Potting Sticks

[lakngulf]

Is it just me or has "potting soil" nowadays turned into "potting sticks"? What I have been buying for the last couple of years has so many small sticks and bark that I think I am working with mulch instead of potting soil.

Am I just buying the wrong stuff? I tend to mix it with some rich topsoil so that my little starts have some dirt to dig in. Anybody else have an issue with this? What is the best potting soil out there?

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I have been using Sta-Green potting soil ( also use their peat moss)from Lowes and it seems to be a good mixture. IT is also a little cheaper than Miracle Grow. I will still buy Miracle Grow though.

I still occasionally get a bag that seems to have a lot of bark and sticks. I usually mix in a little peat moss and/or vermiculite to help with this.

I also make my own seed starter mix using peat, perlite, and vermiculite. I keep several large bags of perlite and vermiculite on hand and always have a bag of peat moss.

I have a problem with the potting soil absorbing water easily. Seems the water wants to sit on top but when I add a little of the three extras above it helps out tremendously.

What brand are you buying?

 

[charlz]

In the spring Costco usually has a huge bag of Miracle Grow potting soil for a good price. I usually buy one and that keeps my wife in dead potted plants all summer long I don't think I have met anyone else who can kill plants as fast as her

 

[lakngulf]

What brand are you buying?

I have always bought Miracle Grow. Last time I bought some from Home Depot I looked at every type soil there, especially all Miracle Grow products, to see if I could find something more like soil

 

[DFB]

Use a professional grade starter blend like promix or sunshine

 

[lakngulf]

Use a professional grade starter blend like promix or sunshine

WOW!!! At $100 bucks it must be good! Think I might try to find some YouTube videos on making my own.

 

[jinman]

I agree about potting soil. I buy organic humus and cow manure blended mixtures. Just buying peat moss bales and mixing with cow manure produces a nice growing mix, but be careful you don't get the mix too hot with the cow manure.

 

[DFB]

WOW!!! At $100 bucks it must be good! Think I might try to find some YouTube videos on making my own.

You can find better pricing they usually wholesale for about $40.00. There is enough compressed mix in a 3.8 cu ft bale to easily fill a 30 gallon trash can. I would suggest going to nursery or greenhouse and ask if they will sell some to you. We get tractor trailer loads.
At our greenhouses we also sell the leftover bags of used metro mix from our tomato growing operation for about $5 a bag. (a pretty good deal...you haul them away )

Soiless mixtures are best for seed starting

 

[/pine]

I've had issues with the type of potting mixes that have granulated (time release) fertilizers...different brands same issue...let the pots get too wet just once and the fertilizer releases prematurely and kills the plants...

It works good for indoor pots...but beware if they're out in the rain...

I make most of my own using rich topsoil, lots of sand, some black cow and either perlite, vermiculite or shredded moss...depending on the source of the sand the ph is neutral or close to the same as the topsoil...

 

[Wagtail]

Well, this phenomena isn't just happening in your 'neck of the woods'.

The potting soil I bought recently looked like the tailings of a mulch mixture... it's been 3 weeks and I'm still waiting for any sign of a seedling.

It could be that 'they' are value-adding a waste product and advertising it as "Premium Potting Soil". What's in a word these days, eh?