We don't replace soil in raised beds because we have the earth below creating movement of water and air in the soil. Raised beds are earth based gardens. Containers are completely disconnected from the earth by virtue of being containerized. The concept that I want you to understand is this: Water doesn't move unless air does. A simple example is a drinking straw in a glass of water. Dip it in and place a finger over the top of the straw. Withdraw the straw and the water doesn't move out of the straw. Remove the finger and the water runs out because now air can enter. In the earth water is constantly moving through the soil and therefore so is air (the earth has no drainage hole where the water exits the system). In a container the water runs down and out the drainage hole and then water movement stops and therefore so does air movement. This is why containers and the earth are so different. In a container we need a coarse mix that allows the free movement of air and water (drains well). In the earth we can get by with tighter soils because water still moves and thus air still moves. A potting mix is only as good as it's particle size. If you purchase a store bought mix it will probably be just fine in the first year, but the organic part of the mix gets broken down by biological activity and weathering. As it is broken down it breaks into smaller and smaller particle sizes and before long the smallest particles which wash to the bottom of the container are getting closer and closer to having clay soil in the container. This holds a lot of water and very little air which plants need. Miracle Grow soil is peat based and peat based soils are generally good for one season and sometimes 2 if they aren't exposed to the elements any longer than necessary. After that they are so collapsed/broken down that they will have an adverse affect on plant performance and should be dumped out into the earth based garden and replaced. For more info, please visit the container gardening forum.

Hello, Jodi! Great to read your posts :-) Al, thanks for posting up your observations and reflections. This year, my Sun Gold container tomato (15-gallon) seems to be larger than ever. I'm using fresh 5-1-1, of course, so that's no surprise. Lime, generous Osmocote up front, a couple treatments of Foliage Pro, and I haven't done much other than water every 3 - 4 days. With my hot peppers in containers, I haven't gotten the results that I did last year, but I think that is mostly due to the fact that I didn't start my seeds until the third week of March! Thus, my plants are quite a bit smaller in stature, and I expect that production will be lower as well. One other variable, however, is the particular 5-1-1 that I used this year. This year, I used one full part of peat-based potting mix (Foxfarm's Ocean Forest product). Last year, I used one half part of potting mix and one half part of Turface for binding and moisture retention. Anyhow, given the difference in seed-starting dates, I won't be able to solidify any conclusions - but I will be returning to the Turface mix...and starting seeds earlier... next season. Josh

I'm in the same 'boat' as you are. We have sand, sand and more sand. Heck...we couldn't even grow grass until we had topsoil brought in...ughh!!! Assuming that your container soil is basically peat with some perlite and vermiculite, why not try layering that in the area that you will growing in next year with some newspapers, manure, leaves, compost...anything that will breakdown over the winter. In the gardening book, "Lasagna Gardening", this is precisely what the author does. She 'creates' good soil, by adding organics and then letting the whole pile just decompose. Come Spring, she just pokes holes in the now compacted pile and puts in the plants or seeds. As far as the bugs go, unless you have brutal winters that can kill them, they'll probably just overwinter and reappear next year. Sorry... I'm not an expert by any means, but your post reminded me of why I choose container gardening over in-ground gardening. Well...that and the fact that my entire property is on a slope ;-) I hope others will be along to help you. Donna H.

The pathogen that causes late blight only affects a few plants. Potatoes are very prone to it and peppers and eggplants may be damaged. The soil will probably be fine for most other things. If you're sure it was late blight, I'd say give it a try.