Best growing medium for pots!

[Socks]

having a small garden i really go for it when it comes to pot and container veg.

last year (my first in this particular house) had me do Tomatos in gro-bags, and cucumbers in pots along with salads. however, i was wondering what the best growing medium is for pot planting prior to season 2.

will potting compost suffice for most things?

last year i did a 50/50 mix of potting compost and top soil, but id be interested to hear from you if you use anything different or even the same!maybe a consensus could be reached as to the best medium for particular plants.

hope you can help.

chris.

[Poppy]

Hi, I am attempting to grow veg for the first time this year and have a million questions I would like to ask. You have just reminded me of one I forgot. I also am not sure about what soil to use. I don't like the idea of anything peat based and don't , at the moment, have a compost bin. There are so many different composts on the market that I don't know where to start. Although I have read that top soil is not a good idea for containers (mine is heavy clay). Maybe mixing it with compost is a good idea - how did your veg turn out last year when you used this mixture? I have just bough 4 rather large pots and am thinking it could be quite expensive to fill them especailly if the contents need to be changed each year. Can't wait to get started though.

Poppy

[nick the grief]

Hi Poppy & Sock,

There are loads of peat alternative around these days, they seem a bit more expensive to me though. If you council does green waste like ours, you could give them a ring and see if you can buy it and what quantities you have to have.
I know a lot of Chrysanth growers that don't use peat, but collect leaves every year and have huge leaf mould pits. If you're not happy with your top soil you can buy bags of topsoil and use this. A standard John Innes mix is

7 parts Soil
3 parts peat (or substitute)
2 parts grit

and to every Bushell (8 gallons) add the JI Base 4oz for JI1, 8oz for JI2 etc (you can get this from most garden centres). This is OK for tubs & pots but I wouldn't use it in Hanging baskets

Also a lot depends on your area, if you live in a high rainfall area, you may want less soil and more "peat" to help with the drainage.

In Bernard salts book "Gardening under Plastic" he did some trials of various sorts of compost and found them all much of a muchness, try them and see which suits you the best.

If you grow Late Chrysanth in pots like me, you can save your old compost when you knock them out of the pots, add a bit of fertiliser and use it for your Tomatoes - save you a fortune! A few years ago there was an article in another kitchen garden Mag, where the guy grew all his stuff in tubs and recycled it for about three years with different crops before it went in the garden. I think he grew Toms yr1, Beans y2 and then salads yr3. if they don't seem to be growing vigourously, you can always give them a boost with liquid feed.

[Socks]

all the veg i tried last year worked, apart from my cauliflowers and broccoli, as i think a period of erratic watering caused them to bolt. the veg being runner beans, toms, C.A.C.A salad leaves and cucumber (although this did suffer from mildew even though it was outside, which was wierd!)

i used a 50/50 mix of compost and bought topsoil as i found that 100% compost drained too readily - not something you want during the height of summer!

the difference this year is that i have a compost heap from last year which ill include into the mix, so i imagine it will be 33/33/33 depending on how much useable compost i have from the heap.

i will try to use a special seed medium this year as i found the compost i tried to germinate the seeds caused some seeds to struggle so ill have to try a different tack this year.

thanks for the replys, it seems its a bit of trial and error but you cant go far wrong with whatever!

ill keep you updated as to how things go.

chris

(btw. is it worth mulching veg to keep the medium moist in summer?)

[nick the grief]

You can always sink the pots in the ground a bit to stop the drying out, a bit like a plunge bed.

[Poppy]

Thanks Socks and Nick. Think I will try the mix of top soil and compost. Thats a brilliant idea to recycle the soil by growing different plants each year. I have 4 large pots and I suppose I could grow something in each this year and rotate them (as one would with allotment beds) next year. All I need to work out now is which plants like to grow together. Am hoping to grow mini cauliflowers this year Socks, so must remember to check the watering. Thanks to you both.
Poppy