Yes, indeed! Potting mix, NO potting soil. Those with more experience can explain a bit more eloquently than I, but issues such as poor drainage and poor soil aeration will both lead to poor production from your plants.

I think potting mix and potting soil are the same thing. You dont want to use garden soil or topsoil but if it says "potting" in the title it is generally meant for pots. What is the brand/commercial name or the whole title to be sure?

Potting SOIL and potting MIX are NOT the same. Containers should be filled with MIX.

Soil compacts and does not drain as well as MIX. This can lead to high soil temps, uneven distribution of nutrients and water, and higher levels of unwanted bacteria, fungus, and mold. It also inhibits root growth as it gets more and more compacted.

Ted

Agree that potting soil and potting mix aren't the same thing although the labels are too often used interchangeably. Potting mix contains no "soil", no dirt while potting soil usually does.

Over on the Container Gardening forum here at GW you'll find many discussions on why only mix should be used and even recipes for making your own as well as discussions on which brands are recommended and which are not.

The discussion here on "Hyponex experiment" is also well worth reading as Hyponex brands are soil, not a good mix.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening forum

sirdanny,

I did container gardening for many years and always had success with my method. I don't recommend it, but it worked for me.

I always used fifteen gallon plastic containers with a drain hole in the bottom. In the bottom of the pot, I would place two inches of 50/50 mixed pea gravel and washed river rock. Over the rock layer, I would place one layer of the permeable black landscape cloth. I would then mix 70% soil or dirt with 30% peat moss. I would add one small coffee can of crushed limestone and a good handful of commercial 10-10-10 fertilizer. I would mix all of it in a wheel barrow and fill the tub almost to the top with the mixture. I would then place each tub on some small tiles which were sitting on one of those large round landscape stones. Sitting the pots on the tiles facilitated air circulation under the pot keeping the soil at the bottom of the pot from turning sour. I would then prepare some tomato cages by bending the tips of the legs up to prevent the sharp ends from poking through the bottom of the pots. I would then push the legs through the soil into the rock to the bottom of the pot. I would then drill holes through the top edge of the pots at four locations. I would use good wire and wire the cages in a standing position to the edge of the pots. I would normally use a large washer on the pot end of the wire to prevent the wire from pulling back through the holes. I would then take a second tomato cage and turn it upside down and wire it's large round hoop to the large round hoop of the first cage. This method would result in a tomato cage about 8' tall. I usually allowed the whole thing to sit for about a week with the drip irrigation going. This allowed time for the fertilizer, acid from the meat moss, minerals from the limestone, and micro nutriens and bacteria from the dirt to balance out. I would then plant each pot with three or four tomato plants and three or four cucumber plants.

This method prevented me from purchasing a lot of very expensive potting soil/mix, and performed very well.

Ted

I thinks its better to match soil to containers. Again there is a slant to anecdotal evidence from individual experience. Squat containers have more lack of drainage issues than those with more vertical dimensions for example. If the soil does not drain well enough then using more vertical containers and lots of drainage holes for aeration will probably make it workable. I would rather have the soil as friable as possible but the best conditions are not typically the cheapest conditions.You just need to get oxygen to the roots one way or another.

Agree with sillyrib, if it says "potting" in the title it is most definitely intended for containers. It's just that some are better than others, just like everything. I've had great success with Kellogg's Outdoor Potting Soil:
http://www.kellogggarden.com/products/amendplus.html
Having the word "soil" in the title shouldn't scare you off.

My advice on potting soils is to read the ingredient list and see how it looks in relation to the knowledge you've gained here. And then make an informed decision. Or better yet, buy the raw ingredients and make your own!

tedln,

You are dedicated! How do you them grow now?

When I first started container gardening, I was told to put gravel & rock in the bottom. I didn't question this advice at the time, but got wondering later on why I should.

Seems that doing this was taking away from the volume of the good root growing media, and stunk big time when emptied out at the end of the growing season.

I agree with those who point out that the word "soil" in the name doesn't always mean there is soil in the mix, so reading ingredients is the only way to know what you're getting. The word "potting" does indicate container use, but as scottydooty pointed out, some are better than others.

I also wanted to mention that "planting mix" is occasionally confused with potting mix, something to watch out for. Planting mix is for garden beds, not containers.

Robeb,

Thanks for asking. Click the link below and you will see what I am doing now.

The rock and gravel in the bottom of the pot simply facilitated good drainage if I over watered the plants. The layer of landscape material kept the soil separated from the rock. If water ever leaked from the drainage hole/holes, I was over watering and I simply reset my timer to reduce the water frequency or length. If I could keep water from reaching the rock and the plants were thriving in the hottest part of the day, the water was set correctly.

In a fifteen gallon pot, I always had enough soil even with the two inches of rock.

Ted

Here is a link that might be useful: My raised Beds #2