions I often hear about potting soil are: Is there a difference between brands/types of potting soil? This website is using Google Analytics. I read a few articles that said you really should use it, but aside from potting soil being lighter, and therefore the pots easier to move around/less likely to collapse a balcony, I wasn’t really sure what the benefit was. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. I hope you found this article helpful. Elizabeth Michels Pinizzotto. Getting Started – Types Of Potting Soil. All one needs to do is add it to the surface. This is very easy to do, it can save some money, and it also provides the peace of mind knowing exactly what ingredients are going into the soil. UK North east climate, warm and humid, but the yard does not get much sun. In order to gross out my wife…I mean…….In order to obtain great fertilizer, I make my own worm castings at home. In a farmer’s field the plant’s roots can spread to get water or get away from too much water, seek out nutrients and oxygen, and anchor themselves sufficiently. Potting soil allows your potted plants to access the right amount of moisture, oxygen, nutrients and moisture, while providing a structure in which to anchor their roots. I can tell you what has worked for me but it’s up to you to find out what works best for you, based on your area and available resources. Sometimes my wife wants to show off pretty flowers on the porch. !” Keep reading to find out! This site also participates in other affiliate programs, such as True Leaf Market, ShareASale, and Greenstalk Garden and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. Decomposed organic matter is super for potted plants to keep the soil from becoming a brick even it was bagged potting soil. If you go dig up some soil from your garden or lawn, you should notice pretty quickly that it is either very muddy and soaking wet or it is so dry you can’t even break the ground with a shovel. Can you use topsoil for potted plants? Copyright © 2019 The Fabulous Garden. However, if your plants are in containers it may be a better idea to use potting soil. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”. When in a container, soil has a greater chance of settling and compacting because it doesn’t have anywhere else to go. Growing foundations for potted plants must offer quick drainage, room for root growth, nutrition and moisture retention. We have now written a full article on fertilizer in containers that you can find here: Does Potting Soil Need Fertilizer? For general outdoor use you just want to look for a label that says potting soil or container gardening mix. Other times I want to plant certain cool weather crops like lettuce or kale in a pot so I can move them out of the summer heat when necessary. You know those N-P-K numbers you always see on bags at the store? Add fertilizers to your potting soil to promote the growth of healthy plants. And now I might start looking specifically at potting soil. Note that you do get what you pay for in most cases. For context: I have a yard with no ground soil, so everything is in pots or containers, or hanging baskets. It is commonly known as “black gold” for gardeners. Many gardeners are writing about the benefits of lasagna gardening, and it thrills me to see this method used more widely. Peat moss is an organic material that holds water very well, similar to a sponge. This is because topsoil can sometimes be too moist for container gardens, which can cause root rot. Compost is the key ingredient behind every successful garden. I can not understand why there are so many people do not have common scenes, If you can grow the plant in you garden, then you can definitely use the garden soil and put in a planter and do the same thing. Vermiculite. Supporting reasons include that garden soil is likely to be too dense (i.e. Cheap topsoil or fill dirt will not work well in containers because it has no nutrients. Absolutely. This is already failing my first two qualities above! Topsoil on the other hand is best combined with outdoor soil that already exists in your garden or flowerbed. Enjoy! and I will get back with you as soon as I can! One to two inches of compost will feed your plants for an entire season so a little goes a long way! The mix should not have any puddles of water, but it should be visibly wet, dark, and a few drops of water should drip out if you squeeze a handful of it. Thank you for letting me know this article was helpful, Russell. I use wood chips because they are free and easily available to me. A garden soil is basically a topsoil which vendors enrich with compost and organic matter. A potting mix, as described above, should be used instead. link to How Soon Can You Plant in a Lasagna Garden? If you are to plant in the garden area, topsoil is the best to use. Then I started taking night courses in horticultural science at a local college and learned, to my surprise, that there are actually good science-based reasons to use potting soil in your pots! Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Will late snow and ice harm my spring bulbs? Those who use commercial pot soil do not know much science I believe.