I use 2/3rds peat moss and 1/3 well rotted manure (or compost-I just have access to wonderful manure) and a couple of good handfuls of perlite. It lightens the soil. I also add about a cup of garden lime or dolomite, I also throw in a handful of Epsom salts.

A standard batch I will make is:
2 - 5 gallon buckets of peat
1 bucket of compost or well rotted manure
1 cup garden lime and a
handful Epsom salts

This wicks really well and I use it in my self watering pots, especially.

It is an expense so I try to add more and more every year. So in the pots that I can't fill with this (not self watering) I'll use soil with the above mix - and it seems to also work good - I think if you don't need it self-wicking, just try to keep it lighter and airy.

What I use is similar to Melissia's mix, but I use pine bark fines instead of peat moss. Also, I don't add Epsom Salts but I do add a handful of Espoma organic plant food to each batch. I will vary the content of the mix each year depending on the weather. In a hotter, drier year I formulate it to hold moisture longer, and in a wetter, cooler year, I formulate it a bit differently to drain better. Most of my seedlings go outside and will get natural rainfall once the temps are above freezing, so the drainage needs to match whatever type of precipitation we're having.

Having said all the above, sometimes I just buy a bag of Miracle Grow or Fertilome potting soil when I am too busy to mix my own. They've all worked equally well for me.

In my large containers, I just add compost and a few other organic products every year to renew the soil. I try to make the container mix last as long as possible because it takes a whole lot of mix to fill large containers. I am hoping I can keep renewing the soil-less mix in my 200-gallon stock tank planter for as long as possible because filling it up was a major expense.

For the small containers that I pot up transplants into I just use Scott's potting mix. I have in the past used Miracle Grow, but last year I got a couple bags that had HUGE slabs of wood--2 or 3--in each bag.

For my large containers, I mix garden soil with compost, commercial potting mix, sand, and, depending on what I am going to put in it, a handful of woodash. Last year WM cleared out at 1/2 price bags labeled "garden soil." I was expecting loamy soil--I've bought some really good stuff in the past. But this wasn't soil at all, but well rotted pine bark fines. So this year I will be adding that.

I use Al's 5:1:1 mix (see Container Forum here at GW):

5 parts pine bark fines
1 part Sphagnum peat moss
1 part Perlite
good handful of lime
" or two of Tomato Tone if tomatos; Garden Tone otherwise

I don't use the 5:1:1 right away. If I'm just potting up the first time, I use a potting mix like StaGreen from Lowe's for my first transplant of seedlings. After they have developed good root growth, I then pot them into the final 5:1:1 mix.

Sometimes you can find the pine bark fines as a soil conditioner sold at Lowe's (be sure to check the bag). I buy mine from American Plant Products in 3 cf bags at about $4-5/bag. You can also get the peat moss and perlite (coarse) there, too.

Susan

For a 25 gallon bucket I will do:

10-15 percent Garden dirt (semi-heavy clay and some silt)
Fine sifted humus (from compost)
compost
Perlite or leaf mold (if available, if not I selectively choose portions of the compost I know will help drainage.)

Mix to the best draining and tilth for the variety of plant needs. I will include powdered egg shells, epsom salts, and bonemeal (because my soil isn't rich and hasn't been worked before).

Mulch with coarse coco coir

Occasional watering with microbial vermicompost tea.

So far so good lol

Due to time constraints I don't mix my own. The main mix I use is the Ball potting mix. I germinated most of my seeds in it this year and pot up into it also. I also have used a few Berger mixes. I like their potting mix but not their germinating mix. I also bought a few bags of Metro-Mix potting mix earlier before the greenhouse that sells the Ball mix opened. It is too early to make any statements about it but it does look good. And I have a mix that a local greenhouse mixes to try but haven't tried it. In my opinion the Ball mix is as good as there is if you can find it. Jay

I planted my tomato seed in small soil blocks made from ProMix and put them all in the same flat. As I potted them up, I moved the little cubes into either a plastic pot containing MG which I had left from last year, or just put the small block into a larger block that I had made with more ProMix. There was an amazing difference. I don't know if the soil black made the difference or the ProMix, but the ones that were only ProMix were much taller and had a much wider leaf spread than the others did, and are still superior.

The MG had far to many large pieces to use for soil blocks, so I will use it up in larger pots.

The truckload of compost we bought this year was not broken down as well as it has been in the past, but continues to break down now. It still has a lot of short pieces of straw in it. I have some in containers that is still pretty rough. I am thinking I may just fill the large containers with it then put something finer on the top few inches. I think it will probably work great for the roots to go down into and it can continue to break down. Do you think that would work?

I spend a lot of money filling containers almost every year, and I would like to avoid some of that cost if possible. I think DH is going for another truckload but we will give part of it to a neighbor. It's a good neighborhood when you share compost. LOL

For seeds and seedlings, I will continue to use ProMix until I totally run out and can't find it anymore. I love it.

I looked high and low for pro-mix and didn't find any. What I really wanted was Metro Mix. I used that in school and I loved how it worked. I could not find any. Where do you find Metro Mix?

Last year I used MG, it was awful! My plants didn't do well at all. StaGreen seemed to drain too fast, Scotts for me seems to too wet and crust over on the top. But the plants do seem to be doing better in the Scott's and StaGreen compared to last year's MG plants.

I would love to find Metro Mix....

I'm not one of those of people who say's you have to do it my way. Having said that I thought I'd say afew words about Miracle Grow. When I lived in Edmond I built 2 greenhouses attached to the back of my house. The smaller one(about 300 sq. ft.) was the first one I built and I liked it so much I built a 650 sq. ft next to it. The big one was for tropicals and the smaller one was for raising seeds. At the time I had'nt even heard of coir so I just used MG. For seed starting I had 2 six ft. rubber heat mats on a thermostat. Here are some of the plants I have started from seed using MG. Larkspur,petunia,zinnia cyphomandra(tree tomato),alyssum,ageratum,centaurea,balsum,amaryllis,gomphrena cosmos,mallow, morning glory,passiflora,pinks,salvia,stock,tomatoe,monarda,pansy,rose moss,impatiens,angel blush,and peppers to name a few. I have a Blood orange,a Satsuma mandarin,and a Calamondin growing beautifully in MG now. I have never had a problem with MG even if I too have occasionally found a chunk of wood in it. It works for me and now after the above list you can tell why I dont know squat about growing corn or carrots etc.

I am second to Carol about the ProMix and MG. I potted up few tomatoes plants into MG in large cups just for trail.The seedling growing in cups filled with ProMix are much stronger, larger and taller than those of same variety growing in cups with MG potting soil. I not tried Ball potting mix and Metro Mix yet. I will do that next time. -Chandra

What is the composition do ya think of pro mix, that differs so greatly from other mixes so as to make it superior. Oh,and, where do you get them. I've never seen any of the ones you've mentioned.

Ezzirah I would guess you could find Metro Mix at one of the nursery/greenhouses in your area. Around here any of them will sell me what they use themselves. Most sell Fertilome potting mix but use either Metro-Mix or another Sun Pro mix, Berger mixes or the Ball potting mix I like so well. Though many don't have them out front if you ask them they will tell you what they use and are glad to sell you some. The Metro Mix I bought this year was at Panhandle Greenhouses in Amarillo, TX if memory serves me correctly. They also handle Fox Farm products which I like better than the Tone products. So far I've had great results with their products. Jay

I use:
1/3 potting soil
1/3 peat moss
1/3 compost

in a 5 gallon bucket and then I add about 2 cups of perlite. The pots are heavy enough to not blow over but light enough to move around. As long as I watered the containers daily, they didn't dry out too much even in the intense heat last summer. After they are potted with a plant I add a Job's organic spike in the pot.

American Plant Products has Metro Mix - several kinds, as well as Berger mixes.

They are wholesale, but will sell retail at wholesale prices. Call ahead and let them know how much you need and they will tell you what the cost will be.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: American Plant Products

Awesome information. I love to hear all the different uses.

I am soooooo at american plant products! I didn't know that place was there!

Thanks for that!

I have often wondered what would happen if I mixed my own potting soil. I am going to have to now. Would it work the same if I mixed coconut coir instead of peat?

You can use coir, but it has a higher pH, K, and salt content than peat. Al suggest to compensate by cutting the lime by half, or eliminating it altogether and substituting gypsum for the portion of lime not used, or using it to replace the lime entirely.

I'm attaching the thread where he disclusses tbe issue FYI.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Coir for Peat in 5:1:1