>>> One reason is they have a buy back clause with their major suppliers to protect them from loss. Yeah that is amazing (as do some big box stores) esp. for live plants. I'm not even sure why they put their trees on clearance, since they get their full price back on them from the supplier if they aren't sold. They had a mislabeled tree showing clearance price on 15 gallon citrus at a 5 gallon clearance price. The manager wouldn't honor it (I wasn't pushing it, I knew the 15gallons weren't on clearance) even tho it was the end of the season and the manager admitted it probably wasn't going to get sold. He said it'll likely be dead but they'll get their money back from the supplier. I shook my head and cheerfully walked out. He ended up selling it to me two weeks later for half price, go figure. I didn't pot it up or do anything other than feed it; a year later it turned out as the most healthy tree I purchased in that batch.

I've had mixed success with MGMC potting mix. After moving to AZ to be near my aging parents I decided to start a container garden in my backyard. I thought herbs would be the easiest way to start and in March I bought a variety of herbs and potted them in self-watering pots. They grew at an astounding rate (especially the Basil). After a couple of weeks I decided to expand by getting larger pots and buying a variety of Peppers and Eggplant. In addition to the Basil (and Mint) loving the MGMC soil, it seems like the Eggplant loves it as well. I was a little worried that the Eggplant did not seem to grow very much in April, but when the night temperatures consistently started getting over 60 degrees in May, it started taking off and flowering/fruiting. Because of the MGMC I only have to water them every other day at most, even when the temperatures hit 112 degrees. And they are producing quite nicely. The problem seems to be with the Peppers. I found that Peppers don't like "wet feet" and the combination of the water retention in MGMC and watering from the bottom with the self-watering pots was not good for the plants. When they started wilting AFTER watering I realized I was drowning them and the roots were rotting. I lost a couple of Pepper plants (the Bell Peppers) although the smaller hot pepper plants seem to be slowly recovering. And all this energy they are using to recover obviously makes pepper production a no-go. Next year I will forego the MGMC for pepper plants (I kinda have to keep the self-watering pots due to the expense but I no longer water from the bottom with Peppers), but will continue to use it for herbs and eggplant.

Hi aptosca - It said - for potted plants. How are you to know that doesn't mean house plants? That was one of your questions. The terms potted plants and house plants are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. All houseplants are potted, but not all potted plants are grown in the house; many people have potted plants outside, on patios and porches, or summering their houseplants outside, or just growing-on plants for size or whatever - many reasons. Plants grown outside in pots tend to dry out faster than plants grown indoors, and that's why some people prefer "water retentive" soils for outdoor potted plants. But one thing is true outdoors or indoors - wet soil that never dries out makes for wet roots, and wet roots make for dead plants. As you can see from reading all of this thread, there's a lot of 'different strokes for different folks.' It's one reason that you find so much conflicting information if you do much research. One thing that's absolutely true, though, is that if roots stay too wet, plants die. But... That's not always true, either, because many plants are incredibly, amazingly adaptable. Species that are known to hate "wet feet" sometimes adapt to living in a constantly wet - I mean soaking wet - pot. I know, I have one. This is another source of much conflicting information. My advice to you would be to try what seems reasonable to you, what seems to fit your own requirements best. If things don't work as well as you would like, try something else. Even if you are satisfied with results, go ahead and try something different, just as an experiment. That's one reason you never get tired of working with plants, once you get into it.

I hate MiracleGro for local political reasons, therefore I've never used this soil since I refuse to support them with my money. Anyway, I think that product uses some sort of hi-tech anti-dessicant to keep the soil moist. Personally, I'd go the easy route and buy some decent topsoil and mix in some peat moss and perlite and sand, then mulch on top. (a 10-part recipe would be 5 parts topsoil (or compost), 2 parts peat moss, 2 parts sand, one part perlite. Mix in small batches thoroughly and add to bucket until 3" from top. Plant, water and cover with mulch.) The sand helps to keep potted plant roots loose. Mixing sand into the soil definitely helps with drainage, so maybe you can simply empty the bucket out, allow the soil to dry out a bit (much easier to thoroughly mix when it crumbles) (lay it out on a plastic sheet 1-2" thick and it'll be ready in an hour or two in the sun), and then get a bag of mason's sand and mix 3 parts sand to 7 parts potting soil and mix thoroughly. I use a Chinese food pint container and add the ingredients to a 5 gallon bucket and mix with a garden fork; mixing small amounts at a time is much easier than all at once. This will probably solve your problem, since this potting soil sounds like it is very dense and may cause root rot. Just make sure the buckets have good drainage as well. As for drainage, put 4 - 3/4" holes in the bottom, evenly spaced, and 4 - 1/2" holes on the sides, about 2" from the bottom and then fill the bottom with rocks to keep the drainage holes free of soil blockage. The water will not run out of the holes when you water unless it is bone dry or excessively wet. Raising a pot off the ground does help. If it is on the patio flat on the concrete and all the holes are on the bottom it will not drain adequately because the concrete will absorb the water and it will sit under the pot and be continuously wicked up into the soil from the damp concrete. If you keep watering it you'll end up with a big muddy mess on the ground. That is why rocks in the bottom help, and some weed barrier or newspaper above the rocks will keep any water that does drain out of the holes from creating a muddy mess. I'd personally use some planter dollies with casters so the pots can be moved around. A 5 gallon bucket of wet soil is heavy. BTW: You are new to gardening and obviously want to harvest some veggies, so you are going to have to add nutrients during the growing season. Personally, I've never grown veggies in pots, but everything I have read states that you must fertilize regularly in pots. The only fertilizer I use is Schultz's (no relation that I know of, although my dad's family did own a nursery back in the 1920's ;) Organic (gel or liquid concentrate) fertilizer. In a pot I'd opt for the weaker solution and apply it every 2 weeks. Good luck :)