Which potting soil to use?

ktrain

ktrain

Moderator
This is a pretty good video testing like 14 potting soils.

Now I have posted many times what mix I use...soil conditioner and Vigoro potting soil with perlite amended with meg-iron V.
Then twice a year I use something like Osmocote.
Also I feed with water soluble about every two weeks...depending on how much it rains.

This kind of surprises me after hearing soils others like to purchase.

Enjoy. :)

 
Cool video. I've been using that miracle grow potting mix that came in 1st place. I don't have a lot of fig trees. If I did, I would look for a cheaper option. I usually add a little perlite and sometimes worm castings. Locally that MG potting mix is $9 for a 1 cu ft bag at Walmart. It's on sale right now at Lowes for $8. I got a bag this morning.
 
I have been using Miracle Grow potting mix and raised bed for several years. Rationale: COSTCO inexpensive. I found it works well for vegetables as in the video, but has problems with compaction & drainage over time. Now, I amend the soil with perlite when used with anything that lasts longer than year.
 
GIV said:
I have been using Miracle Grow potting mix and raised bed for several years. Rationale: COSTCO inexpensive. I found it works well for vegetables as in the video, but has problems with compaction & drainage over time. Now, I amend the soil with perlite when used with anything that lasts longer than year.
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I agree...we all amend with something and we're all on a feeding schedule as no soil in a pot remains viable for very long as far as nutrients go.
Especially when in a climate that gets frequent rain fall like we do.
I say go with what has been working for you. :)
 
Here are the results. The video looks like they are in California. That would explain the prices. Locally here MG potting mix is $8-$9 for a 1 cu ft bag, or $14 for a 2 cu ft bag. I would have liked to see how the Walmart brand would do in that test. I think the Walmart brand is "Expert Gardener".

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I use the Sta-Green Potting Mix (available at Lowes here in Texas) for both cuttings and my potted plants. I add perlite (quite a bit for starting cuttings, 5-to-1 ratio when I up-pot). I also add a granular organic fertilizer with mycorrihizal fungi (MicroLife 6-2-4) when I up-pot.
 
I'm a strong believer in a mineral mix for perennials (watch Gary Matsuokas's video on soil). But since figs grow fast and is often root pruned or repotted, I think it might do well in an organic soil mix. While I haven't done any experiments, it seems that my tomatoes and peppers grow faster in an organic mix over a mineral mix.

The epic gardening experiment uses the soil as is, which is vastly different than how we use soil. Most people I know always add fertilizer for figs so I think the video might not be a good example for us. The video is really testing each soil for how much nutrients it has.

For myself, I haven't bought bagged soil in a long time. I always mix my own soil (1/3 each of sand/dg, peat, perlite/pumice). If I'm giving away plants I don't care about, I use the old potting mix I have piled up in a kiddy pool.
 
When I started growing figs this spring I tried many different bagged potting soil/mix from big box stores. I made the mistake of not keeping track of what I used with each fig tree, so I have no idea which ones work well and which ones don't. This video is good because they did a much better job than I did. I have had to go back and repot some of the fig trees that were not growing as good as I would like them to. I have decided to only use miracle grow potting mix from now on. I had one tree in particular that I had made a poor choice of soil. I think it may have been labeled as "Garden soil for in ground use". The pot was always lightweight, not nearly as heavy as the other pots. I'm guessing it didn't retain any water. It looked to be almost all chunks of wood and bark. I am having good results with the miracle grow Mix, not the moisture control version. Here are pics of the fig tree when I repotted it. I used a bamboo stick to loosen up the soil and then repot with new soil.

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I don't see anything wrong with those roots. Some fig trees don't like having their roots messed with when they're awake. I would have messaged a little soil off the bottom and repotted it in a larger container.
 
387PETE said:
I don't see anything wrong with those roots. Some fig trees don't like having their roots messed with when they're awake. I would have messaged a little soil off the bottom and repotted it in a larger container.
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There is nothing wrong with the roots, i just wanted to change the soil. It wilted a little last night. I put it in the house in the air conditioning. This morning it looked great. It's back outside now. I would have kept it in the shade today but it wasn't as hot today as it has been lately. I put it in the sun. It's doing good.
 
ETXfigs said:
When I started growing figs this spring I tried many different bagged potting soil/mix from big box stores. I made the mistake of not keeping track of what I used with each fig tree, so I have no idea which ones work well and which ones don't. This video is good because they did a much better job than I did. I have had to go back and repot some of the fig trees that were not growing as good as I would like them to. I have decided to only use miracle grow potting mix from now on. I had one tree in particular that I had made a poor choice of soil. I think it may have been labeled as "Garden soil for in ground use". The pot was always lightweight, not nearly as heavy as the other pots. I'm guessing it didn't retain any water. It looked to be almost all chunks of wood and bark. I am having good results with the miracle grow Mix, not the moisture control version. Here are pics of the fig tree when I repotted it. I used a bamboo stick to loosen up the soil and then repot with new soil.

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That definitely looks like "garden soil". Full of wood and no perlite. I bet it doesn't have any peat for water retention either. Mostly recycled forest products.
 
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