Module 7: Getting The Right Potting Soil

What Is Potting Soil?

Potting soil is a mix specifically made to grow plants in containers. It may or may not contain soil. Some potting soil is made with neutral material such as perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, coco coir, and compost. Some might contain topsoil along with a mix of these elements.

Benefits Of Using Potting Soil

You should always use potting soil rather than garden soil to grow container plants. 

Potting soil is lightweight and prevents compaction when you add it to containers and water it.

Potting soil has the right texture so it retains sufficient moisture but drains out the excess. It helps prevent issues of overwatering due to soggy soil.

Potting soil is neutral which means it does not contain pests or diseases that can harm the plants. It won’t contain weed seeds that would germinate and smother your plants.

Which Potting Soil To Use?

You don’t need to complicate this. Choose a regular potting soil and it will work fine for growing vegetables and herbs.

You don’t need to use some special mix that will contain certain ratios of materials. Just pick a potting soil that is neutral and can be used to grow plants in containers.

You want to look for a potting soil that contains materials like perlite, vermiculite, peat moss or coco peat.

How Much Potting Soil To Get?

Let’s keep this simple. You can buy potting soil based on how many container plants you are growing.

You already created a list of vegetables you want to grow. You also found out the container size you would need to grow these vegetables.

Now you can buy potting soil based on the number of containers and the container size. If you’re growing two vegetables that need a 5-gallon container and a 3-gallon container, you can buy 5+3=8 gallons of potting soil.

I would suggest buying a little extra as it can always be useful rather than having a shortage. So I would suggest keeping 5 gallons extra potting soil bag at hand.

Where To Get Potting Soil?

You can get the potting soil at any of the online stores such as Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot. You can get it at many seed supply stores, nurseries, and garden centers.

Here’s a potting soil that will work for growing vegetables and herbs.

Burpee Premium Organic Potting Soil

You can save some money by making your own potting soil. It’s a very simple recipe you can find below.

Lazy Gardener’s Recipe For Making Potting Soil

Action Steps

• Find out the number of containers you’ll need to grow your vegetables.
• Find out how much potting soil you need based on the volume of the containers.
• Buy good potting soil from an online store, garden center or nursery.