Using the right soil for your container gardening is crucial to ensure that you are able to grow your plants healthily. When we use containers to plant, we need to ensure that we use only the suitable potting mix meant for container gardening. Ground soil obtained from your backyard is not suitable as it is too heavy and dense which will cause poor drainage and become too compacted. Besides it doesn’t provide adequate nutrients, water and air to the plants. Planting in containers require the type of potting mix or potting soil that is loose and with good drainage.

Always use potting mix that contains the correct composition of materials which provide space for airflow, and great drainage. By doing that, your plants will reward you with robust health. Potting mix or potting soil provide all the necessary requirements as they are formulated specifically to solve those limitations.

Potting mix need to be able to retain the moisture and at the same time able to drain well too. Among the most crucial thing is that a potting mix could drain excess water away easily to provide the much needed air access for the roots.

Unlike planting on the ground where the depth of the soil is deep enough for any excess water to be drained beyond the root zones, in containers, even with drainage holes, water could still be accumulated at the bottom of the pot causing root rot. The materials commonly found in potting mix or soils are sand, calcined clay, vermiculite and perlite. Vermiculite and perlite are materials which are lightweight and filled with air.

Besides, a potting mix should also contain materials that could assist in moisture retention. Peat moss and sphagnum moss are among those preferred organic ingredients as they could hold on some water and nutrients from being washed away. Some commercial potting mix also include shredded bark and sawdust. To balance the peat moss acidity, lime could also be an added ingredient.

For additional benefits, some gardeners will even add compost and leaf mold into the mix to widen the scope of nutrients for the plants.

There are many potting mixes for container planting in the market. Miracle-Gro Potting Mix is one of such product that meets the requirement. Moreover, the potting mix will also provide nutrition to the plants.

The cost may be more but with the high potting mix quality that it provides, it will be a money worth spending. The potting soil provides a balanced of nutrients, water, and mix of air which will be the ideal conditions for a successful container planting.

Miracle-Gro has a few other gardening soil products to meet your need. Other products are like Miracle-Gro Garden Soils, Moisture Control Potting Mix, Soil Improvements, and others. So ensure that you get the right product for your gardening need.

Whether you are using your own homemade or commercially manufactured potting mix, having on hand some extra organic and mineral materials will definitely come in handy to meet the special needs of some plants. Always practice timely watering, provide adequate light and good air circulation to your plants as a healthy and good container-gardening practices. This will reward you with years of healthy and disease free plants, besides fending off pests.