How to Put Potting Mix in a Container Rather Than Native Soil

One of the most important ways to assure success when planting pots and containers is to use the right soil for the right plants. There are many different potting soils you can use or you can mix your own. You can even use your own native soil, but the only time it is appropriate to use your local soil is when you are growing local, native plants. Otherwise, you are expecting your container plants to grow in soil conditions that are completely wrong for their needs. You could also be introduce a non-native plant to different diseases, pollutants and insects if you use your native soil to pot it. Does this Spark an idea?

Things You'll Need

• Pot or container
• Gloves
• Appropriate potting soil mix
• Crocking or drainage stones
• Hand trowel
• Soil mixing tub

Instructions

1. Line the bottom of any pot or container with drainage stones to keep the soil you use well-drained. A stone layer can consist of a three-quarter-inch high layer of gravel, pea gravel or broken pot shards from clay pots. You can even buy special drainage materials packaged for this particular use. Two types of plants that will not require a drainage layer are water/bog plants and epiphytic plants. You will not want to use drainage stones in the bottom of a container when you are potting water plants that will need to have their roots in water anyway. Potting epiphytic orchids or bromeliads also does not require drainage crocking in the bottom.

2. Fill the rest of the container with the appropriate potting mix to about an inch or two from the container lip so that there will be a little space to keep soil or water from spilling over the edge.

3. Choose the right potting mix for the right kind of plant. This will take a little research on your part since not every plant will need the same type of soil. For example, plants like azaleas and gardenias are acid lovers and will do well with high acid potting mixes. Cacti and succulents grow better planted in a cactus mix soil. You can even buy an African violet soil mix that is specially formulated for these plants.

4. Use an orchid mix for most orchids and many plants in the bromeliad family. These are plants that are known as epiphytes and naturally grow high up in the branches of trees where their roots are exposed to free air circulation. Epiphytes will do best in special pots with aeration holes cut into the container bases and potted in loose material like tree bark. Putting most native soils in containers for these plants will not work well.

5. Mix your own soil if you enjoy gardening. You will need to find out what kind will be closest to the natural soil in which your plant evolved. Most planting soils are mixed from combining sharp sand, peat moss, sphagnum moss, perlite, vermiculite, compost, charcoal, loam and a few other materials in the best ratio to mimic a plant’s natural soil. Mix them together in a clean plastic tub. Ingredients should be clean and sterile so you don’t encounter any unexpected problems. This is the one of the biggest dangers of using local or native soils in a container.

6. If you use the right potting mix instead of native soil, you are more likely to have happier and longer living potted plants. Give your plants the right soil, water and light exposure they need and they are likely to thrive.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Backyard Gardener.com: Potting Soil Recipes and Soil Reconditioning