Potting soil has limitations; it has what plants need to survive but not a whole lot, and it's not the nutrition they need to really take off and eat the house and yard. :)

That's where fertilizers come in. Be it Miracle Gro, composted chicken manure, rabbit poop, or worm castings, these things have much more and better balanced nutrition that is actually available to the plant than does potting soil.

I would, of course, suggest trying a good clean layer of rabbit manure, well-watered-in, to start with (the joke being that I raise rabbits so EVERYTHING gets bunny poop!). This will likely make a huge difference in general growth and foliage.

Remember, nothing is instant! Except maybe watering a wilting plant.

Whatever your choice in fertilizers or soil amendments, try mixing some with your potting soil or native soil before potting things up. You don't want TONS of the stuff, but about one part in four to six is about right.

Those who use chicken manure and other things please chime in here--what works for you?

PA

I add chicken manure to the potting soil I use to pot up my plants, only a very small amount if the plant is small, maybe a few good hands full if it's a bigger plant. Chicken manure has more nitrogen than many other manures, so it doesn't take much - if you use composted manures, it'll take more.
Potting soils vary widely. The cheap ones that cost $1.00 for a big bag are usually just bark and sand with no nutritive value at all - the only thing they're good for is mixing with other, better potting soils, heavy soils, or for rooting. Once you've rooted a plant in it, you need to plant it up in something better.
Chemical fertilizers are okay, but I've had better results with chicken manure - maybe the nitrogen or other elements in chicken manure is more easily absorbed by plants or maybe it has certain trace elements that are lacking in chemical fertilizers - there's still a lot we don't know about this.
Everybody thinks gardening is easy until they actually do it! Every type plant has its own particular needs - I've been gardening for 41 years, and I'm still learning!
MissSherry

How about plant food? I can understand using chicken manure and high quality soil. Would plant food help if the plants have already been planted? I dont want to uproot everything and end up doing more damage.

Also, when people have pots and planters, do they change the soil every year?

And, um, where does one get chicken manure?

In containers, the most important thing about the potting medium you use is that it provides plenty of AIR spaces. You want your mix to be very coarse, full of large particles. Then, you can add the fertilizer product of your choice. The more porous the potting medium, the more vigorous your root system will be; the happier the root system, the more productive (healthier) the top of your plant will be! It's as simple as that and quite remarkable when you see it in action.

My potting mix is a combination of a bit of peat moss, plenty of gently composted bark fines, lots and lots of perlite, and a product called Turface. I also may add granite grit for good measure. I avoid anything that might clog up the pore spaces, such as compost, manures, garden soil, etc.

Depending upon what I am growing (annuals, houseplants, bonsai, etc.) I'll add a slow release micro-nutrient product, as well as occasional doses of a balanced fertilizer. These can be organic or otherwise...the plant doesn't much care which. Nitrogen is nitrogen to the plant. ;-) I have good results with fish emulsion, but also use an ordinary soluble (mix with water and apply) fertilizer.

This makes a planting mix that is built to last quite a while. All commercial potting 'soils' collapse after a few months, making them very inferior for container re-use, but suitable to turn out into the garden. My mix can last for a very long time, longer than I need it to.

I do use a bag or two of a potting mix made for commercial growers that has a very large percentage of bark fines in it; more bark than peat. I add lots of perlite to that and am happy to use it for my annual plantings. Peat moss mixed with 50% perlite is what I use for my seedling germination.

If you are really interested in container growing, you might look into the Container Forum, right here in the Garden Web. There's lots of great information over there and some pretty interesting threads.

Gwynne, that's one reason I adore rabbit poop--it won't burn and you can add it to the top of the contaniner. Just think of each rabbit 'pellet' as a time-release fertilizer capsule! Each time you water, some nitrogen and other goodies leach down to the root zone. No repotting needed.

There is a Yahoo group called BunnyPowerForGardens where gardeners and rabbit folks can match themselves up for the good of both. :)

Container gardeners don't (far as I know) change soil every year; every three years perhaps if the plant isn't doing as well. Using a good, open mix as Rhizo suggested is a good start; air is important! But I prefer something a bit more dense.

I use a product called DryStall from the feedstore that is very close to zeolite--it has lots of air holes and roots and worms ADORE it. I mix it one part in six or so with vermicompost from under my rabbit cages after I pick the worms out and send them back to work.

The stuff is gold. Everything on earth grows in it and thrives....

Where are you located? Maybe I can send you some...LOL! I'm in N. California....vhd (at) cncnet.com

I am in Pennsylvania. Can you imagine when you go to the post office and they say 'do you have anything liquid, fragile, or hazardous?' I wonder how you would define rabbit poop!

gwynn- are you familiar with freecycle? Yahoo groups. Just put in freecycle, and your area (philadelphia, or just PA or whatever.)

Anyway, you'd be surprised what you can find there. I put up an ad for Bunny poop yesterday after reading this thread, and found a source within minutes. Too cool.
Good luck!

Well, it's not liquid, fragile, OR hazardous, so... :) Sure grows stuff though!

I'd love to raise bunnies, but I'm kind of scared they would languish in our Oklahoma heat. I've had lots of friends who've raised them, and they lose them, and I can't house them indoors with my 4 cats.

I used to have a neighbor across the street who raised lop ears under their house. I bet if that house ever gets razed it will be the most fertile soil in the city lying under there!

I use chicken manure, perlite (for friability/drainage; it adds no nutrients to the soil), and Espoma's general garden extended release fertilizer. If I happen to have the fine bark lying around, or a bag of orchid mix, I will throw in a couple of handfuls of that, too (for drainage). Seems like I'm never consistent in my mixes. I just try to make a good soil mix out of whatever I have. I think I will go to American Home Products and p/u some turface to try out, too. I've heard from several sources that it is a good product to add to your mix.

Then there's the other side of the coin. Not all butterfly plants, which includes some natives, like rich soil. That's another discussion on another thread here. MissSherry's advice is that if the plant is not growing like you think it should be, or doing well in any other way, try cultivating in some chicken manure, fish emulsion, or something to "jump start" it. Unless it's really a sick plant, it should begin to show some evidence of growing well.

Another thing I do with my existing perennials, is I leave the leaves on the ground in the fall, and in spring, I throw down a bunch of chicken manure and water it in. The CM helps the leaves to break down, and they and the CM add nutrients to the soil, too.

Susan