Your organic blend NPK %s are about 2.8:0.7:1.7, which ends up being a pretty favorable RATIO of NPK. Al

Ellen, if you have been buying top soil, or garden soil of some type - that's the wrong product. I use actual sterile seed starting mixes only for things to be sown indoors. You don't need them for winter sowing, and there are no nutrients at all in those, nothing to support seedling growth after germination without your attention. Basically all potting mixes/mediums, or potting soils, products made for growing plants in containers, are without soil - they are soilless. Reason being true soil will tend to compact, not supply adequate aeration or drainage for good root development whether using it for growing seedlings, or mature plants on your patio. You said something in another post about the quality of Scotts Premium Soil and I wondered then if you had bought Premium Top Soil, or Premium Potting Soil - two very different products, different use intended. For winter sowing you want a product made for growing plants in containers, not one specifically made for starting seeds.....not those spendy little lightweight bags :) Fine Gardening "The term potting soil has become something of a misnomer in todayÂs world of container gardening. Most bags of potting soil contain no soil but are composed of a variety of organic and inorganic materials and are referred to as soilless mixes. "

Very interesting, I have had problems with Miracle-Gro seedling mix go mouldy-green on me before. I now buy other brands, and don't get the GREEN. I'm not sure of the exact "type" of Miracle-gro product I used at the time, and I can't say the green was detrimental to my seeds....but it kinda grossed me out! good luck and good growing to you

I used to use a mix that I made up that had a lot of compost and bark for the potted roses. Nancy Lindley offered the comment that a more porous mix that drained well might be better. She was right. I now use a mix that is just peat and perlite and the roses are better for it. Well, I do put in a couple of shovels full of commercial potting mix per wheelbarrow load because the wetting agent in the bagged mix helps with the initial hydration of the peat. The need to add fertilizer is a good thing because you can adjust the amounts to the weather conditions. I use a time release product in the spring and then go to a dilute liquid program. Most of the growing season here the pots need water at least once a day. The time release fertilizer that claims 3 to 4 months of service will not last anywhere near that long with that kind of a watering schedule. I get a month - six weeks at best. One year I used a brand of time release that had little green BB's in the mix. I thought that as long as I could see the green pellets on the surface of the pot that there was undisolved fertilizer left. My roses got mighty hungry before I discovered that the pellets were some kind of plastic that was just used as a carrier of sorts. Regards, Charles