I see all kinds of soils around from the cheap to the expensive. Ive been buying MG Organic Choice and trying to stay away from the traditional pre-ferted soils that can burn small plants. The Organic Choice is on the higher end of prices compared to other no name brand soils i also see. I usually add blood and bone meal to the soil once the plants get a certain age so i was wondering if i could just switch to the cheaper no fert soils and amend them with the blood and bone meals.. are there cheap soils i need to avoid and does it matter that they are cheap if im adding my own ferts?
I don't know about differences in quality of cheap versus expensive soil. I know there is a different in texture in some, I found a high end priced one at a garden center that I won't buy again. It was not really potting soil as labeled, but uncompleted compost with large chunks and water just sat on the surface instead of soaking in. So you have to be careful of what the label says too. When I first started gardening I bought $2 bags of soil from Dollar General, mixed it with the very fertile black clay soil in my yard (this whole area was a cotton field before 1960) and the plants did just fine.
I've tried and tested several types of soil over the past ten years. Some of the expensive ones are no good, most of the very cheap ones are no good either. I've found one very inexpensive soil that is perfect for use in the bottom of new borders. It holds water very well, and is soft when moist, but when dry it's like concrete. It's actually OK to use if I mix it half-and-half with sand. The best soil I've found is a brand from the Norwegian equivalent to Home Depot I think. They've priced it very low to attract customers. I only buy the soil so they get no extra trade from me.
100 lb Pumpkins with BAD Dirt Dear Green Numb, Thanks. Good question. I've had to think outside the Garden Box when it comes to fertilizer and soil or dirt. My Dad plants the same things in the same rows in the same garden. After 20 years of mis-treatment our garden dirt is sterile. Things have gotten SO BAD - Soil or Dirt-wise. That our garden doesn't have a single worm or bug living in it. He plants row after row of stuff I don't eat. Except for the corn - which he uses Miracle Grow chemicals on - pretty much everything else doesn't sprout. Doesn't produce any veggies. Or dies. EXCEPT what I focus on. And I don't Add any new soil or dirt. (His garden - that's not allowed. I AM allowed to water the plants. So that's where I get sneaky.) SWISS CHARD - it got 4 feet tall last summer New Zealand Spinach - the 6 foot row got 10 feet wide. The Zuchini Squash got 5 feet high and 12 feet wide. We got a 5 gallon bucket of squash a day off of 4 plants. My one BIG BOY tomato plant got 5 feet high and 8 feet wide. I had to use a fence post and fence to hold it off the ground. More tomatoes than we can eat. What's the Secret? A - I dig a hill of dirt B - I plant the seeds or seedlings in the hill C - I dig a depression in the center for water D - I also dig a moat around each small mound. I've found a source of Volcanic ash that is SO mineral rich - that all I do is pour a couple tablespoons in a 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with the hose. To create a green foam. Pour it on the dirt-islands I've created. Once a week. Vavavoom. Any plant I use this on goes NUTS and Grows fast and deep dark green. Thanks, Allen P.S. - I can't cite websites or products because that's not allowed here in the forum. But you could also Use any kind of manure. Fill a bucket full of manure - Fresh or aged doesn't matter. Punch a hole in the bottom with a small nail. My version of the Israeli Drip Irrigation. Stick that bucket in the middle of a hill of seeds or plants. Pour water in the bucket a couple times a week. I've grown 100 pound pumpkins this way.
